Adams County

When and where: October 26 to November 6, 2026

The Treasurer and Public Trustee, Alexander Villagran, advertises the sale as a public sale via internet, October 26 to November 6, 2026, on adams.coloradotaxsale.com. The county's own page puts it simply: "The Tax Lien Sale is an internet tax sale." There is no room, no paddle and no trip to Brighton; registration, the list of liens and the bidding are all on that website.

Registration is open October 19 through October 30, 2026, which means it opens a week before bidding starts and closes while bidding is still running. The county page does not give a daily start or end time for bidding, so read the schedule on the bidding site once your account is active. The county also says its information for the current year's sale goes up in mid-October, and flags dates as subject to change. Questions about the sale go to the Treasurer's office at 720.523.6160.

What the notice says is being sold

The sale notice is headed "Delinquent Real Estate and Home Tax List for Tax Year 2025". It offers the delinquent general and special real estate taxes, plus interest, penalties, advertising and other charges allowed by law, on parcels whose 2025 taxes were not paid. It ran in the Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel on September 24, October 1 and October 8, 2026. The notice adds that amounts listed for sale may include delinquent taxes and assessments from more than one tax year, and that a building more than fifty years old may qualify for historical designation.

The full list is a PDF of about 50 pages on the county page. The treasurer also posts the Unredeemed Tax Lien List, a County Held Lien List and the Tax Sale Notice there. Use those and the bidding site to check a parcel; this page does not copy any owner name or amount, and owners can still pay before a lien is sold, so a parcel that appears on the printed list may not be offered.

How you win: a premium, not a lower rate

In Colorado the interest rate is not bid down. The county's page lists the Statutory Redemption Interest rate at 13%, effective October 1, 2026 (the state sets it each September at nine points above the federal discount rate, C.R.S. 39-12-103). Because every buyer gets the same 13%, the competition is over the premium: the amount you pay above the taxes, interest and charges. Adams County says it plainly: "Bonus bids (premiums) are not returned."

That changes the arithmetic. A premium earns no interest, and it is not part of what comes back to you when the owner redeems. The Treasurer's Deed page repeats the point: premium bids are not refunded. On a $1,500 lien with a $150 premium, one year of 13% interest is $195, so you clear $45 on $1,650. After six months the interest is about $98, so you are $52 down. Price the premium against how long you think the owner will take.

What the county page does not give is the registration deposit, the bidding increment or the payment deadline. Those are in the rules on the bidding site, which this page could not read. Find them before you register, not after you win.

What you buy: a recorded lien, not the property

The buyer is issued a Tax Lien Sale Certificate of Purchase, a properly recorded lien. Buying one gives you no right to possess, use or improve the property. The owner keeps the property and can redeem at any time before a Treasurer's Deed is issued. When they do, the county pays the certificate holder the taxes, penalty interest, advertising and legal charges you paid, plus interest at the statutory rate.

If you later pay the owner's following-year taxes, they can be added to your certificate. The treasurer publishes an Endorsement List for that. The county says sub-taxing normally happens after August 1 each year, which is when redemption interest begins to accrue on the later payment. A lien sold in error is not simply cancelled: the county pays the holder accrued interest at 8% per year on this year's delinquent liens.

The deed route: three years, an application, then an auction

If a lien stays unredeemed three years from the certificate date, the holder can apply for a Treasurer's Deed. Applications can be filed three calendar months before the third anniversary, and the subsequent and current taxes must already be paid and endorsed. Under the rules in force since July 1, 2024 (HB 24-1056), only the certificate holder can apply, only for real property and mineral rights (mobile and manufactured homes are excluded), and the application needs a $1,250 fee by separate check for each one.

The deed is no longer simply handed over. The option for the deed is sold at an in-person public auction to the highest bidder, about 120 days after the first advertisement; the county says the whole process takes about six months if nothing goes wrong. If the lien is redeemed first, you get your investment, interest and the application fee back. If the option sells, you receive the same, or you can take the property by paying the auction price. The deed is not issued until all later property tax liens are paid in full.

If the option sells for more than the lien holders are owed, the county says the property owner may have funds due and tells them to contact the Treasurer's Office after the auction. There is also a time limit: under Senate Bill 26-144, a certificate issued from January 1, 2026 expires seven years after issue unless a deed application is pending (C.R.S. 39-11-148). The deed rules changed again on June 1, 2026, so read the county's current page before applying. The sale itself is also in our Market Pulse note, and the state rules are on our Colorado page.

Four ways people lose money here

1. 1. Assuming the premium comes back

   It does not. Adams County says bonus bids are not returned, and a premium earns no interest. At 13%, a 10% premium needs more than nine months of interest to break even.

2. 2. Waiting for registration to close

   Registration closes October 30, but bidding began on October 26 and runs to November 6. Register early so you can see the rules and the liens before the bidding is under way.

3. 3. Expecting a house

   A certificate gives no right to the property. The owner can redeem until a deed is issued, and the deed itself now goes through an auction after three years.

4. 4. Working from an old list

   Owners can pay before a lien is sold. The 2025 mobile home materials on the county page are from last year; check which sale a document belongs to.