Grafton County, NH tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Grafton County does not hold tax sales. Each town and the City of Lebanon sells land it has taken by tax deed, on its own schedule.
• •Canaan: the town has scheduled a public auction of seven town-owned vacant residential lots for Saturday, October 24, 2026, at 10:00 AM, with registration from 9:00 AM, at the Canaan Emergency Operations Center, 52 NH Route 118, Canaan.
• •Canaan: JSJ Auctions of Epping (603-734-4348) runs the Canaan sale in person. The property list, with map and lot numbers, acreage, assessed values and per-lot deposits, appears in the town's auction brochure.
• •Canaan: deposits run from $1,000 to $5,000 per lot, the balance is due within 30 days, a 10% buyer's premium applies, and lots are sold as-is by deed without covenants, subject to town confirmation.
• •Canaan: the auction notice describes the lots as town-owned and does not say how the town acquired each one. Ask the Canaan Town Clerk, P.O. Box 38, Canaan, NH 03741, 603-523-4501, for details.
• •Haverhill (county seat), Lebanon, Hanover, Plymouth, Littleton, Bristol, Lincoln, Enfield and the county's other towns post no current tax-deeded property sale or list on their town websites. Call each town's selectboard office or tax collector and watch local newspaper legal notices for auction or sealed-bid announcements.

New Hampshire rules

Redemption

Redemption is open until the collector's deed is given, which cannot happen before two years from the lien's execution and requires 30 days' prior notice to the owner and mortgagees. Partial payments are accepted and are refunded if the deed issues before full redemption. If the town refuses the tax deed, the right to redeem continues indefinitely with interest still running. Once the deed issues, redemption ends; the former owner keeps only the repurchase right of 80:89, which is not redemption and costs more.N.H. RSA 80:69, redemption before the collector's deed at 14 percent a year on the whole recorded lienN.H. RSA 80:69Verified Sep 28, 2026

Deed deposit

No statewide deposit rule; the governing body sets deposit, registration and payment terms under 80:80 II. Read the town's terms of sale.N.H. RSA 80:80, town or city disposal of tax liens and tax-deeded property: vote required, public auction or advertised sealed bids, minimums and terms set by the governing bodyN.H. RSA 80:80Verified Sep 28, 2026

Surplus proceeds

For land acquired by tax deed, the town may keep from the sale only its 'back taxes, interest, costs and penalty' (80:88 I), defined in 80:90 to include the unpaid taxes and interest, the taxes and interest that would have accrued while the town owned the land, statutory fees, the town's legal costs, its costs of owning and selling the land (insurance, maintenance, repairs, marketing), and a penalty equal to 10 percent of the assessed value at the date of the tax deed, adjusted by the equalization ratio. Any excess must be paid into the superior court for the county within 60 days of the buyer's settlement by a bill of interpleader naming the former owners and everyone with a recorded interest; the court divides it by ownership and lien interests at the time of the tax deed, and money no one validly claims goes to the town. Where there were no record lienholders and the owners are easily identified and located, the town pays them directly without a court filing. The town's duty to distribute proceeds, and the former owner's repurchase right, end three years after the tax deed is recorded (80:89 VII), so a sale made later than that owes nothing under 80:88.N.H. RSA 80:88, municipal recovery from a tax-deeded sale limited to back taxes, interest, costs and penalty; excess paid into superior court by interpleaderN.H. RSA 80:88Verified Sep 28, 2026

Governing statute

N.H. RSA 76:13N.H. RSA 76:13, 8 percent a year interest on property taxes unpaid after December 1 (or 30 days after a late bill)N.H. RSA 76:13Verified Sep 28, 2026

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.

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