Washington County, CO tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Washington County, seat of Akron: 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 Washington County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Washington County Treasurer
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Once a year in early November. The county-published delinquent tax notice states the treasurer will "offer at a public auction by means of the internet at https://www.govease.com a tax lien on delinquent taxes on the 5th day of November, 2025 and succeeding days, commencing at the hour of 10:00 o'clock a.m. on said day." The county-posted GovEase flyer gives the same start time as "November 5th, 2025 at 10:00 AM Mountain Time." Confirm the current year's date with the treasurer before planning around it.
- Next expected
- by the second Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
- Sale list
- Tax Lien Sale List
Registration and deposit
Bidding runs online through GovEase, so bidders must register there in advance. The county-posted flyer states that for the 2025 sale "registration will begin on October 6th, 2025 and will close on November 4th, 2025," and that "you must create an account and then complete the online registration documents before you can be approved to bid." Accounts are created at govease.com, with the bidder profile page at liveauctions.govease.com/Bidder/UserProfile and bidder training videos at govease.com/bidderhelp. Registration windows shift each year, so confirm the current dates with the treasurer or on GovEase.
Washington County runs its annual tax lien sale entirely online through GovEase rather than at the courthouse. The treasurer publishes the delinquent list as scanned newspaper legal notices on the Tax Lien Sale List page, split into Akron News-Reporter pages and Otis pages, alongside the GovEase sale flyer. The list posted at the time of research covers 2024 delinquent taxes for the November 5, 2025 sale, so check for a refreshed set of notices each fall. The parcels include both real estate and severed mineral interests, which matters for anyone underwriting rural land, because a large share of the roster is fractional mineral acreage rather than surface. The treasurer's page also links an application for a public auction form, which is the separate certificate-holder-initiated route to a deed auction under Colorado's Article 11.5 process and is not part of the annual lien sale.
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 Washington County
- The annual tax lien sale is online through GovEase. There is no in-person courthouse bidding, so plan on a GovEase account and approved registration before the sale date.
- Registration closed the day before the sale in 2025, on November 4 for a November 5 auction. Treat the registration deadline as a hard cutoff and do not wait for sale week.
- The treasurer's office is Michelle L. Swan, at 150 Ash Avenue in Akron, open Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.
- Property tax records and statements are searchable through the county's tax portal linked from the treasurer's page, which is the fastest way to check a parcel's payment status before bidding.
- Much of the published delinquent roster is severed mineral interests rather than surface land. Read each listing carefully before assuming you are bidding on a parcel you can walk.
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 Washington County, Colorado sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Washington County follows Colorado's tax lien state system.
When is the Washington County tax certificate sale?
- Once a year in early November. The county-published delinquent tax notice states the treasurer will "offer at a public auction by means of the internet at https://www.govease.com a tax lien on delinquent taxes on the 5th day of November, 2025 and succeeding days, commencing at the hour of 10:00 o'clock a.m. on said day." The county-posted GovEase flyer gives the same start time as "November 5th, 2025 at 10:00 AM Mountain Time." Confirm the current year's date with the treasurer before planning around it.. 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 Washington 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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