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Tax Sale Atlas

La Plata County, CO tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the La Plata County, CO tax sale, one of 3,131 counties in 51 states. Colorado sells tax lien certificates paying up to 13%. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Oct 12, 2026.

How tax lien and tax deed sales work in La Plata County, seat of Durango: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how Colorado tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next tax deed sale
There is no fixed calendar.
Format
RealAuction
Registration
What sells is a certificate of option for treasurer's deed, not the parcel outright.
County office
(970) 382-6352
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Oct 12, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
Look up a sale detail

County Treasurer. on application

Record quality: high. Last verified: 2026-10-12.

C.R.S. 39-11.5-102 - Application for public auction (source accessed 2026-07-29)

Recorded reference information. Verify current sale conditions with the county. Read the full sale details.

Link to this detail

How La Plata County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

RealAuction
Run by
La Plata County Treasurer and Public Trustee's Office
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
The sale runs online each fall over roughly a month.
Registration
Bidding is online only through the county's RealAuction site.
Next expected
by the second Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Sale list
Tax lien sale parcel list and results
When it runs
The sale runs online each fall over roughly a month. The county's posted bidding rules for the 2026 sale, covering tax year 2025 and prior, state: "The web site will open for research and deposits beginning Thursday, October 8th, 2026. Bids and modification of bids can be submitted starting on Thursday, October 8th, 2026 at 8:00 AM MT and can be done up until the closing hour of each batch on the last day of the tax lien sale which is Thursday, November 5th, 2026 at 12:00 PM MT." ACH deposits are due by October 30, 2026 at 2:00 PM MT, and payment for winning bids is due by November 6, 2026 at 2:00 PM MT. The auction site adds that "Public tax lien sales in Colorado are usually held in either November or December each year."
Registration and deposit

Bidding is online only through the county's RealAuction site. The county states that "Registration to participate in our online tax lien sale can be done at any time." Every bidder must register on the auction site before bidding, and there is no registration fee. Registration is limited to U.S. persons or U.S. entities as defined on IRS Form W-9, and each user gets a single primary bidder account. Before reaching the bid pages, bidders must place an ACH deposit equal to 10 percent of the total dollar value of liens they expect to win; winnings above the deposit are debited by ACH after the sale. Bidding is a proxy premium auction: the minimum starting bid is the lien face value (delinquent tax, interest, advertising fee, a $5.00 certificate fee, and an internet auction fee), increments are $1.00, and liens go to the highest premium bidder, with ties broken by random electronic selection. Liens close in batches at 60 minute intervals. Premiums are not returned and earn no interest. County employees and officials, their immediate families, and their agents may not buy liens under C.R.S. 39-11-151. Public computers are available at the Treasurer's Office for bidders without internet access.

Sale format and venue
La Plata County sells tax lien certificates online through RealAuction at laplata.coloradotaxsale.com, branded RealTaxLien. The Treasurer and Public Trustee's Office runs the sale; the auction site handles registration, deposits, bidding, and payment. Certificates sold in 2026 carry 13 percent redemption interest, set at nine points above the Federal Reserve discount rate as of September 1 and rounded to the nearest full percent, accruing at one twelfth per month. Erroneous sales earn two points above the discount rate with an 8 percent floor. The certificate is a lien only and conveys no ownership. If the owner does not pay later years' taxes, the certificate holder is notified and may endorse those payments onto the certificate at the same rate. Unredeemed certificates are canceled 15 years after the sale date if no public auction has occurred. On county held liens, the Treasurer's page states that "until further notice, we are not selling any county held liens to a 3rd party," pending an update to the Colorado statutes, so the over-the-counter path is closed for now. Separately, the deed path changed under Colorado House Bill 24-1056 effective July 1, 2024: a treasurer's deed is no longer issued automatically to the certificate holder. After at least three years from the sale, only the lawful holder may apply for a public auction of a certificate of option for a treasurer's deed, with a $1,500 deposit per certificate. Those deed auctions are held in person at 679 Turner Drive, Durango, in the second floor conference room, and the county states the process takes a minimum of four months from application before the auction is held.
Register on RealAuction
Source: La Plata County Treasurer and Public Trustee's Office, Tax Lien Sale· Verified Oct 12, 2026

Tax deed sale

Run by
County Treasurer
Frequency
on application
Typical timing
There is no fixed calendar.
Registration
What sells is a certificate of option for treasurer's deed, not the parcel outright.
When it runs
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.

Sale format and venue
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.
Source: C.R.S. 39-11.5-102 - Application for public auctionC.R.S. 39-11.5-102· Verified Jul 29, 2026

La Plata County tax sale list and auction calendar

For La Plata County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.

  1. Confirm the advertised parcel list

    Use Tax lien sale parcel list and results as a starting reference. Check which sale or list it covers; a Lands Available or office information page is separate from an auction parcel list. Ask the sale office for the advertised parcels for the auction you plan to attend.

