Connecticut Redeemable Tax Deed Sales
Connecticut sells redeemable deeds the owner can buy back with a statutory penalty under Conn. Gen. Stat. 12-140. Tax Sale Atlas holds the sale calendar, auction platform and list locations for all 8 Connecticut counties, each read from the county’s own official pages and checked against the statute on Sep 27, 2026.
Connecticut sells redeemable deeds, not lien certificates. Read more…
Each town or city tax collector, after written demand, levies on delinquent real estate and sells it at public auction to the highest bidder, on its own date and often with a hired auctioneer. The winning bidder pays the full bid; the collector signs a collector's deed within two weeks and lodges it unrecorded with the town clerk. For six months from the sale (60 days for abandoned property or property meeting conditions a town sets by ordinance) the taxpayer, a mortgagee or another lienholder may redeem by paying the taxes and charges due at the sale plus interest at 18 percent a year on the buyer's total purchase price. On redemption the buyer receives that payment plus any part of the bid above the amount due, which the town held in escrow. If no one redeems, the deed is recorded and takes full effect without a court action, and the escrowed excess goes first to the owner's other taxes to the town and then to the Superior Court for the former owner and lienholders to claim. Towns may instead sell their tax liens in bulk to a negotiated assignee under 12-195h, and may foreclose liens in court under 12-181; neither is an auction open to individual bidders.
Rules verified Sep 27, 2026 against Connecticut Statutes.
- Sale type
- Redeemable deed
- Maximum rate
- 18%
- Redemption
- 6 months (some: 60 days)
- Auction method
- premium bid
On this page
Tax deed sales
The deed process can lead to property ownership. Confirm the steps below, the interest conveyed, and the title and possession requirements for the parcel. If the parcels you are bidding on are vacant land rather than houses, see what buying land at a tax sale hands you.
Runs afterUnpaid real estate tax after the collector has made written demand (12-155). More…
No statute sets a minimum delinquency age. The collector levies by posting a notice near the collector's office, filing it in the town clerk's land records (where it acts as a lis pendens) and sending it by certified mail to the taxpayer and every mortgagee and lienholder of record, all not more than 12 and not less than 9 weeks before the sale. The notice is also published once a week for three weeks in a newspaper circulating in the town, the last not more than four nor less than two weeks before the sale, and mailed a second time to the taxpayer and lienholders. The tax lien itself must be alive (within two years of the due date or continued by a recorded certificate) for the levy to be made on it.
Run byThe tax collector of each town or city (169 towns and cities, plus tax and fire districts with their own collectors). More…
No county and no state agency runs, schedules or publishes the sales. 12-157(d) lets the collector or the town hire auctioneers, clerks and others to run the sale, and their cost is added to the delinquent taxpayer's bill, so many towns use an outside auctioneer or law firm. Where one contractor runs sales for several towns, its schedule page lists many towns side by side, and a date read from it belongs only to the town named against it.
DepositNo statewide deposit rule. 12-157(d) lets the collector publish or announce rules for the conduct of the auction and for payment by successful bidders, so each town sets its own deposit, registration and form of payment. More…
Surplus proceedsAny amount the sale brings above the delinquent taxes, interest, penalties, fees and costs is held in a separate interest-bearing escrow account (interest to the town). More…
If the parcel is redeemed, the excess goes to the buyer within ten days. If it is not redeemed, the collector may first apply the excess to the same taxpayer's other delinquent taxes to the town, including personal property and motor vehicle taxes, and must within ten days after the redemption period ends pay the rest to the clerk of the Superior Court for the judicial district, then notify the former owner and lienholders by certified mail. They have 90 days from that payment to apply to the court, which may appoint a state referee to divide the money by equity; money nobody claims escheats to the state as unclaimed property. This rule dates from P.A. 95-228, long before Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023), and no 2023 to 2026 act amends it. It applies to the collector's tax sale only; a court foreclosure of a tax lien under 12-181 or 12-195h follows the court's own foreclosure rules.
Confirm marketability and insurance requirements with a title professional. Budget any title-clearing work and delays before relying on a resale. See the due diligence guide, or check what survives a tax deed in Connecticut.
Redemption, delinquency, and over-the-counter at a glance
Redemption
How longRedemption runs from the published post-sale notice to six months after the sale date. More…
A town may shorten it to 60 days for abandoned property or for property meeting other conditions its legislative body sets by ordinance. Payment goes to the tax collector, who cancels the deed, gives the payer a certificate of satisfaction and within ten days tenders the money, plus the escrowed excess bid, to the buyer. If the window closes unredeemed, the collector's deed is recorded and the buyer owns the parcel without any court action.
What the owner pays
the taxes, interest and charges due and owing at the time of the sale, plus interest at 18 percent a year on the buyer's total purchase price from the sale date, plus any taxes and debts owed to the town that the sale did not recover, plus later charges under 12-140, plus any receiver's expenses above rents collected.
Delinquency
How it startsEach municipality's legislative body decides whether its tax is due in one, two or four installments and sets the due dates. More…
An installment not paid by the same date of the following month (for a July 1 due date, by August 1) becomes delinquent and carries interest at 18 percent a year from the due date, counted as 1.5 percent for each month or part of a month, with a minimum charge of $2 per installment unless the town waives it. The tax is a lien on the real estate from the assessment date (October 1 in most towns) of the year before the tax falls due and, while it lasts, takes precedence over all transfers and encumbrances. The lien lapses two years after the due date unless the collector continues it by recording a certificate in the land records within that time; a continued lien stays valid for up to fifteen years from the due date. No statute sets a minimum delinquency age before a tax sale: once the collector has made written demand, the collector may levy on the real estate and advertise a sale.
Over-the-counter
How to buyConnecticut has no over-the-counter sale of tax liens or tax-sale property. More…
Parcels that draw no sufficient bid are sold to the town at the sale (12-157(c)(2)) and are subject to the same redemption; after that the town owns them, and any later sale is the town's own property disposition, not a tax sale. A town may assign its tax liens under 12-195h, but only by resolution of its legislative body, for consideration it negotiates with the assignee, and under a written contract with statutory terms, which in practice means a bulk sale to an institutional buyer, not a counter purchase.
Governing statutes
All 8 Connecticut counties
Sales are organized by county. Search your city or county and compare the available sale details. Where deed-sale formats are listed, filter for online or in-person sales. Certificate platforms appear where that sale type is available.
- Fairfield CountyBridgeportDeed: in person
- Hartford CountyHartford
- Litchfield CountyLitchfieldDeed: in person
- Middlesex CountyMiddletownDeed: in person
- New Haven CountyNew HavenDeed: in person
- New London CountyNew LondonDeed: in person
- Tolland CountyRockvilleDeed: in person
- Windham CountyWillimanticDeed: in person
Frequently asked questions
Does Connecticut sell tax liens or tax deeds?
What does the buyer earn if the property is redeemed?
How long is the redemption period in Connecticut?
Learn before you bid
How Connecticut tax sales work
The statute, the sale, and the deadlines, for Connecticut specifically.
How to buy tax sales in Connecticut
The step-by-step process for this state, from registration to redemption.
Redemption periods explained
How long owners have to buy back, and what it means for your yield.
Due diligence before a tax sale
Value a parcel before you bid so you never buy a landlocked write-off.
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.
Start with a Connecticut county
Open any county for its sale calendar, auction platform, registration rules, and office contacts.