The short answer
At least 12 months from the sale or taking, then until a foreclosure petition is filed in the Land Court
Massachusetts runs 6 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
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.
Who can redeem
Any person having an interest in the land, or that person's heirs or assigns (s. 62). A mortgagee who redeems may add the amount to the mortgage debt.
What the owner pays to redeem
From a collector's sale purchaser: the original sum plus intervening taxes and costs the purchaser paid, with interest on the whole at 8 percent a year. From an assignee of a town-held tax title: the amount stated in the instrument of assignment plus 8 percent a year on the principal amount from the assignment date. From the town: the tax title account (the taking amount plus later taxes certified under s. 61 and charges) with 8 percent a year on the original sum from the sale and on each certified sum from its certification. In each case add up to $3 for title examination and release plus recording costs, and $10 more if paid through the treasurer. After a petition, the Land Court adds the costs of the proceeding and a reasonable counsel fee. The rate was 16 percent before November 1, 2024.
How your return accrues
Simple interest of 8 percent a year. For a collector's sale purchaser, it runs on the original sum and on intervening taxes and costs the purchaser paid, from the date of sale. For an assignee under s. 52, the redemption amount is the figure stated in the instrument of assignment (principal plus interest accrued to the assignment date, stated separately) plus 8 percent a year on the principal only, from the date of assignment. The treasurer can accept redemption on the holder's behalf and pays it over less a $10 fee. Redemption also covers up to $3 for title examination and release plus recording costs. The rate was 16 percent until St. 2024, c. 140, s. 88 replaced it with 8, effective November 1, 2024.
How the bidding works
Nothing is bid down. At a treasurer's tax title auction (s. 52) the opening price is the full amount needed to redeem and bidders compete upward; the redemption interest is fixed by statute at 8 percent a year and runs only on the principal stated in the instrument of assignment, so any amount bid above the redemption amount earns nothing and is not repaid on redemption. At a collector's sale (s. 43) the price is fixed at the tax, interest and charges, and bidders compete on the smallest undivided part of the land they will take. Several statutory steps look like a sale and are not an investor sale: (1) a TAKING under s. 53 is the collector recording an instrument that vests the tax title in the city or town; it is preceded by a published or posted 'notice of tax taking' that lists parcels, date and place, and it admits no bidder; (2) when no bid equals the tax at a collector's sale, the collector 'purchases for the town' (s. 48), which likewise admits no investor; (3) a bulk transfer of tax receivables under s. 2C is a negotiated public sale to the 'most responsible and responsive offeror', judged on price, experience and a taxpayer-communication plan, not a parcel auction open to individual bidders; (4) the recording of a Land Court judgment and the s. 64A election to retain or sell are post-foreclosure steps, not sales of a tax title. The real investor auctions are the treasurer's tax title auction (s. 52), the rare collector's sale (s. 43), and sales of land the town already owns after foreclosure (ss. 64A, 77B, 79).
What happens when it ends
A real estate tax unpaid 14 days after the collector's demand (ss. 16, 37). The collector then either SELLS at a collector's sale after published and posted notice (ss. 40, 42, 43) or TAKES the land for the town after 14 days' notice (s. 53), recording an instrument of taking within 60 days (s. 54). The taking is not a sale: no one bids, the town becomes the tax title holder, and newspaper 'notice of tax taking' lists should not be read as auction notices. For residential (Class one) property, notices since November 1, 2024 must be mailed, posted on the property, published on the municipal website, and carry a DOR uniform notice in the seven most common languages. A tax title becomes title to the land only through a Land Court foreclosure petition filed at least 12 months after the sale or taking (s. 65).
A redemption pays back your price plus the statutory premium, which is what makes the wait profitable; see how redemption periods work across states. If the window closes unredeemed you keep the Massachusetts tax deed, which still does not convey marketable title on its own, so budget for a quiet title action.
Verified Sep 28, 2026 against Massachusetts 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 county office before you bid.