Colusa County, CA tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •County seat is Colusa; the Treasurer-Tax Collector office is at 547 Market Street, Suite 111, Colusa, CA 95932.
• •Cindy Dillard signs the auction notices as Colusa County Tax Collector.
• •Office contact per the department page: phone (530) 458-0440, fax (530) 458-0442, email colusattc@countyofcolusaca.gov. Lobby hours Monday through Friday 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, office to 5:00 pm.
• •Auction platform is Public Surplus, not Bid4Assets. Bid4Assets hosted a Colusa virtual tax sale in 2021, but the 2025 official notice and terms both name www.publicsurplus.com.
• •Two sale formats exist: the September online public auction on Public Surplus, and an occasional sealed-bid sale at the Tax Collector's office under R&T Code 3692(c) for parcels that are unusable due to size, location, or access (the November 5th, 2025 sale offered a single parcel with a $5,969.36 minimum bid).
• •The Notice of Public Auction PDF itself carries the parcel list with APNs, owner names, descriptions, and minimum bids. The 2025 notice listed roughly 30 parcels across Colusa, Williams, Stonyford, Arbuckle, Princeton, Sites, and Maxwell.
• •The 2025 notice prints the county website as www.countyofcolusa.org, but the live and fetchable domain is www.countyofcolusaca.gov.
• •A 2025 Tax Sale Results document is posted under the Results section; historical auction data requires a written request to the Tax Collector.
• •No 2026 auction notice was posted on the county publications page as of this research, so the next sale date is unconfirmed.

California rules

Redemption

Tax-defaulted property may be redeemed until the right of redemption is terminated (section 4101). That right terminates at the close of business on the last business day prior to the commencement date of the tax sale, and the start of the auction counts as the sale date no matter when bidding closes. A redemption payment sent by mail must be received in the tax collector's office before that deadline. California has no post-sale redemption period: once the auction opens, a record owner who has not redeemed loses all legal and equitable interest in the property. Two situations revive the right of redemption. The right revives if the property is not sold, and it revives on the next business day if the tax collector approved a credit sale and the buyer did not pay in full by the deadline the tax collector set.California Revenue and Taxation Code 3707 - right of redemption terminates at close of business on the last business day before the saleCal. Rev. & Tax. Code 3707Verified Jul 25, 2026

Deed deposit

The tax collector may require a deposit and must give public notice before the sale of its amount, payment method, and due date, and of whether it is a condition of bidding or applies toward the purchase price. On a sale the tax collector approves as a deferred-payment transaction, the deposit may be $5,000 or 10 percent of the minimum bid price, whichever is greater. Counties set the specific figure, so confirm it on the county page or auction platform.California Revenue and Taxation Code 3706 - sale at public auction to the highest bidder, no bid below the approved minimum priceCal. Rev. & Tax. Code 3706Verified Jul 25, 2026

Surplus proceeds

Sale proceeds first cover statutory distributions, then taxes, assessments, and county costs. Anything left is excess proceeds held in the delinquent tax sale trust fund. A party of interest may file a claim at any time before one year after the tax collector's deed to the purchaser is recorded. Distribution runs first to lienholders of record before the tax deed was recorded, in order of their priority, then to persons with title of record. Excess proceeds not claimed within that year may be transferred to the county general fund.California Revenue and Taxation Code 4675 - claims for excess proceeds within one year of recordation of the tax deed, and claim priorityCal. Rev. & Tax. Code 4675Verified Jul 25, 2026

Governing statute

Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code, Division 1, Part 6 (sections 3351 to 3972)California Revenue and Taxation Code 3691 - power to sell tax-defaulted property after five years, three years for nonresidential commercialCal. Rev. & Tax. Code 3691Verified Jul 25, 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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