San Juan County, WA tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the San Juan County, WA tax sale, one of 3,131 counties in 51 states. Washington sells the property itself, so no statutory investor interest rate applies. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Aug 16, 2026.
How tax deed sales work in San Juan County, seat of Friday Harbor: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Washington tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- About once a year, with no fixed month published.
- Format
- In person
- County office
- 360-378-2171
On this page
How San Juan County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- San Juan County Treasurer's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- About once a year, with no fixed month published.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Pre-register online or at the Treasurer's Office starting one week before the auction, or register at least 30 minutes before the sale; there is no registration fee. All bidders or their agents must be present, read and sign the terms of sale, and bid by raising an issued bidder number card in this oral auction. Bids rise in increments of at least $100, and the winning bidder pays in full immediately by cash, cashier's check, or money order payable to San Juan County Treasurer; personal and business checks are not accepted.
Sale format and venue
San Juan County tax sale list and auction calendar
For San Juan 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.
Confirm the advertised parcel list
Use Foreclosure minimum bid list (via Public Auction Process page) 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
Ask the San Juan County Treasurer's Office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
About once a year, with no fixed month published. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the San Juan County Treasurer's Office before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use the San Juan County Treasurer's Office as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in San Juan County
4 checks
Confirm the parcel list before pricing
Open Foreclosure minimum bid list (via Public Auction Process page). Confirm whether this reference contains the auction parcels or covers a different list. Get the advertised parcel list from the county before you price a bid, and recheck it before the sale.Confirm registration and deposit
Pre-register online or at the Treasurer's Office starting one week before the auction, or register at least 30 minutes before the sale; there is no registration fee. All bidders or their agents must be present, read and sign the terms of sale, and bid by raising an issued bidder number card in this oral auction. Bids rise in increments of at least $100, and the winning bidder pays in full immediately by cash, cashier's check, or money order payable to San Juan County Treasurer; personal and business checks are not accepted.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Washington 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 Washington 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
Washington counties keep no standing over-the-counter list. Parcels that draw no sufficient bid are struck to the county in trust for the taxing districts as tax-title property. The county resells that inventory under chapter 36.35 RCW, usually at a later sale at a minimum price fixed by the county legislative authority after three weeks of published notice, and in limited cases by direct sale without bids, including within twelve months after a failed auction. Whether any tax-title inventory exists, and how this county sells it, must be confirmed on the county's tax-title or surplus property page.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Washington calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax sale office
San Juan County Treasurer's Office
350 Court Street, 1st Floor, Friday Harbor, WA 98250 (mailing: P.O. Box 639, Friday Harbor, WA 98250)
Official websiteCounty notes
- The sale format is a county-run oral auction with bidder cards; the Public Auction Process page requires bidders to be physically present and warns that ferry schedules change, so no online platform URL applies.
- No fixed sale month is published anywhere on the county site; the county's own stated cadence is "usually held once a year" and the minimum bid list appears only after the certificate of delinquency is filed.
- Payment is due in full immediately after a winning bid; a bidder who fails to pay sees the parcel re-auctioned at the minimum bid and is barred from further bidding that day.
Washington rules
- Redemption
- Any property on which a certificate of delinquency has been issued may be redeemed at any time before the close of business the day before the day of the sale. Washington has no general post-sale redemption period: once the treasurer sells the parcel, the sale is final for a competent adult owner. The one exception protects minors and persons adjudicated legally incompetent, whose property may be redeemed at any time within three years after the date of sale, on payment of the amount for which the property was sold plus interest at the statutory delinquent-tax rate from the date of sale, plus the reasonable value of improvements made in good faith on the property, less the value of their use. No fee may be charged for any redemption.
- Deed deposit
- For an auction conducted by electronic media, prospective bidders must deposit funds with the treasurer to participate, deposits of non-winning bidders are refunded within ten business days, and payment is by electronic funds transfer. Deposit amounts for in-person sales are set county by county, so confirm the figure on the county treasurer page or the auction platform terms.
- Surplus proceeds
- If the winning bid exceeds the minimum bid due on the whole property, the excess is refunded to the record owner. The record owner is the person who held title on the date the certificate of delinquency was issued. Surplus unclaimed within three years of the sale date is deposited in the county current expense fund, after which the claim is extinguished.
What the deed conveys: The treasurer executes a tax deed to the purchaser, recorded like any other conveyance, and it vests title in the grantee. The deed is prima facie evidence that the property was subject to taxation, that the taxes were unpaid, that the property was not redeemed, and that the sale was conducted in the manner required by law. The foreclosure judgment estops all parties from raising objections that existed at or before the judgment, except where the taxes were actually paid or the property was not taxable. Buyers should still expect to quiet title before reselling or insuring. See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does San Juan County, Washington sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does San Juan County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the San Juan County tax sale list?
Verified Aug 16, 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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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.