Windham County, CT tax sales

Local offices

County notes

• •Windham County has no county government. Each of its 15 towns runs its own tax deed auction through its own collector, on its own date.
• •Windham (Willimantic), Chaplin, Hampton and Scotland: the Windham Revenue Office states their 2026 tax sale will be held at Windham Town Hall, with the date not yet set. Watch the cttaxsales.com auction list for the notice.
• •Windham targets residential parcels owing more than $5,000 or more than two grand list years behind, and faster for commercial, abandoned or previously sold parcels. Payoff questions go to the town's tax sale attorney, Adam Cohen, at 203-330-2230.
• •Sterling: auction at 10:00 a.m. on November 19, 2026 at Sterling Town Hall, 1183 Plainfield Pike, Oneco. The parcel notices are on the cttaxsales.com upcoming auction list.
• •Killingly: the Revenue Collector (172 Main Street, 860-779-5330) conducts its own auctions under Section 12-157. Results of the September 2, 2026 Killingly auction appear on the cttaxsales.com recently completed list.
• •Thompson held an auction on September 16, 2026 and Woodstock on April 21, 2026. Results for both appear on the cttaxsales.com recently completed list.
• •Putnam (Revenue Office, 860-963-6800 ext. 804) and Plainfield both link their collector pages to cttaxsales.com, and postponed Putnam, Plainfield, Killingly, Thompson, Ashford, Hampton and Scotland parcels appear on its postponed auction list with new dates not yet set.
• •Bidders pay a $5,000 certified deposit per property at registration on the auction day, unless the notice sets another amount, and the balance within five calendar days.
• •Brooklyn, Canterbury, Eastford and Pomfret post no sale calendar online. Their notices and parcel lists appear in the local newspaper and at each town's collector's office.
• •The owner can redeem within six months of the auction. If that happens, the buyer receives the purchase price back plus 18 percent a year interest.

Connecticut rules

Redemption

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.Conn. Gen. Stat. 12-157, collector's tax sale: notice, public auction to the highest bidder, collector's deed, six-month redemption at 18 percent a year, surplus escrowConn. Gen. Stat. 12-157Verified Sep 27, 2026

Deed deposit

No 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. Read the terms of sale in each town's notice.Conn. Gen. Stat. 12-157, collector's tax sale: notice, public auction to the highest bidder, collector's deed, six-month redemption at 18 percent a year, surplus escrowConn. Gen. Stat. 12-157Verified Sep 27, 2026

Surplus proceeds

Any 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). 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.Conn. Gen. Stat. 12-157, collector's tax sale: notice, public auction to the highest bidder, collector's deed, six-month redemption at 18 percent a year, surplus escrowConn. Gen. Stat. 12-157Verified Sep 27, 2026

Governing statute

Conn. Gen. Stat. 12-157Conn. Gen. Stat. 12-157, collector's tax sale: notice, public auction to the highest bidder, collector's deed, six-month redemption at 18 percent a year, surplus escrowConn. Gen. Stat. 12-157Verified Sep 27, 2026

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.Conn. Gen. Stat. 12-159, collector's deed is prima facie evidence of valid titleConn. Gen. Stat. 12-159Verified Sep 27, 2026 See the due diligence guide.

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