Cortland County, NY tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Cortland County's foreclosure auction runs 100% online through Auctions International at www.CortlandCoAuction.com. In March 2026, Legislature Resolution No. 81-26 renewed the auctioneer contract with Auctions International for three years.
• •The linked April 2024 county catalog is a historical reference. The March 2026 auctioneer contract is not a sale announcement. Ask the Finance Department at 607-753-5070 for the next county sale date and catalog; a City of Cortland auction is a separate seller's event.
• •The City of Cortland collects its own property taxes through 2026. Starting January 1, 2027, the county will collect the city and county taxes on parcels inside the city, if the city approves the needed charter changes. The county Finance Department takes over delinquent Cortland Enlarged City School District taxes on October 19, 2026.

New York rules

Redemption

In Article 11 jurisdictions redemption runs before the public ever buys. The owner or anyone with an interest can redeem by paying the enforcing officer the delinquent tax liens plus all charges, until the redemption period expires: two years after the lien date by default, or a later date if the published notice of foreclosure names one. A tax district may by local law extend the period for residential or farm property to three or four years, and to four or five years for the residential property of an owner ordered to active military duty for at least six contiguous months or killed in action during that activation. Separately, RPTL 1111-a sets a one-year period for residential property outside cities of one million or more when the enforcing officer makes an affidavit that it is vacant and abandoned and it has been placed on the municipality's roll of vacant and abandoned property. When one tax district holds several liens on a parcel they are redeemed newest first, and foreclosure continues while the oldest lien is unpaid. Anyone who neither redeems nor answers is barred, and the final judgment extinguishes every equity of redemption, so a buyer at the county's later auction takes property no longer subject to redemption. Suffolk County, which enforces outside Article 11, instead sells each year's liens to the county itself, allows redemption within twelve months of that sale (thirty-six months for a one, two or three family residence), then records a tax deed to the county and accepts redemption applications within six months of recording.RPTL 1110 - redemption by paying the enforcing officer the delinquent tax liens and all charges; period expires two years after lien date unless extended or shortened, or a later date is publishedN.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1110Verified Sep 27, 2026

Deed deposit

No statewide deposit amount. Deposits, bidder registration deadlines, buyer premiums and accepted payment forms are set in each county's terms of sale or the auction contractor's terms; read them before bidding.RPTL 1166 - a tax district that took title by Article 11 foreclosure may sell with or without advertising for bids; a sale other than a public auction to the highest bidder needs governing-body approvalN.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1166Verified Sep 27, 2026

Surplus proceeds

New York returns surplus to the former owner and lienholders. Under RPTL 1196, added by L.2024, c.55, Part BB after Tyler v. Hennepin County, the enforcing officer must determine within 45 days after the sale whether a surplus exists by subtracting the taxes, interest, penalties and charges (including the foreclosure cost allowance in RPTL 1102) from the price paid at a public sale, or from the property's full value where the sale was not public. Any surplus is paid into court with a report, and the former owner is notified within ten days. Under RPTL 1197 anyone with an interest just before the judgment may claim a share, adjudicated as in a mortgage foreclosure under RPAPL Article 13. At a public auction the price paid is accepted as full value, so no claim can be brought that the price was too low. For residential property with no claim from the former homeowner, the proceeding stays open at least three years. Unclaimed surplus goes to the tax district to reduce its levy. The buyer's price is not reduced by any of this.RPTL 1196 (L.2024, c.55, Part BB) - enforcing officer determines surplus within 45 days of the sale and pays it into courtN.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1196Verified Sep 27, 2026

Governing statute

RPTL Article 11 (1100 to 1197)RPTL 1100 - Article 11 is the Uniform Delinquent Tax Enforcement ActN.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1100Verified Sep 27, 2026

What the deed conveys: The foreclosure judgment and deed vest the tax district, or a grantee named in the judgment, with an estate in fee simple absolute, and every prior owner, lienholder and the State of New York is barred and forever foreclosed. The county then conveys that title to the auction buyer. The Article 11 deed is presumptive evidence that the proceedings were regular, and the presumption becomes conclusive two years after the deed is recorded; a motion to reopen a default judgment must be brought within one month of entry. Counties commonly convey by quitclaim deed and make no title warranty, so buyers should still order a title search.RPTL 1136 - final judgment awards the parcel to the tax district (or authorizes a deed directly to another party), vesting fee simple absolute and barring all prior interests; discretionary reconveyance to the former owner before a third-party conveyanceN.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1136Verified Sep 27, 2026 See the due diligence guide.

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