When the sale is held
No state office assigns or publishes tax sale dates. Each of the 351 cities and towns decides whether and when to take, sell or auction, and publishes its own notices: a collector's sale or taking needs published notice and posting 14 days ahead (ss. 40, 42, 53); a treasurer's tax title auction needs 14 days' published and posted notice plus mailed notice to owners (s. 52); a custodian's auction of foreclosed land needs registered-mail notice to the prior owner and posting 14 days ahead (s. 77B). Notices of TAKING are not auction notices. Auctioneers such as Sullivan & Sullivan publish one calendar covering many municipalities; read the municipality named on each entry.
When taxes go delinquent
The tax is a lien on the land from January 1 of the assessment year. Real estate tax bills are due July 1 for the fiscal year, but most cities and towns have accepted quarterly (August 1, November 1, February 1, May 1) or semi-annual payment under M.G.L. c. 59, s. 57C, so due dates vary by municipality. Overdue tax bears interest at 14 percent a year. Before selling or taking, the collector must mail a demand; if the tax is still unpaid 14 days after the demand, the collector may sell or take the land after 14 days' notice. No statute fixes a minimum delinquency age, and the lien lapses if the parcel is transferred and no sale or taking is recorded within three years and six months after the end of the fiscal year.
What sends a parcel to the sale
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).
Leftover parcels between sales
There is no standing over-the-counter list and no statute requiring one. Tax titles held by a city or town can be assigned only after a public auction with 14 days' published and posted notice and at least 10 days' mailed notice to the owner (s. 52), so there is no private over-the-counter assignment. Separately, a town may assign its tax receivables in bulk to a registered purchaser through a public sale judged on price and qualifications (s. 2C), after publishing the list at least 60 days ahead. Once a town has foreclosed, it may sell the land at public auction through a custodian (s. 77B), through the s. 64A broker-then-auction process, or in any other lawful manner, subject to the excess equity accounting. Ask each treasurer what it holds and how it disposes of it.
These dates are the statewide statutory schedule. The exact auction date, registration deadline, and platform are set county by county, so confirm them on the Massachusetts county pages before you plan a bid. For the mechanics of the sale itself, see how to buy in Massachusetts.
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.