Essex County, VT tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Essex County has 13 organized towns, and each runs its own tax sale: Bloomfield, Brighton, Brunswick, Canaan, Concord, East Haven, Granby, Guildhall, Lemington, Lunenburg, Maidstone, Norton and Victory.
• •Concord: Delinquent Tax Collector Audra Girouard held the town's most recent posted sale on Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 10:00 A.M. at the Concord Municipal Building, 385 Main Street. The list of parcels appeared in the town's published Notice of Tax Sale on its website.
• •Concord treasurer's office: 802-695-2910, extension 23, 385 Main Street, P.O. Box 317, Concord, VT 05824. The town offers a delinquent tax payment agreement.
• •Canaan: Delinquent Tax Collector Dencie Cunningham decides when to hold a sale, generally for taxes two years in arrears with no payment plan. Sales typically happen during or after October.
• •Canaan advertises each sale list in the Colebrook Chronicle and on the town's Delinquent Tax Collector webpage. Call 802-266-8206 or write PO Box 4, Canaan, VT 05903.
• •Maidstone: the Delinquent Tax Collector posts a monthly delinquent tax list on the town website, showing balances by taxpayer. The August 31, 2026 list totals $39,251.14.
• •Maidstone policy starts the sale process when taxes stay unpaid for two years, after Selectboard approval, and charges the owner sale costs including legal fees of up to 15 percent of the delinquent tax. Town office: 802-676-3210.
• •Guildhall, the county seat: the Town Treasurer serves as tax collector, and town policy considers a tax sale once two years of taxes remain unpaid. Office: 13 Courthouse Drive, P.O. Box 10, Guildhall, VT 05905, 802-676-3797.
• •Lunenburg: the town office at 9 West Main Street, PO Box 54, Lunenburg, VT 05906 (802-892-5959) accepts delinquent tax payments. No sale list is posted on the town site.
• •Brighton (Island Pond): contact the town office at 49 Mill Street, P.O. Box 377, Island Pond, VT 05846, 802-723-4405. No sale list is posted on the town site.
• •For Bloomfield, Brunswick, East Haven, Granby, Lemington, Norton and Victory, sale notices and lists appear in the local newspaper and at the town clerk's or collector's office.
• •The unorganized towns and gores of Averill, Ferdinand, Lewis, Avery's Gore, Warner's Grant and Warren Gore have no town office of their own; ask the county's supervisor of unorganized towns and gores about any sale there.

Vermont rules

Redemption

The owner, a lienholder or a mortgagee, or their representatives or assigns, may redeem within one year from the day of sale by paying or tendering to the collector who made the sale (or to the town clerk if the collector has died or left town) the sum for which the land was sold plus 1 percent a month, with a part month counted as a full month. The money is paid over to the buyer on demand and no deed is made. Between 90 and 120 days before the year ends the collector must send the owner, by certified mail, and post a warning stating the date redemption ends and the amount due. If no one redeems, the collector executes a deed to the buyer.32 V.S.A. § 5260, redemption within one year from the day of sale at 1 percent a month or fraction on the sum for which the land was sold; notice 90 to 120 days before the end32 V.S.A. § 5260Verified Sep 27, 2026

Deed deposit

No statute sets a deposit or registration requirement. The statutory return form records the sale as made 'for cash' to the highest bidder (§ 5255). Each town sets its own payment terms; read them in the town's notice.32 V.S.A. § 5252, collector's warrant and levy on real estate: $1,500 and more-than-one-year delinquency threshold, repayment-plan offer, recording, advertising and mailed notice32 V.S.A. § 5252Verified Sep 27, 2026

Surplus proceeds

No Vermont statute addresses what happens to the part of a winning bid above the taxes, costs and fees when the property is not redeemed. §§ 5251 to 5263 are silent, and no act of 2023 through 2026 amends §§ 5253 to 5263. If the property is redeemed, the whole sale price comes back to the buyer with interest (§ 5260(a)). 2024 Act 106 Sec. 7 created a working group to recommend whether an owner whose property passes by collector's deed should be able to recoup the equity above the tax debt; as of the 2026 session no such change has been enacted. By contrast, a sale on distraint of personal property returns the balance to the taxpayer (§ 5193), and in a court foreclosure of the tax lien the commissioner disposes of any residue with the court's approval (§ 5061(b)). Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023) bears on this, so ask the town how it handles excess proceeds before bidding.2024 Acts and Resolves No. 106 (H.629), an act relating to changes to property tax abatement and tax sales: repayment-plan offer, notice changes, and a working group on whether owners should recoup equityVerified Sep 27, 2026

Governing statute

32 V.S.A. § 477232 V.S.A. § 4772, collector mails the tax notice at least 30 days before the payment date32 V.S.A. § 4772Verified Sep 27, 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.

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