Honolulu County, HI tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Honolulu County, HI tax sale, one of 3,029 counties in 44 states. Hawaii sells redeemable deeds the owner can buy back with a statutory penalty. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from state rules plus what the county publishes on Sep 28, 2026.
How tax deed sales work in Honolulu County, seat of Honolulu: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Hawaii tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Announcements
- The notice runs weekly in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser through April (April 7, 14, 21 and 28 for the 2026 sale).
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- Register in person on sale day.
On this page
How Honolulu County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Director of Budget and Fiscal Services, City and County of Honolulu (Foreclosure Section, Treasury Division)
- Frequency
- annual
- Registration
- Register in person on sale day.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Register in person on sale day. Registration opens at 8:00 a.m., and all bidders and non-bidders must be registered by 8:30 a.m.; doors close once bidding starts at 9:00 a.m. A representative or agent bidding for someone else must present notarized documents showing that authority. The full bid is due at the sale by cashier's check payable to the City and County of Honolulu, drawn on a bank with a Hawaii address.
Sale format and venue
Honolulu County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Honolulu County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.
Get the advertised list
Use Notice of Proposed Sale of Real Property (Honolulu Star-Advertiser legal notice) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Director of Budget and Fiscal Services, City and County of Honolulu (Foreclosure Section, Treasury Division) as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Honolulu County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Notice of Proposed Sale of Real Property (Honolulu Star-Advertiser legal notice). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Register in person on sale day. Registration opens at 8:00 a.m., and all bidders and non-bidders must be registered by 8:30 a.m.; doors close once bidding starts at 9:00 a.m. A representative or agent bidding for someone else must present notarized documents showing that authority. The full bid is due at the sale by cashier's check payable to the City and County of Honolulu, drawn on a bank with a Hawaii address.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Hawaii due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in Hawaii before you price the title work.Set a walk-away number
Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax sale office
Treasury Division (Real Property Tax Collection), Department of Budget and Fiscal Services, City and County of Honolulu
(808) 768-3980 (Treasury); Foreclosure Section (808) 768-3979
Real Property Tax Collection, Division of Treasury, PO Box 4200, Honolulu, HI 96812-4200
Official websiteCounty notes
- Honolulu holds one in-person tax sale a year in early May at Mission Memorial Auditorium, 550 South King Street. Watch the Honolulu Star-Advertiser legal notices in April for the parcel list.
- Bring a cashier's check drawn on a Hawaii bank for the full bid; payment is due at the sale.
- The former owner can redeem for one year after the sale at 12 percent a year on the amount paid plus required costs. Order a title search before bidding.
Hawaii rules
- Redemption
- The former owner redeems by paying the purchaser directly; the counties take no part in it. The clock runs from the sale, not from recording, except in Honolulu and Maui, where a deed not recorded within 60 days of the sale extends the window to one year from the day the deed is recorded, without further interest for the extension. Hawaii County advises buyers not to build during the year, since the former owner need not pay for improvements, and says a buyer may sell during the year only subject to the redemption right.
- Deed deposit
- No separate deposit: the whole bid is due at the sale. Honolulu takes cashier's checks payable to the City and County of Honolulu. Maui takes only cashier's checks drawn on a U.S. bank, and active bidders must register and have funds verified at the event. Kauai takes cash, cashier's checks, certified checks or money orders drawn on a U.S. bank. Hawaii County takes cash, cashier's checks, traveler's checks, money orders or certified checks, with no registration. No county takes personal checks or cards, and an overage on a cashier's check comes back as a county credit memo or check.
- Surplus proceeds
- Proceeds above the upset price are surplus, and the rules differ by county. Hawaii County (19-45) and Kauai (5A-5.9): lienholders of record who file a claim within one year of the sale are paid in priority, any lien left unsatisfied is extinguished against the property and the purchaser, then remaining taxes are paid, then the former owner is paid on a claim filed within two years (Hawaii County) or one year (Kauai), and anything left goes to the county general fund. Honolulu (8-5.9) and Maui (3.48.285): the director pays all taxes owed by the taxpayer from the surplus and, where entitlement is in doubt, may refuse to distribute and require claimants to interplead in circuit court.
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 Honolulu County, Hawaii sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Honolulu County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Honolulu County tax sale list?
Verified Sep 28, 2026 against official county and state sources.
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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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.