Norfolk County, MA tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Norfolk County, MA tax sale, one of 3,131 counties in 51 states. Massachusetts 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 Norfolk County, seat of Dedham: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Massachusetts tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- There is no countywide sale date.
- Registration
- No registration is required countywide.
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Sep 28, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
How Norfolk County sells delinquent taxes
No tax lien certificate sale
as a certificate sale. Massachusetts issues no tax lien certificate. What an investor buys is a tax title: either a collector's deed from a collector's sale (s. 43) or an instrument of assignment from the treasurer's auction of tax titles the town already holds (s. 52). Both are subject to redemption, and both are often called 'tax liens' on municipal pages, which describes how they work (held as security) rather than a separate instrument.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- The treasurer/collector of each of Norfolk County's 28 cities and towns; the county holds no sale
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- There is no countywide sale date.
- Registration
- No registration is required countywide.
When it runs
There is no countywide sale date. Each town sets its own taking schedule, and no Norfolk County town currently posts an upcoming tax title assignment auction or tax possession auction date.
Registration and deposit
Sale format and venue
Investors in Norfolk County can buy two things, each only when a town chooses to offer it: a tax title assigned by a town treasurer at a public auction, which remains redeemable and must be foreclosed in the Land Court, or land the town has already foreclosed, sold as a tax possession. Holbrook is the one town with published tax possession auction regulations. Braintree, Randolph, Medway and Avon post tax title lists showing parcels the towns hold; Quincy, Wellesley, Sharon and the Town of Norfolk post notice of tax taking lists. A taking is not a sale. Auctions are conducted by each town, not online through a county platform.
Source: Regulations for Auction Sale of Tax Possessions, Town of Holbrook· Verified Sep 28, 2026
Norfolk County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Norfolk 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 Braintree active tax title list (one town; see notes for other town lists) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
There is no countywide sale date. Each city or town picks its own platform or in-person venue. Confirm the date and registration window with that town’s collector before you bid.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use The treasurer/collector of each of Norfolk County's 28 cities and towns; the county holds no sale as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Norfolk County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Braintree active tax title list (one town; see notes for other town lists). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts 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.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
unsold properties
No standing over-the-counter list. A town's tax titles can be assigned only at a public auction after notice, and its foreclosed land is sold by public auction or broker listing when the town chooses. Ask the city or town treasurer what it holds.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Massachusetts calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
County notes
- Norfolk County holds no tax sale. Each of its 28 cities and towns takes delinquent parcels for itself through its own treasurer/collector, and the town, not an investor, holds the resulting tax title.
- Braintree: Treasurer's Office, 1 John F. Kennedy Memorial Drive, Braintree, MA 02184, 781-794-8130. The town posts a list of active tax titles by year of initial taking, dated August 24, 2026, and may petition the Land Court to foreclose unredeemed titles.
- Randolph: Treasurer/Collector, Town Hall, 41 South Main Street, Randolph, MA 02368, 781-961-0913. The office posts a monthly tax title list with payoff amounts as of September 30, 2026.
- Medway: Treasurer/Collector, 155 Village Street, Medway, MA 02053, (508) 533-3205. The department page links a Current Tax Title Parcels list with interest computed through November 2, 2026.
- Avon: Treasurer/Collector, Town Hall, 65 East Main Street, Avon, MA 02322, 508-588-0414. A Tax Title Report list is linked from the Treasurer/Collector page.
- Holbrook: Treasurer/Collector, Town Hall, 50 North Franklin Street, Holbrook, 781-767-4316. Holbrook auctions tax possessions, meaning land already foreclosed by Land Court judgment, under published regulations: sold as is and subject to any occupants, a $5,000 deposit per parcel by certified check at the auction, and the balance by certified or bank check within 30 days. No upcoming auction date is posted.
- Holbrook bars prior owners, anyone delinquent to the town, anyone who failed to close on an earlier town auction purchase and anyone subject to a town tax title foreclosure from bidding.
