New Hampshire sells no tax lien certificates to investors. To buy a New Hampshire tax deed you bid on the property itself, at an auction run by the town or city that took the tax deed, acting through its governing body, not by the county of land the city or town already owns through tax foreclosure. Review the sale terms, deed and applicable law to confirm the property interest conveyed.
New here? There is no certificate step in New Hampshire. You bid on the property itself, so the money is at risk on the parcel from day one and the research has to happen before the auction, not after. Not sure which is for you? Start with tax lien vs tax deed.
Step 1: Learn the timeline and lien priority
Understand this before you commit any money.
- Timeline and lien priority
- Property tax not paid on or before December 1 after its assessment draws interest at 8 percent a year from that date; where a tax bill goes out on or after November 2 and before April 1, interest starts 30 days after the bills are mailed, and the collector states the start date on the bill.
Full New Hampshire rule detail for step 1, Learn the timeline and lien priority
From December 1 the real estate is subject to the tax lien procedure in any town or city that has adopted RSA 80:58 to 80:86. The collector sends the owner at least 30 days' notice by certified or registered mail stating the last date and time payment will be accepted and the amount of tax, interest and costs, and executes the lien to the municipality the day after that deadline. The lien covers a 100 percent common and undivided interest in the parcel, is reported to the county register of deeds within 30 days, and has priority over all other liens. The municipality notifies recorded mortgagees within 60 days of execution; without that notice the lien process is void as against the mortgagee.
Step 2: Know when the redemption right ends
- The redemption window
- 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.
- What the owner pays
- To redeem before the city or town takes title, the owner pays the recorded lien amount, plus interest at 14 percent a year on the whole recorded lien from the date of execution to payment in full (on the unpaid balance where partial payments were made), plus redemption costs and the costs of identifying and notifying mortgagees, plus any later taxes the lienholder paid with 14 percent a year interest from each payment, plus the notice fees of 80:77 and 80:77-a where deeding notices have gone out.
- What it means for you
- That right ends when the city or town takes title, before the city or town offers the parcel to the public, so the former owner cannot redeem a parcel on the city or town’s sale list.
Full New Hampshire rule detail for step 2, Know when the redemption right ends
The redemption window, continued. 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.
Step 3: Learn what sends a parcel to the auction
- What starts it
- The land must first be DEEDED TO THE TOWN: the collector executes the tax deed to the lienholder two years after the lien was executed if it has not been redeemed, after mailing 30 days' notice to the current owner and to each mortgagee (80:76, 80:77, 80:77-a). The governing body may refuse the deed for environmental liability or other stated reasons, in which case the lien and the owner's right to redeem continue indefinitely and no sale follows (80:76 II, II-a, III). Once the town holds the deed, it may convey the land only if the annual town meeting (by majority vote) or the city council has authorized the governing body to do so, for one year or 'indefinitely, until rescinded' (80:80 I, IV); a town may also vote to keep the land for public use (80:80 V), and nothing obliges it to sell (80:91).
Full New Hampshire rule detail for step 3, Learn what sends a parcel to the auction
What starts it, continued. At least 90 days before offering the land, the town must send the former owner, and any mortgagee notified of the deed, a certified-mail notice of the terms of the offering and the right to repurchase (80:89 I). The execution of the tax lien and the tax deed to the town are NOT investor sales; see lien.zero_bid_rule.
Step 4: Bid at the tax deed auction
The town or city that took the tax deed sells the property at public auction to the highest bidder.
What the deed conveys in New Hampshire
No action may contest the lien's execution or the collector's deed after 10 years from the deed's recording (80:78), so a title examiner will look closely at the notice steps within that period: without the mortgagee notices of 80:65 and 80:66, no collector's deed based on the lien is valid against the mortgagee. After the tax deed the town may treat the land as its own (80:91). The statute does not prescribe what warranties, if any, the town's deed carries; read each town's terms, and order a title search and budget for a possible quiet-title action.
Fold any title work into your maximum bid and read what you actually own after a tax deed and what survives a tax deed before you bid. A quiet title action is how a buyer clears a title an insurer will not accept.
Buying tax deeds in New Hampshire: common questions
How do you buy a tax deed in New Hampshire?
Can you buy New Hampshire tax deeds online?
More New Hampshire answers, including redemption and statute detail, are on the New Hampshire tax sale FAQ. New to this? Start with tax lien vs tax deed and the full New Hampshire walkthrough, then value a parcel with the due diligence guide.
Steps verified Sep 28, 2026 against New Hampshire 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 office that runs the sale before you bid.