Morgan County, CO tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Morgan County, seat of Fort Morgan: 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 Morgan County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Morgan County Treasurer and Public Trustee
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Mid-November, online. The Treasurer's 2026 Property Tax Calendar lists "Real Estate Online Tax Lien Sale Starts at 8:00 a.m." on 11/12/2026 and "Real Estate Online Tax Lien Sale Closes at 5:00 p.m." the same day, with the calendar header noting "Dates are subject to change without prior notification." The Tax Lien Sale page still shows the prior cycle: "The Morgan County Real Estate Tax Lien Sale will be held online in 2025," with "Sale Opens - 8:00 a.m., MST, November 18, 2025" and "Sale Closes - 5:00 p.m., MST, November 20, 2025," marked "(subject to change)." Confirm the current year's window with the Treasurer before committing funds.
- Next expected
- by the second Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
Registration is online at the auction website and must be completed before the auction opens. The Treasurer states that "All potential bidders must register BEFORE the auction opens even if they were registered last year," and that registration includes an IRS required W-9 form. The 2026 calendar puts registration open at 8:00 a.m. on 10/26/2026 and the last day to register before 5:00 p.m. on 11/11/2026. Bidding is by premium bid, with a $1.00 minimum premium and the highest premium winning. Winning bids are paid by ACH from the bank account supplied during registration, which the county says is the only form of payment accepted.
Open internet auction run by the Treasurer on Zeus Auction. The full delinquent real estate tax list is advertised in The Morgan County Times and posted on both the auction website and the Treasurer's site. Successful premium bids are not refunded and are not returned at redemption. The certificate rate is set nine percentage points above the Federal Reserve discount rate on September 1 and stays fixed for the life of the certificate; the county published 14% for the 2025 sale. Redemption period is three years for most properties, and lien holders are notified in July of the chance to endorse subsequent delinquent taxes at the same rate. Liens not sold are held by the county and are normally available for purchase over the counter from the Treasurer's office, with a running list and payoff figures published on the County Held Tax Lien Sale Certificates page. Morgan County employees and their immediate families may not purchase county liens. Under C.R.S. 39-11-116 the Treasurer may bar a bidder who fails to pay from future sales for up to five years. The Treasurer also publishes a separate Treasurer's Deed Option Auction with its own pending list, bidding rules, and results, linked from the Tax Lien Sale page.
Register on SRI / ZEUSTax 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 Morgan County
- The elected Treasurer, Robert A. Sagel, also serves as Public Trustee. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- The 2026 calendar sets 11/10/2026 before 2:00 p.m. as the last day to pay taxes and avoid the real estate tax lien sale, and 9/28/2026 as the last day to pay to avoid publication of real estate taxes.
- The Treasurer begins accepting tax lien endorsements on 7/16/2026, which is when existing certificate holders can add the current year's delinquency to a lien they already hold.
- The Tax Lien Sale page and the Property Tax Calendar disagree on sale length: the calendar shows the 2026 sale opening and closing on a single day, while the 2025 sale ran across three days. Verify with the office.
- Distraint sales of mobile homes for delinquent taxes were temporarily suspended by Colorado Senate Bill 24-183, along with accrual of delinquent interest on those accounts, per the Treasurer's manufactured housing notice.
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 Morgan County, Colorado sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Morgan County follows Colorado's tax lien state system.
When is the Morgan County tax certificate sale?
- Mid-November, online. The Treasurer's 2026 Property Tax Calendar lists "Real Estate Online Tax Lien Sale Starts at 8:00 a.m." on 11/12/2026 and "Real Estate Online Tax Lien Sale Closes at 5:00 p.m." the same day, with the calendar header noting "Dates are subject to change without prior notification." The Tax Lien Sale page still shows the prior cycle: "The Morgan County Real Estate Tax Lien Sale will be held online in 2025," with "Sale Opens - 8:00 a.m., MST, November 18, 2025" and "Sale Closes - 5:00 p.m., MST, November 20, 2025," marked "(subject to change)." Confirm the current year's window with the Treasurer before committing funds.. 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 Morgan 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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