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Tax Sale Atlas

Duchesne County, UT tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Duchesne County, UT tax sale, one of 2,862 counties in 36 states. Utah sells the deed itself, so no statutory investor interest rate applies. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Sep 11, 2026.

How tax deed sales work in Duchesne County, seat of Duchesne: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how Utah tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next sale
May, on the third Thursday.
Format
County site
County office
435-738-1228
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Sep 11, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
Look up a sale detail

Duchesne County Clerk/Auditor. Public Surplus. annual

Record quality: high. Last verified: 2026-09-11.

Delinquent Tax Sale and Surplus Sale, Duchesne County Clerk/Auditor (source accessed 2026-09-11)

Recorded reference information. Verify current sale conditions with the county. Read the full sale details.

Link to this detail

How Duchesne County sells delinquent taxes

No tax lien certificate sale

Utah sells no tax lien certificate to investors, and no statute in Title 59, Chapter 2, Part 13 creates one. The county treasurer holds the delinquency, interest and penalties accrue to the county, and the only instrument an investor can buy is the tax deed the county auditor issues at the May or June tax sale.

Tax deed sale

Public Surplus
Run by
Duchesne County Clerk/Auditor
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
May, on the third Thursday.
Sale list
Tax sale listing, Duchesne County Clerk/Auditor
When it runs
May, on the third Thursday. The county states that "Utah law states the tax sale shall be conducted in May or June of the current year. By county ordinance, the tax sale is scheduled for the third Thursday in May." The county moved its 2026 sale one week later, to May 28, to meet advertising requirements, and notes that any alternative date is noticed under Utah Code 59-2-1351.
Registration and deposit

Bidding is online through Public Surplus, where the county posts under the organization name "Duchesne County -Tax Sale." Register before bidding and give the exact name and address that will go on the deed, since the registered name is what the Clerk/Auditor puts on the tax deed, and disclose any conflict of interest at registration. Anyone who owes property tax on any real property at the time of registration is barred from bidding and may not have another party bid in their place. Payment is credit card or wire transfer only, submitted to Public Surplus through the PayMac payment processor; no cash, checks or money orders are taken. A credit card transaction is capped at $4,000, so larger amounts must be wired. Pay in full within five business days of the close of the auction, in one transaction, with no partial or split payments, and a bidder who wins several parcels must pay for all of them or all the purchases default. A winner who does not pay Public Surplus within two hours after the sale ends can lose the parcel to the next highest bidder, and must post a $500 bond before bidding in future county sales.

Sale format and venue
Duchesne County runs a straight highest-dollar auction on the whole parcel, not a preferred-bid or lowest-acreage sale. The commission's method of sale states that "the highest bid amount for the entire parcel of property shall be accepted," and the county rules add that "there will not be any bidder preference at the Duchesne County Tax Sale." Opening bid is the full amount of taxes, penalties, interest and administrative costs, and a bid below that figure is not accepted. Administrative costs add $340 per parcel, bidding advances in $100 increments once the minimum is met, and an 8% buyer's premium with a $1 minimum is added to the final bid. Anything paid above the taxes, penalties, interest and costs is treated as surplus and sent to the State Treasurer. Parcels that draw no bid are stricken to Duchesne County under Utah Code 59-2-1351.3. A winning bid cannot be unilaterally rescinded, and the county can pursue a judgment for the bid amount plus interest and fees against a bidder who walks. Bids remain conditional through a ten-day written protest window to the County Commissioners and until the Commission ratifies the sale at a regular meeting, after which the Clerk/Auditor prepares the tax deed and the Recorder records it and mails it to the purchaser. Parcels can carry rollback tax under the Farmland Assessment Act. The county states that all bidders are responsible for their own research and that the Recorder's office sells parcel maps.
Register on Public Surplus

Duchesne County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Duchesne 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.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Tax sale listing, Duchesne County Clerk/Auditor for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.
  2. Register to bid

    Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.
  3. Sale day

    May, on the third Thursday. Bidding runs on County site; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.
  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Duchesne County Clerk/Auditor as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Duchesne County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Tax sale listing, Duchesne County Clerk/Auditor. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.
  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Bidding is online through Public Surplus, where the county posts under the organization name "Duchesne County -Tax Sale." Register before bidding and give the exact name and address that will go on the deed, since the registered name is what the Clerk/Auditor puts on the tax deed, and disclose any conflict of interest at registration. Anyone who owes property tax on any real property at the time of registration is barred from bidding and may not have another party bid in their place. Payment is credit card or wire transfer only, submitted to Public Surplus through the PayMac payment processor; no cash, checks or money orders are taken. A credit card transaction is capped at $4,000, so larger amounts must be wired. Pay in full within five business days of the close of the auction, in one transaction, with no partial or split payments, and a bidder who wins several parcels must pay for all of them or all the purchases default. A winner who does not pay Public Surplus within two hours after the sale ends can lose the parcel to the next highest bidder, and must post a $500 bond before bidding in future county sales.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Utah 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 Utah before you price the title work.
  4. 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

