The governing law
Utah is a tax deed state and sells no tax lien certificates at all. The county auditor holds one tax sale a year, in May or June, covering parcels still unredeemed on March 15 following the lapse of four years from the date the tax became delinquent, which in practice means five tax years are unpaid by sale day. The winning bidder takes a tax deed from the county in fee simple, and the former owner has no right of redemption once the sale closes. The part investors most often get wrong is the bidding. Utah Code 59-2-1351.1(4) gives the county governing body two different structures to choose between, and 59-2-1351.1(2)(b) has the county legislative body set the procedure by ordinance, so the format is a county fact rather than a state one. A county may run a highest-dollar auction for the whole parcel, or it may hold the price at the fixed minimum and make bidders compete by accepting a smaller share of the land, which Utah counties implement either as a smaller portion of the acreage or as a smaller undivided percentage of ownership. Read the county ordinance and the auditor's published terms before registering, because the two methods hand you very different assets for the same money.
Utah Code Title 59, Chapter 2, Part 13
Read the statuteCollection of Taxes, the part of the Property Tax Act that governs delinquency, redemption and the county tax sale
Utah Code 59-2-1331
Read the statuteProperty tax due date, delinquency, penalty and interest
Utah Code 59-2-1343
Read the statuteTax sale listing, the four-year lapse and the March 15 cutoff
Utah Code 59-2-1346
Read the statuteRedemption and the time allowed for it
Utah Code 59-2-1351
Read the statuteSales by county, notice of tax sale, entries on record
Utah Code 59-2-1351.1
Read the statuteTax sale, acceptable bids and deeds
Utah Code 59-2-1351.3
Read the statuteNo purchaser at tax sale, property struck off to county
Utah Code 59-2-1351.5
Read the statuteDisposition of property struck off to county
Utah Code 59-2-1351.7
Read the statutePartial interest tax sales, what an undivided-interest buyer collects on a later sale
Utah Code 59-2-1352
Read the statutePurchaser of an invalid tax title and the purchaser's lien
Utah Code 59-2-1362
Read the statuteCertified copy of the tax sale record as prima facie evidence of regularity
Utah Code 45-1-101
Read the statuteLegal notice publication requirements, the statewide public legal notice website
Utah Code 78B-2-206
Read the statuteHolder of tax title, the four-year limitation on actions against it
Utah Code 59-2-1301
Read the statuteTax has the effect of a judgment and the lien the force of an execution
Utah Code 59-2-1325
Read the statuteNature and extent of the property tax lien and when it attaches
Utah Code 59-2-1332.5
Read the statuteMailing notice of delinquency or publishing the delinquent list
Utah Code 59-2-1303
Read the statuteSeizure and sale of personal property, a public auction that is not the real property tax sale
Utah Code 59-2-1364
Read the statuteRecord of tax deeds issued and acknowledgment
Want the mechanics in plain English instead of statute numbers? See how to buy in Utah, the redemption period, and the full Utah walkthrough.
Statute citations verified Sep 10, 2026. Statutes are amended; always confirm the current text at the official link before you rely on it.
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.