Franklin County, WA
Annual tax foreclosure auction, tentatively Dec 11 — full payment due right after the sale
Franklin County, Washington, home to Pasco, has posted that its 2026 foreclosure auction is tentatively scheduled for December 11, 2026. The county holds one foreclosure sale a year under RCW 84.64.060, and its FAQ says the sale is held online on GovEase, where the results of the previous sale are also posted. The notice that matters most to bidders is about money: Franklin County offers no financing, and payment must be made in full immediately after the sale, by cash or cashier's check payable to the Franklin County Treasurer — no other form of payment is accepted. The parcels in this cycle are in the 2026 notice and summons the county filed with the court (case 26-2-50692-11), linked from its tax foreclosure page; because owners can redeem up to the day before the sale, that list only gets shorter.
Foreclosure starts when real property taxes are three years delinquent: the treasurer files a certificate of delinquency in superior court, foreclosure costs of about $1,500 a parcel start to accrue, a title search is run on each parcel, and every party with a recorded interest is served by certified or registered mail, with the notice and summons also published in the local paper (RCW 84.64.050). The court then enters judgment and authorizes the sale. The county is explicit about what it doesn't promise: sales may be subject to special assessment liens of other taxing districts and to federal liens the sale doesn't wipe out, and if a prior lienholder later tries to collect, defending against it is the new owner's job (RCW 84.64.080). A deed is issued within 30 to 60 days and mailed to the address on the bidder registration. Former owners who were minors or legally incompetent keep a three-year right to redeem, the prior record owner can claim any surplus for three years, and parcels with no bid become tax-title property held in trust for the taxing districts (RCW 36.35).
Washington rules at a glance
Washington sells no lien certificates: three years after taxes go delinquent the county treasurer forecloses in superior court and auctions the property itself, with a minimum bid equal to the taxes, interest and costs (RCW 84.64.050, 84.64.080). The owner can redeem until the close of business the day before the sale; after it, the buyer gets a treasurer's tax deed and there is no redemption, except that a minor or a person adjudicated legally incompetent can redeem within three years by repaying the price with interest and the value of good-faith improvements (RCW 84.64.070). Anything bid above the minimum is held for the owner of record for three years.
The statute, the bidding and what goes wrong for new buyers are on the Washington page; every sale date we have sourced for Franklin County is on the Franklin County page.
Property & tax profile
The median homeowner in Franklin County pays $2,750 a year in property tax — below the Washington median of $4,556 (U.S.: $3,119). That is roughly what a typical home here owes for each year it goes unpaid — the debt that the opening bid at a deed sale is usually built from, plus interest and costs. Homes with a mortgage pay a median of $2,840; homes owned outright, $2,575.
On a home with a mortgage, the lender has its own reason to pay a delinquent tax bill: the tax lien outranks the mortgage, and a tax deed can wipe out the loan. On a home owned outright, nobody but the owner — or the heirs — has that reason. In Franklin County, 34.3% of owner-occupied homes are owned outright (Washington: 33.9%, U.S.: 39.4%). About the same as the state as a whole.
4.1% of all housing units in Franklin County are vacant. The figure that matters for a buyer at the tax sale is the Census “other vacant” category — not for rent, not for sale, not a holiday home, but a catch-all that includes foreclosures, homes held up by legal proceedings or family reasons, homes needing repairs, and abandoned ones. Here it is 1.5% of all units (Washington: 2.0%, U.S.: 3.6%). That is below the state rate: fewer empty properties on the list than elsewhere in Washington.
Half of the homes in Franklin County were built in or before 1997 (Washington: in or before 1985) — newer than most of the state. The typical tax bill is 3.2% of the median household income of $86,714 (Washington: 4.6%).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates (tables B25077, B25103, B25081, B25002, B25004, B25035, B19013) — see the figures on data.census.gov. Survey estimates with margins of error; anything too uncertain to state is left out.
Before you bid: The date is tentative, so check the Franklin County Treasurer's tax foreclosure page for the confirmed date and the GovEase listing. City LID liens are announced when known, but the county won't reverse a sale because a bidder misread a legal description — research every parcel first.
Official source: franklincountywa.gov — checked October 4, 2026
More sales: 19 other county sales are on the calendar in December 2026 — see them by date; or the upcoming sales in Washington.
This page reflects publicly posted county auction notices as of publication and is general information, not financial or legal advice. Sale details can change — always confirm current terms with the county directly.