Fremont County, CO tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Fremont County, seat of Cañon City: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
Verified Jul 30, 2026 against official county and state sources.
New here? Read how Colorado tax sales work, the difference between a lien and a deed, and redemption periods.
How Fremont County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Fremont County Treasurer
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- November. The Treasurer's official sale sheet answers the date question as "November, the Thursday before Thanksgiving, registration at 8:00 am, sale starts promptly at 9:00 am and continues until complete." The sale is held at the Steeple Event and Conference Center, 701 Macon Ave, Cañon City.
- Next expected
- by the second Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
Register in person on sale day beginning at 8:00 am at the Steeple Event and Conference Center, 701 Macon Ave, Cañon City; bidding starts promptly at 9:00 am. The Treasurer describes the format as "Open auction style-Opening bid is amount advertised." Attendance is required: asked whether liens can be bought without attending, by sealed bid, mail-in or online, the county answers "No." Payment is accepted in cash, personal check, or credit card with a 2.49% fee. The Treasurer's Tax Lien Sale Information page also posts a W-9 form and an ACH Authorization Form, which buyers complete so redemption proceeds are deposited directly to their account. County employees and their family members are barred from bidding.
Fremont County runs a live, in-person tax lien sale. There is no online auction platform and no confirmed remote bidding option, so investors must appear at the Cañon City venue to buy certificates. The county states the sale is advertised in the middle of October in the Cañon City Daily Record and posted online on the county website, and staff can supply the list in Excel format on request; a mailed copy of the published list is available for a $5 fee. At the time of research the Treasurer's page hosted the 2025 sale list, posted in mid-November 2025, so expect the next year's list to appear in October. Liens that do not sell become county-held, though the Treasurer notes that generally all of them sell. The county says liens can be bought from current county-held inventory but reported none available as of its published sale sheet, so confirm availability by phone. After the minimum three-year redemption period the Treasurer will issue a Treasurer's Deed on application, with a fee of at least $1,000 plus further expenses due when the deed is issued. Because the county accepts no online, mail-in, or sealed bids, any third-party website advertising online bidding on Fremont County liens is not the official sale venue; verify every detail with the Treasurer's office before bidding. In-person live auction, no online bidding platform
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- County Treasurer
- Frequency
- on application
- Typical timing
- There is no fixed calendar. A public auction is scheduled only when a certificate holder applies for one, at least three years after the tax lien sale, and the treasurer must hold it between 110 and 125 calendar days after the known interested party notice is first published or mailed.
Registration and deposit
What sells is a certificate of option for treasurer's deed, not the parcel outright. The treasurer may only accept bids above the combined amount owed to the lawful holder plus the treasurer's fees and costs. County officials, county employees acting in their individual capacity, and their immediate family members may not bid. Payment is by cash, cashier's check, bank check, or electronic funds transfer subject to the treasurer's bidding rules. Any overbid goes to junior lienors who filed a notice of intent to redeem and then to the property owner. Confirm the notice, the bidding rules, and the auction venue with the county treasurer.
This Article 11.5 process replaced direct deed issuance on July 1, 2024. Colorado does not hold a routine calendar tax deed sale, so treat this as an occasional, application-driven auction rather than a recurring event.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
Liens that draw no bid are struck off to the county and the treasurer issues the county a certificate of purchase. The county may then assign, sell, or transfer those certificates in the manner, at the times, and on the terms set by resolution of the board of county commissioners, which is how county-held liens are sold between annual auctions. A certificate on property owing more than ten thousand dollars in taxes needs the property tax administrator's approval after published notice. Whether a county maintains a published county-held list, and on what terms, varies. Contact the county treasurer.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Notes for Fremont County
- The sale is a live open-outcry auction at the Steeple Event and Conference Center, 701 Macon Ave, Cañon City, not an online auction.
- Registration happens on site at 8:00 am the morning of the sale, with bidding starting at 9:00 am.
- The opening bid is the advertised amount due on the parcel, and bidders compete from there under the county's open auction format.
- The delinquent list is advertised in the Cañon City Daily Record in mid-October and posted on the Treasurer's Tax Lien Sale Information page; an Excel version is available from the office on request.
- Payment options at the sale are cash, personal check, or credit card with a 2.49% processing fee.
- Buyers should file the county's ACH Authorization Form so redemption payments are deposited directly to their account.
- Unsold liens become county-held, but the Treasurer reports that nearly all liens sell at the auction.
- A Treasurer's Deed may be applied for after the minimum three-year redemption period, with an application fee of at least $1,000 plus additional costs at issuance.
- County employees and their family members may not participate in the sale.
- Office hours are 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday, excluding holidays.
Colorado statewide rules
- Redemption
- Redemption may be made at any time before a treasurer's deed is executed, so the practical window runs well past the three-year mark and through the Article 11.5 auction process. The treasurer must hold that public auction between 110 and 125 calendar days after the known interested party notice is first published or mailed, which gives owners and junior lienors a further defined period to pay. A separate rule lets an owner who was under a legal disability when the deed was executed redeem within nine years of the deed being recorded, at 15 percent per year plus the present value of any improvements.
- Deed deposit
- The treasurer may require the applying lawful holder to post a deposit covering the recording fee plus the actual and reasonable cost of administering the auction, and all Article 11.5 fees and costs are chargeable as additional amounts owing under the tax lien. For bidders, the treasurer accepts cash, cashier's check, bank check, or electronic funds transfer subject to the treasurer's bidding rules. The statute sets no fixed bidder deposit percentage, so the deposit terms come from county bidding rules.
- Surplus proceeds
- Any overbid goes first to junior lienors in order of recording priority, measured as of the recording date of the application for public auction, who filed a notice of intent to redeem and whose liens are unredeemed, up to each lien's unpaid amount plus fees and costs. Whatever remains is paid to the property owner. The treasurer must post a public notice about these funds and mail the owner a notice within thirty calendar days of the auction. Unclaimed remaining overbids sit in escrow for six months without interest, then transfer to the state administrator under the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. An agreement to pay someone to recover an owner's overbid is unenforceable, and inducing one is a class 2 misdemeanor.
A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Fremont County, Colorado sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Fremont County follows Colorado's tax lien state system.
When is the Fremont County tax certificate sale?
- November. The Treasurer's official sale sheet answers the date question as "November, the Thursday before Thanksgiving, registration at 8:00 am, sale starts promptly at 9:00 am and continues until complete." The sale is held at the Steeple Event and Conference Center, 701 Macon Ave, Cañon City.. Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the Tax Collector before the sale.
How often does Fremont County hold tax deed sales?
- on application. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.
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