Lincoln County, CO tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Lincoln County, seat of Hugo: 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 Lincoln County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Lincoln County Treasurer and Public Trustee
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annually in early November. The Treasurer's page states: "Lincoln County Treasurer's Office will have our 2025 Tax Lien Sale for 2024 taxes on November 6th, 2025, beginning at 10:00 AM." The official GovEase flyer gives the start time as "November 6th at 10:00 AM Mountain."
- Next expected
- by the second Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
Register online with GovEase before the sale. The Treasurer's page states that registration opened October 9th at 10:00 AM at the GovEase bidder profile page, and the official county flyer states "Registration will begin on October 9th and close on November 5th at 3:00 PM Mountain." The flyer instructs bidders to create an account at govease.com and then complete the online registration documents before they can be approved to bid. GovEase provides bidder training videos at govease.com/bidderhelp. Bidder questions go to GovEase support at [email protected] or (769) 208-5050 ext. 2. Pre-bidding opened the day before the sale at 10:00 AM so bidders could set bid limits if they could not monitor the live auction. Questions about specific accounts or parcels on the list go to the Treasurer's office at 719-743-2633.
Lincoln County runs one annual tax lien sale and holds it entirely online through GovEase. The Treasurer's page says the county "partnered once again with GovEase to bring you another online Tax Lien Auction this year," so the online format is the established pattern rather than a one-off. The advertised sale list is published in the Limon Leader newspaper and posted on the Treasurer's page as a PDF, and it covers both real property and severed mineral interests, which is a notable feature of this eastern-plains county. The county posts a fresh list and a fresh GovEase flyer for each year's sale, so check the Treasurer's page for the current-year documents. Separately, the Treasurer's office notes that Colorado House Bill 24-1056 changed the treasurer's deed step as of July 1, 2024: a treasurer's deed is no longer issued automatically to the lien holder who applied, it is sold at a second public auction to the highest bidder. The opening bid is the combined amount owed to the original certificate holder plus the fees and costs incurred during the deed process, and the original certificate holder may redeem out a third-party winner at the auction purchase price. Only real property and mineral rights are accepted for treasurer's deed applications, and manufactured homes are excluded. The Treasurer also conducts public trustee foreclosure sales on Thursdays at 10:00 AM at the Lincoln County Courthouse, which is a separate process from the tax lien sale and should not be confused with it. The office keeps limited core hours and may close for weather, so call ahead before visiting in person.
Register on GovEaseTax 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 Lincoln County
- The tax lien sale is conducted online through GovEase, not in person at the courthouse.
- The advertised list includes severed mineral interests alongside real property, so investors should read each entry's legal description carefully before bidding.
- Registration closes the afternoon before the sale, and GovEase requires an approved account plus completed registration documents before bidding.
- Pre-bidding opens the day before the auction, which lets bidders set bid limits without watching the live sale.
- Under Colorado House Bill 24-1056, effective July 1, 2024, a treasurer's deed is sold at a second public auction to the highest bidder rather than issued automatically to the applying certificate holder.
- Public trustee foreclosure sales run on Thursdays at 10:00 AM at the Lincoln County Courthouse and are a separate process from the tax lien sale.
- The Treasurer's office lists a fax at 719-743-2838 and email at [email protected] for the Treasurer and Public Trustee.
- The county website blocks some automated fetchers, so a standard browser is needed to open the Treasurer's page and its PDFs.
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 Lincoln County, Colorado sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Lincoln County follows Colorado's tax lien state system.
When is the Lincoln County tax certificate sale?
- Annually in early November. The Treasurer's page states: "Lincoln County Treasurer's Office will have our 2025 Tax Lien Sale for 2024 taxes on November 6th, 2025, beginning at 10:00 AM." The official GovEase flyer gives the start time as "November 6th at 10:00 AM Mountain.". 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 Lincoln 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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