Oregon sells no tax lien certificates to investors. To buy an Oregon tax deed you bid on the property itself, at a county auction of land the county 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 Oregon. 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.
Full Oregon rule detail for step 1, Learn the timeline and lien priority
Taxes on real property not paid on or before May 15 are delinquent. Late installments accrue interest at one and one-third percent per month, or fraction of a month, until paid, which is 16 percent a year. The tax is a lien on the property from July 1 of the year it is levied, and the tax lien has priority over all other liens, judgments, mortgages, and encumbrances regardless of when they were recorded. A parcel becomes subject to foreclosure when three years have elapsed from its earliest date of delinquency.
Step 2: Know when the redemption right ends
- The redemption window
- 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.
- What the owner pays
- To redeem before the county takes title, the owner pays the full amount applicable to the property under the judgment, with interest as provided by law, plus a penalty of five percent of the judgment amount and a fee: 50 dollars if redeemed before the certified-mail notice of expiration is given, and afterward the greater of 50 dollars or the county's actual title search cost.
- What it means for you
- That right ends when the county takes title, before the county offers the parcel to the public, so the former owner cannot redeem a parcel on the county’s sale list.
Full Oregon rule detail for step 2, Know when the redemption right ends
The redemption window, continued. 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.
What the owner pays, continued. The penalty and fee are in lieu of all foreclosure costs. Before judgment, a parcel can instead be removed from the proceeding by paying what is owed, plus a five percent penalty once the foreclosure list has been published.
Step 3: Learn what sends a parcel to the auction
- What starts it
- A statutory clock, not an investor's application. Real property taxes go delinquent after May 15. Once three years have elapsed from the earliest delinquency, the parcel is subject to foreclosure; within two months after the day of delinquency each year the tax collector prepares the foreclosure list, and three months after the day of delinquency the tax collector, with the district attorney, institutes one general in rem proceeding in circuit court. The court gives judgment and orders the parcels sold directly to the county. The owner then has two years from the judgment to redeem, and every parcel not redeemed is deeded to the county by the tax collector. Only after that deed can the county offer the property to the public.
- The opening bid
- ORS 312.520, added by Oregon Laws 2025, chapter 475, sets the sequence. The county may first keep the parcel for public use or give it to a nonprofit, after an independent appraisal. A parcel in a residential zone that was the former owner's primary residence when the taxes were assessed must be listed with a private real estate broker or agent at the highest price at which it is reasonably expected to sell. Every other parcel, and a residence the county cannot list after three tries or the broker cannot sell within 12 months, goes to a public high-bid auction with a minimum starting bid of two-thirds of fair market value, meaning the real market value on the most recent tax statement or a higher independent appraisal where one was required. The winning bid must also exceed the outstanding taxes and allowable costs. A parcel that fails to sell goes to a second auction whose minimum starting bid equals the outstanding taxes and allowable costs. The notice of sale states the minimum price the governing body fixed and, where available, the real market value on the tax roll. These rules apply where the owner received the ORS 312.125 foreclosure notice on or after May 25, 2023 (Oregon Laws 2025, chapter 475, section 13). A parcel foreclosed on an earlier notice can still be sold under the county's own ORS chapter 275 terms, so some counties set minimums below two-thirds of value, such as the taxes and costs alone.
Full Oregon rule detail for step 3, Learn what sends a parcel to the auction
What starts it, continued. A county may by ordinance shorten the wait for property subjected to waste or abandonment under ORS 312.122.
Step 4: Bid at the tax deed auction
The county sells the property at public auction to the highest bidder.
- Deposit and registration
- 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.
- Paying the balance
- Under ORS 275.190 the sale is to the highest and best bidder either for cash, or for at least 10 percent of the price in cash with the rest paid under a purchase agreement in equal installments over no more than 20 years at an interest rate the county sets, and the county must say in its advertisement which terms apply.
Full Oregon rule detail for step 4, Bid at the tax deed auction
Paying the balance, continued. A sale for cash may be structured as an earnest money deposit followed by one payment of the balance. The payment deadline is set by the county's sale terms.
Step 5: Or buy over the counter
You do not have to wait for an auction.
- How it works
- Oregon has no standing statewide over-the-counter list. Under ORS 275.200, when land the county ordered sold remains unsold after the sheriff's sale, the county governing body may sell it at private sale without further notice for not less than the largest bid made at the sheriff's sale or, if there was no bid, at a price the county considers reasonable but no less than 15 percent of the sheriff's-sale minimum.
Full Oregon rule detail for step 5, Or buy over the counter
How it works, continued. ORS 275.225 separately allows a private sale, after a published notice and a 15-day wait, of parcels with a real market value under 15,000 dollars that cannot be built on. Many counties keep an available-property list for these sales and take sealed or first-come offers. For property governed by ORS 312.520, a parcel that fails to sell at the second auction may instead be kept by the county or transferred to a nonprofit, so post-auction inventory varies by county and must be confirmed with the county office.
What the deed conveys in Oregon
When the county takes its deed after foreclosure, ORS 312.270(1) vests title in the county free from all liens and encumbrances except local improvement assessments of a municipal corporation, and ORS 312.270(2) gives a private purchaser at the county's resale title free and clear of those local improvement assessments as well. ORS 312.214 to 312.230 declare that the county's tax-foreclosure title should have the utmost stability. Buyers should still order a title report before bidding, because the statutes do not address every interest, such as federal liens.
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 Oregon: common questions
How do you buy a tax deed in Oregon?
Can you buy Oregon tax deeds online?
More Oregon answers, including redemption and statute detail, are on the Oregon tax sale FAQ. New to this? Start with tax lien vs tax deed and the full Oregon walkthrough, then value a parcel with the due diligence guide.
Steps verified Sep 25, 2026 against Oregon 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.