- Quincy: Collector's Office, City Hall, 1305 Hancock Street, Quincy, MA 02169, (617) 376-1085. The Tax Titles page carries the notice and parcel list for a taking of fiscal 2024 parcels set for September 11, 2026. A taking moves the lien to the city and is not a sale to investors.
- Wellesley: Treasurer/Collector, 525 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA 02482, 781-431-1019 ext. 2266. The page links the fiscal 2025 notice of tax taking list for a taking held December 30, 2025.
- Sharon: Treasurer/Collector, 90 South Main Street, Sharon, MA 02067, 781-784-1500 ext. 1200. The page links a Property Subject to Tax Taking list for a taking held March 31, 2025.
- Norfolk (town): Treasurer/Collector, One Liberty Lane, Norfolk, MA 02056, 508-520-0058. The Notice of Tax Takings page carries the fiscal 2026 taking list and states the town may begin foreclosure if a lien is unpaid 12 months after filing. Medfield: Treasurer/Tax Collector, 459 Main Street, 508-906-3017, gives its tax title list on request and states the treasurer may auction tax title property.
- Bellingham, Brookline, Canton, Cohasset, Dedham, Dover, Foxborough, Franklin, Millis, Milton, Needham, Norwood, Plainville, Stoughton, Walpole, Westwood, Weymouth and Wrentham post no tax title auction or public tax title list. Call each treasurer/collector and watch local legal notices for an auction.
Massachusetts rules
- Redemption
- Anyone with an interest in the land may redeem at any time before a foreclosure petition is filed, and a holder generally cannot petition until 12 months after the sale or taking, so the owner usually has at least a year and there is no fixed outer deadline. After a petition is filed, a party may still redeem through the Land Court by filing an answer and paying on the terms the court fixes, until a judgment forever bars redemption. The treasurer may extend the no-foreclosure period by up to 2 years when accepting a partial payment, and a town may by bylaw or ordinance offer payment agreements of up to 10 years during which it may not foreclose. Shorter routes apply where buildings on town-held land are found abandoned or the redemption amount exceeds the assessed value.
- Deed deposit
- At a collector's sale, the purchaser must make an immediate deposit of whatever sum the collector considers necessary to show good faith, or the sale is void (s. 43). No statute sets a deposit for a treasurer's tax title auction or a custodian's auction; each municipality sets it in its terms of sale.
- Surplus proceeds
- Since November 1, 2024 (St. 2024, c. 140), the owner at the time of a Land Court foreclosure keeps a right to any excess equity, and that applies to a municipality AND to a private purchaser of tax receivables (s. 64). Within 30 days after the judgment becomes final, the judgment holder must elect to retain or sell. If it retains, it must obtain an independent appraisal within 120 days and pay out the appraised value above the tax title balance and costs. If it sells, it must list with a licensed broker within 180 days, then auction at not less than two-thirds of appraised value if unsold after 12 months. Excess equity is held in a segregated interest-bearing escrow; claims may be made for 18 months after notice where owners are unknown, unclaimed funds go to the state's abandoned property process after 19 months, and disputes go to the Superior Court with a jury trial right (s. 64A). Owners foreclosed on or after May 25, 2021 had 12 months from the act to sue for excess equity (St. 2024, c. 140, s. 212). Surplus from a s. 79 sale without foreclosure is held for the person entitled for five years, then goes to the town.
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 Norfolk County, Massachusetts sell tax liens or tax deeds?
Tax deeds. Massachusetts sells no tax lien certificates to investors; the Each city or town sells the property itself at a public tax sale.
How often does Norfolk County hold tax deed sales?
Norfolk County holds tax deed sales once a year. There is no countywide sale date. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Massachusetts's redemption rule: At least 12 months from the sale or taking, then until a foreclosure petition is filed in the Land Court. Call the The treasurer/collector of each of Norfolk County's 28 cities and towns; the county holds no sale as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.
Where can I find the Norfolk County tax sale list?
Norfolk County posts its tax sale list at braintreema.gov. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.
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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