Emery County, UT tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Emery County sells tax deeds only. A parcel reaches the sale once its delinquent taxes run into the fifth year back, and the winning bidder takes a tax deed with no post-sale redemption window for the former owner.
• •Minimum bid on every parcel equals the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and administrative costs. The 2026 sale listed six parcels with minimum bids from $974.42 to $24,700.71, two of which were redeemed before the sale date.
• •A $400 administrative cost is charged per parcel. Any proceeds above the taxes and costs owed are treated as surplus and forwarded to the State Treasurer, not paid to the bidder.
• •Owners may redeem until 5:00 p.m. on the day before the sale, so parcels can leave the list in the final business hour. Confirm the surviving lineup with the Clerk/Auditor the afternoon before you travel.
• •Winning bids stay conditional until the Board of County Commissioners accepts them at a regular meeting, and the Commission may reject any and all bids. A protest of the sale must reach the Commission in writing within ten days.
• •Parcels that draw no buyer are struck off to Emery County and may afterward be sold only at fair market value rather than at the tax amount owed.
• •The tax deed carries no warranty of clear title, possession, zoning, buildability or condition. Some parcels can trigger a rollback tax under the Farmland Assessment Act, and parcels in bankruptcy are pulled from the sale.
• •Besides the county website, the notice and parcel list are posted to the Utah Public Notice Website under Emery County Commission.

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.Utah Code 59-2-1346 - Redemption and the time allowed for itUtah Code 59-2-1346Verified Sep 10, 2026

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.Utah Code 59-2-1351.1 - Tax sale, combining certain parcels, acceptable bids, deedsUtah Code 59-2-1351.1Verified Sep 10, 2026

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.Utah Code 59-2-1351.1 - Tax sale, combining certain parcels, acceptable bids, deedsUtah Code 59-2-1351.1Verified Sep 10, 2026

Governing statute

Utah Code Title 59, Chapter 2, Part 13Utah Code 59-2-1351 - Sales by county, notice of tax sale, entries on recordUtah Code 59-2-1351Verified Sep 10, 2026

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 →