Washington County, RI tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Washington County, RI tax sale, one of 3,131 counties in 51 states. Rhode Island sells redeemable deeds carrying a 10% redemption penalty that rises the longer the owner waits. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from state rules plus city and town notices on Sep 28, 2026.
How tax deed sales work in Washington County, seat of South Kingstown: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Rhode Island tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- Set by each city or town
- Registration
- Each town sets its own terms.
- County seat collector
- (401) 789-9331 x1215
On this page
How Washington County sells delinquent taxes
No tax lien certificate sale
Rhode Island issues no tax lien certificate: the city or town tax collector sells a tax title by collector's deed, subject to redemption. Some municipal pages and platform listings call what the buyer receives a 'tax sale lien', which describes how the title works (it is held as security for repayment) rather than a separate instrument.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- The tax collector of each of the county's nine towns (Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Narragansett, New Shoreham, North Kingstown, Richmond, South Kingstown and Westerly). Washington County has no government and holds no tax sale itself.
- Frequency
- Set by each city or town
- Typical timing
- No countywide date.
- Registration
- Each town sets its own terms.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Sale format and venue
Washington County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Washington County tax sale 2026 searches, use the city and town sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the collector of the city or town holding the sale 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.
Confirm the advertised parcel list
Use Town of Narragansett 2026 Collector's Sale of Estates notice, October 15, 2026 sale (parcel list) as a starting reference. Check which sale or list it covers; a Lands Available or office information page is separate from an auction parcel list. Ask the sale office for the advertised parcels for the auction you plan to attend.Register to bid
Sale day
Each city or town picks its own platform or in-person venue. Confirm the date and registration window with that town’s collector before you bid.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, treat the collector of the city or town holding the sale as the source for which parcels are actually offered. Do not rely on a third-party list for final parcel status.
Before you bid in Washington County
4 checks
Confirm the parcel list before pricing
Open Town of Narragansett 2026 Collector's Sale of Estates notice, October 15, 2026 sale (parcel list). Confirm whether this reference contains the auction parcels or covers a different list. Get the advertised parcel list from the town before you price a bid, and recheck it before the sale.Confirm registration and deposit
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island 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
No standing over-the-counter list. Parcels with no bidder are bought by the city or town, and its treasurer may, at its discretion, assign a tax title it holds to a private buyer for the amount then needed to redeem. Whether a municipality does so is its own choice; ask the treasurer of the city or town.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Rhode Island calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
Local offices
County notes
- Washington County holds no tax sale itself. Each of its nine towns runs its own sale through its own tax collector, on its own date and terms, so confirm the date, parcel list and payment terms with the town before bidding.
- South Kingstown: the Tax Collector's Office holds an annual tax sale for unpaid real estate taxes and sewer bills in the Town Council Chambers, 180 High St., Wakefield. The town posts no sale list online; once a sale is scheduled, the list is available at the Tax Collector's Office and runs in the legal section of The Narragansett Times for three consecutive weeks before the sale. Call (401) 789-9331 x1215 for the next date.
- Westerly: the Tax Collector held its most recent sale on April 7, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. in the Town Council Chambers, Westerly Town Hall, 45 Broad Street, selling in person to the highest bidder. The town posted the full parcel list online in its sale notice. Terms are cash or bank check only. Contact the Tax Collector at 401-348-2522.
- Narragansett: the Tax Collector has scheduled the 2026 sale for Thursday, October 15, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. in the Assembly Room of Town Hall, 25 Fifth Ave., for taxes assessed December 31, 2024 and prior years plus sewer charges. The town posted the parcel list online in its sale notice. Terms are cash. Contact the Office of Tax Collection at 401-782-0628.
- Charlestown: the Tax Collector's Office is at 4540 South County Trail, Charlestown, phone (401) 364-1234. The town posts no tax sale date or sale list online; watch the local newspaper legal notices and call the office for the next sale.
- North Kingstown: tax collection is handled by the Finance Department at 100 Fairway Drive, North Kingstown, phone 401-294-3331. The town's website posts no tax sale date or sale list; watch the local newspaper legal notices and call the Finance Department.
- Richmond: the Tax Collections Department is at 5 Richmond Townhouse Rd., Wyoming, phone (401) 539-9000 ext. 4. The town posts no tax sale date or sale list online; watch the local newspaper legal notices and call the collector.
- New Shoreham (Block Island): the Tax Collector can be reached at 401-466-3230; Town Hall mail goes to PO Box 220, Block Island. The town posts no tax sale date or sale list online; call the Tax Collector for the next sale.
- Hopkinton and Exeter: neither town posts a tax sale date or sale list online. Contact each town's Tax Collector at town hall and watch the local newspaper legal notices, where every Rhode Island sale list must be published before the sale.
Rhode Island rules
- Redemption
- Any person entitled to notice of the sale may redeem at any time before a petition to foreclose is filed, and a private buyer cannot file that petition until one year after the sale, so the owner always has at least a year. There is no fixed outer deadline: redemption stays open until the petition is filed, and during the proceeding the court may still allow a party who files a timely answer to redeem on terms it fixes. For the first year the city or town treasurer acts as the buyer's agent to receive redemption money; after that, redemption is paid to the buyer or the buyer's agent. Shorter and longer tracks apply to abandoned or vacant property and to tax titles held by Rhode Island Housing.
- Deed deposit
- No statewide deposit rule. Each municipality sets its own. Providence required a $1,500 certified-check bond at registration for its 2024 online sale, returned afterward and forfeited if a winning bid is not paid; East Providence's 2026 notice states terms of cash or bank check only.
- Surplus proceeds
- The collector's sale itself produces no surplus, because the price is fixed at the amount due. Chapter 44-9 contains no provision returning equity to the former owner when a private tax title holder forecloses the right of redemption and takes the parcel (44-9-24, 44-9-30), and no 2023 to 2026 post-Tyler amendment appears in the chapter as published on 2026-09-27. Surplus rules exist only for two narrower routes: a treasurer's sale of low-value city-held land without foreclosure (44-9-36), whose surplus is held for the person entitled for five years and then goes to the city or town (44-9-37); and parcels whose tax title Rhode Island Housing bought under 44-9-8.3, which RIHousing's Madeline Walker Act rule (825-RICR-40-00-2, effective July 31, 2025) has it sell at public auction after foreclosure and pay any surplus to the former homeowner on a claim filed within 90 days of that sale. A 2026 bill (S 2713, the Property Equity Protection Act) would add equity protections but is not law.
What the deed conveys: The tax lien outranks mortgages and other liens except easements, restrictions and prior tax titles held by Rhode Island Housing, and later tax titles outrank earlier ones (44-9-1, 44-9-12). After one year from the sale, the tax title holder becomes jointly and severally liable with the owner for the property's compliance with state and municipal codes even before foreclosure. Where the winning bid was for less than 100 percent, the deed and any foreclosure cover only that undivided share, leaving the buyer a co-owner with the former owner. The recorded collector's deed is prima facie evidence of all facts essential to the validity of the title it conveys (44-9-12), and title becomes absolute once the Superior Court decrees foreclosure of the right of redemption (44-9-24). No decree may be vacated except in a separate action filed within six months of its entry, and only for inadequate notice of the petition amounting to a denial of due process or because the taxes had been paid or were not due because the property was exempt (44-9-24). A title found invalid for errors in the tax proceedings is refunded with 1 percent a month interest (44-9-43). See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Washington County, Rhode Island sell tax liens or tax deeds?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Washington County tax sale list?
Verified Sep 28, 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 office that runs the sale before you bid.
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