  2. Register to bid

    What sells is a certificate of option for treasurer's deed, not the parcel outright. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    There is no fixed calendar. Bidding runs on RealAuction; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use the County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in La Plata County

  1. Confirm the parcel list before pricing

    Open Tax lien sale parcel list and results. Confirm whether this reference contains the auction parcels or covers a different list. Get the advertised parcel list from the county before you price a bid, and recheck it before the sale.

  2. Confirm 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.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Colorado due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in Colorado before you price the title work.

  4. Set a walk-away number

    Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.

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. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Colorado calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)

La Plata County Treasurer and Public Trustee's Office

(970) 382-6352

679 Turner Drive, Suite B, Durango, CO 81303 (mailing: LPC Treasurer, PO Box 99, Durango, CO 81302)

Official website

County notes

  • Treasurer listed on the county site as Ann Monica Grushkin.
  • Office hours posted as Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Wednesday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, closed Friday.
  • The general Treasurer's Office line is (970) 382-6352; the Tax Lien Sale page lists (970) 382-6351 for lien questions and redemption payoff amounts.
  • Redemptions must be paid in certified funds (cashier's check, money order, wire transfer, or cash), and cash only in person at the office.
  • No separate county-hosted delinquent tax list PDF was found; the auction site's parcel and results list is the public list of certificates offered.
  • The posted bidding rules cover the 2026 sale for tax year 2025 and prior, with bidding open October 8, 2026 and batches closing November 5, 2026.

Colorado rules

Max interest rate
13% per year, set by statute (bidding is on price)
Minimum return
No statutory minimum return; what you earn is set by the price at the sale
Redemption
Redemption may be made at any time before a treasurer's deed is executed, so the practical window runs past the three-year mark and into the Article 11.5 process. Once a deed application is pending, the owner must file an intent to redeem with the treasurer no later than seven calendar days before the scheduled public auction, then pay the amount on the redemption statement while it is in effect, and must redeem the entire property. The auction itself is set 30 to 60 calendar days after the treasurer mails the notice of public auction. A separate rule lets an owner who was under a legal disability when a tax deed was executed under Article 11 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 deposit up to one thousand dollars plus statutory fees when the application is accepted, applied against the treasurer's fees and costs, and all Article 11.5 fees and costs are chargeable as additional amounts owing under the certificate of purchase. A third-party winner may be charged up to three hundred dollars for processing. The statute sets no bidder deposit percentage, so payment terms come from the treasurer's written auction policies.
Surplus proceeds
Junior lienors whose liens were recorded before the application for treasurer's deed may file a claim for overbid money within eight business days after the auction. Between the ninth and fifteenth business day the overbid is paid to them in order of recording priority, each up to the unpaid lien plus fees and costs, and whatever remains goes to the property owner. The treasurer mails the owner a notice within thirty days after the claim period ends. Unclaimed overbid stays in escrow for two years without interest to the claimant. Amounts under twenty-five dollars left unclaimed for six months go to the county general fund, and larger amounts left unclaimed for two years go to the state treasurer as unclaimed property. An agreement to pay someone to recover an unclaimed overbid is enforceable only if the fee is capped at ten percent and the agreement is made at least two years after the transfer.
Governing statute
C.R.S. Title 39, Article 11

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.

See the full Colorado rules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does La Plata County, Colorado sell tax liens or tax deeds?

La Plata County follows Colorado's tax lien state system.

When is the La Plata County tax certificate sale?

The sale runs online each fall over roughly a month. The county's posted bidding rules for the 2026 sale, covering tax year 2025 and prior, state: "The web site will open for research and deposits beginning Thursday, October 8th, 2026. Bids and modification of bids can be submitted starting on Thursday, October 8th, 2026 at 8:00 AM MT and can be done up until the closing hour of each batch on the last day of the tax lien sale which is Thursday, November 5th, 2026 at 12:00 PM MT." ACH deposits are due by October 30, 2026 at 2:00 PM MT, and payment for winning bids is due by November 6, 2026 at 2:00 PM MT. The auction site adds that "Public tax lien sales in Colorado are usually held in either November or December each year." Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

How often does La Plata County hold tax deed sales?

La Plata County tax deed sale schedule: on application. There is no fixed calendar. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Colorado's redemption rule: About 3 years: the certificate holder cannot apply for the treasurer's deed until after August 1 of the third calendar year following the tax lien sale. Call the County Treasurer as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the La Plata County tax sale list?

The recorded official list reference is at laplata.coloradotaxsale.com. Check whether it covers auction parcels, office information or Lands Available, then obtain the advertised parcel list for the sale you plan to bid on. Confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement.

Verified Oct 12, 2026 against official county and state sources.

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 office that runs the sale before you bid.

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