Montezuma County, CO tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Montezuma County, seat of Cortez: 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 Montezuma County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Montezuma County Treasurer
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual, held in November. The Treasurer's office states that "Montezuma County mails these notices out in July and holds the tax lien sale in November each year." The most recent published notice set the sale as an "online public auction beginning at 9:00 am on Thursday, November 6th, 2025", and the prior year's notice set it at 9:00 am on Friday, November 7, 2024. The county publishes the notice in The Journal for three consecutive weeks in the weeks before the sale (October 1st, 8th and 15th in 2025).
- Next expected
- by the second Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
Bidders register online with GovEase ahead of the sale. The county's published notice states that "Registration will open October 15, 2024 at www.govease.com/auctions" for the November 2024 sale, so registration opens roughly three weeks before the November auction date. The Treasurer's Tax Lien Sale page links to the GovEase tax sale registration site, and the county notice adds that "Tax Lien Investors please contact the office to register for the online Tax Lien Sale." Confirm the current year's registration window with the Treasurer at (970) 565-7550 before the sale.
The sale is conducted online through GovEase, not at the courthouse. The Treasurer offers liens on real property, mineral interests and business personal property, and a large share of the advertised parcels in Montezuma County are fractional mineral interests rather than surface land, so read each listing carefully before bidding. Amounts due at sale include interest, advertising, penalties and a $4.00 certificate fee. Owners can stop a parcel from going to sale by paying in cash or certified funds by 3:00 pm the day before the auction, so the advertised list shrinks up to the last moment. The county notice states redemption carries interest "at the rate of fifteen percent (15%) per annum" and that redemption must be made in cash or certified funds within three years or a Certificate of Option for Treasurer's Deed may be issued to the certificate holder. The Treasurer does not accept postmarks on tax lien redemptions. The county also publishes a separate delinquent mobile home tax list and a Treasurer's Deed application list and process document for investors. The Treasurer's dedicated Tax Lien Sale web page is currently an unfinished stub, with the sale list and the GovEase registration link carried in that page's documents sidebar instead.
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 Montezuma County
- Ellen Black is the elected Montezuma County Treasurer and signs the published tax lien sale notices as County Treasurer.
- Office hours are 7:45 am to 5:30 pm, Monday through Thursday, and the office is closed on national holidays, so plan pre-sale calls around a four-day week.
- Delinquent interest runs at 1% per month after August until the tax sale, on top of the earlier monthly schedule shown on the Treasurer's page.
- The county notes that per C.R.S. 39-11-101 a notice goes to the delinquent owner no later than September 1 each year advising that the Treasurer will advertise and sell a tax lien.
- Tax liens cannot be paid online. The county directs all tax lien redemption and lien questions to the Treasurer's office by phone.
- Property tax and account research is available through the county's Review and Pay Taxes Online portal at https://eagleweb.co.montezuma.co.us:8444/treasurer/web/, which is useful for pre-bid due diligence on advertised parcels.
- The 2026 sale date was not yet posted on the county site as of late July 2026. Based on the county's stated pattern, expect the notice to be advertised in The Journal in October with the auction in early November.
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 Montezuma County, Colorado sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Montezuma County follows Colorado's tax lien state system.
When is the Montezuma County tax certificate sale?
- Annual, held in November. The Treasurer's office states that "Montezuma County mails these notices out in July and holds the tax lien sale in November each year." The most recent published notice set the sale as an "online public auction beginning at 9:00 am on Thursday, November 6th, 2025", and the prior year's notice set it at 9:00 am on Friday, November 7, 2024. The county publishes the notice in The Journal for three consecutive weeks in the weeks before the sale (October 1st, 8th and 15th in 2025).. 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 Montezuma 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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