Utah sells no tax lien certificates, so there is nothing to buy over the counter between sales except land the county already owns. Any parcel offered at the tax sale with no purchaser is struck off to the county and fee simple title vests there. The county legislative body may then dispose of that property for a price and on terms it sets, with the county clerk executing the deed, and may also rent or lease it. Terms are set county by county and there is no statewide list, so ask the county auditor or clerk what the county holds from earlier tax sales and how it sells it.

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Utah calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax sale office

Duchesne County Clerk/Auditor

435-738-1228

734 North Center Street, PO Box 910, Duchesne, UT 84021

Official website

County notes

  • The Duchesne County tax sale is online only. The county states "THIS WILL BE AN ONLINE AUCTION" and that it is conducted via the Public Surplus website, so there is no courthouse bidding room to attend.
  • The Clerk/Auditor posts the tax sale listing on its Delinquent Tax Sale page with parcel number, owner name, amount due and legal description, and marks parcels that redeem before the sale. The county calls the website listing a courtesy that is not the official list, and warns it may contain errors, so confirm against the published notice and the office before bidding.
  • Two offices split the work. The Treasurer handles the delinquency, penalties, interest and redemption and forwards parcels that hit five years delinquent to the Clerk/Auditor around March 15, after which payment must be cash or certified funds. The Clerk/Auditor conducts the May sale and issues the deed.
  • Redemption ends at 5:00 p.m. on the business day immediately preceding the noticed sale date, and the Clerk/Auditor pulls any parcel redeemed by that cutoff. Once the tax deed issues there is no post-sale redemption period for the former owner.
  • Inventory skews rural and small. Recent Duchesne County sale listings have been dominated by subdivision lots in Cove Acres and Lakeside Acres and by unimproved acreage tracts described by section, township and range, several of them undivided fractional interests rather than whole parcels. Read each legal description before bidding.
  • Duchesne County offers no financing program for tax sale purchases.

Utah rules

Redemption
Utah gives the buyer no post-sale redemption risk and gives the owner no post-sale second chance. Any person may redeem on behalf of the record owner at any time before the tax sale, which is held in May or June following the lapse of four years from the date the tax or tax notice charge became delinquent. Once the auditor accepts a bid and executes the tax deed, the conveyance is in fee simple and the deed is prima facie evidence of the regularity of everything that led to it. What replaces a redemption period here is a limitation period on challenges: an action or defense to recover, take possession of, quiet title to, or determine ownership of the property may not be brought against the holder of a tax title more than four years after the sale or conveyance, and that bar does not reach an owner who actually occupied the property within four years of the action, or a city or town asserting an equal or superior lien.
Deed deposit
Utah Code sets no statewide deposit. Each county fixes its own terms by ordinance and in the auction notice, and they differ: Salt Lake County requires a refundable 500 dollar deposit wired before bidding opens, while Utah County's notice warns only that bidders may be subject to nonrefundable fees or deposits depending on the bid method used. Confirm the deposit, the deadline for posting it, and whether it is refundable before you register.
Surplus proceeds
Sale money goes into the county treasury and the treasurer settles with the taxing entities and tax notice charge entities. Anything above the delinquent taxes, tax notice charges, penalties, interest and administrative costs is treated as unclaimed property under Title 67, Chapter 4a, the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, rather than paid out by the county as a surplus fund. A former owner therefore claims it through the state unclaimed property process, not from the auditor.
Governing statute
Utah Code Title 59, Chapter 2, Part 13

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.

See the full Utahrules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Duchesne County, Utah sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax deeds. Utah sells no tax lien certificates to investors; the County Auditor sells the property itself at a public tax sale.

How often does Duchesne County hold tax deed sales?

Duchesne County holds its tax deed sale once a year. May, on the third Thursday. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Utah's redemption rule: None after the sale. Redemption runs up to the moment the county auditor opens bidding at the May or June tax sale and ends there. Call the Duchesne County Clerk/Auditor as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the Duchesne County tax sale list?

Duchesne County posts its tax sale list at duchesne.utah.gov. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

Verified Sep 11, 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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