Deschutes County, OR tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Deschutes County, OR tax sale, one of 2,957 counties in 40 states. Oregon sells the deed itself, so no statutory investor interest rate applies. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from state rules plus what the county publishes on Sep 26, 2026.
How tax deed sales work in Deschutes County, seat of Bend: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Oregon tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Announcements
- Sign up for the county's Surplus Property Auction email notifications for the earliest date announcement.
- Format
- In person
- County office
- 541-385-1414
On this page
How Deschutes County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Deschutes County Property Management, with the Deschutes County Sheriff conducting the auction under a Board of County Commissioners order (ORS 275.110)
- Frequency
- annual
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Register with the county before you bid; registration opens only after an auction date is set. Pre-registration opens about four weeks before the auction and closes the day before, and on auction day registration opens at least one hour before the start. Bidders must attend in person: the county accepts oral bids only at the auction location, with no phone, internet or absentee bids.
Sale format and venue
Deschutes County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Deschutes County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.
Get the advertised list
Deschutes County publishes no tax sale list online. The Deschutes County Property Management, with the Deschutes County Sheriff conducting the auction under a Board of County Commissioners order (ORS 275.110) advertises the parcels ahead of the sale rather than posting them, so the list reaches bidders through the county legal newspaper and the office itself. Call 541-385-1414 to ask for the current advertisement.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Deschutes County Property Management, with the Deschutes County Sheriff conducting the auction under a Board of County Commissioners order (ORS 275.110) as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Deschutes County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
There is no online list to price against. Deschutes County advertises the parcels before the sale rather than posting them, so get the advertisement from the office on 541-385-1414 and price from the parcel numbers it carries.Confirm registration and deposit
Register with the county before you bid; registration opens only after an auction date is set. Pre-registration opens about four weeks before the auction and closes the day before, and on auction day registration opens at least one hour before the start. Bidders must attend in person: the county accepts oral bids only at the auction location, with no phone, internet or absentee bids.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Oregon due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in Oregon before you price the title work.Set a walk-away number
Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
unsold properties
Oregon counties keep no statewide over-the-counter list. Land left unsold after the sheriff's sale may be sold privately under ORS 275.200 at not less than the highest bid received or, with no bid, at a price the county considers reasonable but at least 15 percent of the sale minimum. Whether this county holds any such inventory must be confirmed with the county office that manages tax-foreclosed property.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Oregon calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax sale office
County notes
- Two offices handle the process. The Deschutes County Tax Department (541-388-6540, [email protected], 1300 NW Wall St., Bend, OR 97703) forecloses on delinquent property after it is published in the Bend Bulletin each August. Deschutes County Property Management (541-385-1414) sells property after it is deeded to the county.
- Property Management states that House Bill 4056 and House Bill 2089 changed how the county sells property acquired by tax deed. Confirm that an auction is scheduled before planning to bid.
- Auctions are live and in person, conducted by the Sheriff with oral bidding only. The county does not use an online auction platform for these sales.
- All auction properties are open for public inspection, and the county sets inspection days for parcels with structures.
Oregon rules
- Redemption
- Redemption in Oregon runs before the public ever buys. After judgment the parcels are held by the county for two years from the date of the judgment of foreclosure, unless redeemed sooner, and the former owner keeps possession during that period unless waste is committed. At least one year before the period ends the tax collector mails a notice of expiration of redemption, and 10 to 30 days before it ends the tax collector publishes a general notice. Unredeemed parcels are then deeded to the county, and all rights of redemption terminate when the deed to the county is executed. A buyer at the county's later sale therefore takes property that is no longer subject to any redemption right. ORS 275.180 separately lets the county governing body sell a parcel back to the record owner or contract purchaser of record at any time, without notice, for the taxes and interest charged when the county acquired it plus six percent a year; that is a discretionary repurchase, not a redemption right.
- Deed deposit
- No statewide deposit amount. ORS 275.110 leaves the conditions and terms of sale to the county governing body's order, and the notice of sale states them. Deposits, bidder registration, and accepted forms of payment therefore vary by county; read the county's notice of sale before the auction.
- Surplus proceeds
- Oregon now returns equity to the former owner. Under ORS 312.530 the surplus is the value of the property, which is the sale price at a broker or auction sale, less the county's allowable costs: the judgment and post-judgment interest, taxes that would have accrued through the sale, county maintenance and title costs, local improvement liens filed with the county, nuisance abatement costs, and reasonable foreclosure and disposition fees including legal, appraisal, commission, and auction fees. The county holds the gross proceeds in a separate interest-bearing account, determines the surplus within 60 days, gives the former owner an itemized accounting, and delivers the surplus to the State Treasurer as unclaimed property within 30 days of determining it. The former owner, or heirs and certain successors, claim it from the State Treasurer; a creditor with a valid lien or debt may also claim against it. These rules apply to claims where the owner received the ORS 312.125 notice on or after May 25, 2023.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Does Deschutes County, Oregon sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Deschutes County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Verified Sep 26, 2026 against official county and state sources.
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.
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