The short answer
6 months from the date of the sale, or 60 days for property that was abandoned or meets other conditions established by ordinance
Connecticut runs 4 different redemption windows
Which one applies is decided by the parcel, not by the state, so read the condition before trusting the headline figure.
How the clock works
Redemption runs from the published post-sale notice to six months after the sale date. The statute sets 60 days instead for property that was abandoned or meets other conditions established by an ordinance adopted by the town's legislative body. 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.
Who can redeem
The delinquent taxpayer and any mortgagee, lienholder or other encumbrancer whose interest in the property will be affected by the sale. A lienholder who redeems gets a claim against the taxpayer for the amount paid, with the same priority as the tax (except against state or municipal tax liens), once the certificate of satisfaction is recorded.
What the owner pays to redeem
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.
How your return accrues
Interest runs at 18 percent a year on the buyer's total purchase price from the date of the sale until redemption, which must come within six months (or 60 days where that shorter period applies). The rate is a true annual rate, not a flat penalty, so a parcel redeemed at the end of a full six months returns about 9 percent on the purchase price, and one redeemed sooner returns less. There is no minimum return. The redeeming party also pays taxes and debts owed to the town that the sale did not recover, later charges under 12-140, and the costs of any receiver the buyer had appointed. Interest earned on the escrowed excess bid belongs to the town, not the buyer.
How the bidding works
There is no rate to bid down. Bidders compete on price at a public auction to the highest bidder, and every buyer earns the same statutory 18 percent a year on the total purchase price if the parcel is redeemed. If no one bids, or the bids do not cover the amount due, the collector may sell the property to the town itself (12-157(c)(2)); that is not an investor sale, and another municipality holding a tax lien on the parcel may also buy it (12-157(h)). Several steps look like a sale and are not one: (1) the collector's levy notice, recorded in the land records and published 9 to 12 weeks ahead, announces a sale that has not happened and may be adjourned at the sale itself by oral announcement (12-157(a), (b)); (2) the certificate continuing a tax lien that a collector records in the land records (12-173, 12-175) is a filing, not a sale; (3) a town's bulk assignment of its tax liens to a negotiated assignee (12-195h) admits no bidders; (4) a collector's court foreclosure of a tax lien (12-181) is a lawsuit, and any sale the court orders in it is a court foreclosure sale, not the collector's tax sale; (5) the notice the collector must publish within 60 days AFTER the sale (12-157(f)) names a sale already held and the date redemption ends. The real investor auction is the collector's sale under 12-157, held by each town on its own date.
What happens when it ends
Within two weeks after the sale the collector signs a collector's deed to the buyer (or to the town) and lodges it with the town clerk, where it stays unrecorded for six months from the sale. Within 60 days after the sale the collector publishes, and mails by certified mail to the taxpayer and lienholders, a notice of the sale date, the buyer, the price and the date redemption ends. If the parcel is redeemed, the clerk returns the deed to the collector for cancellation. If it is not, the deed is recorded and takes full effect, with no court action by the buyer. The deed is signed shortly after the sale but held unrecorded until the redemption window closes; it is recorded, completing your title, only if no one redeems.
What the deed conveys
A recorded collector's deed is prima facie evidence of valid title, subject only to later town taxes not yet due when the levy was first published, other liens in favor of the town, easements and restrictions benefiting other land, and other interests the deed describes. The redemption-expiry notice extinguishes the titles, mortgages and liens of the taxpayer and of every mortgagee and lienholder that received actual or constructive notice. A sale can be set aside only by someone the collector failed to notify who did not in fact learn of the sale within six months, and, except for fraud, any action attacking the deed must be brought within one year of its recording. The town's warranty on the deed is limited to the price paid plus reasonable later improvement costs. During the redemption period the buyer has an insurable interest and may seek a receiver, but no right of possession is granted by statute before the deed is recorded.
A redemption repays your price with statutory interest, which is what makes the wait profitable; see how redemption periods work across states. The deed is signed shortly after the sale but held unrecorded until the redemption window closes; it is recorded, completing your title, only if no one redeems. What the Connecticut tax deed conveys is set by statute, in the card above; budget for a quiet title action if an insurer will not accept that title.
Verified Sep 27, 2026 against Connecticut statutes.
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 office that runs the sale before you bid.