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Tax Sale Atlas

Montrose County, CO tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Montrose County, CO tax sale, one of 2,553 counties in 30 states. Colorado sells tax lien certificates paying up to 14%, redeemable for 3 years. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Jul 30, 2026.

How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Montrose County, seat of Montrose: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how Colorado tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next sale
There is no fixed calendar.
Format
In person
Registration
What sells is a certificate of option for treasurer's deed, not the parcel outright.
County office
(970) 249-3565
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Jul 30, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Montrose County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
Montrose County Treasurer's Office
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Annual, held in late October.
Next expected
by the second Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Sale list
Delinquent Tax Sale List
When it runs
Annual, held in late October. The county's Tax Lien Sale Procedures state: "The sale of Montrose County delinquent tax and special assessment tax liens will be held on October 30, 2025. The sale will commence at 10:00 a.m. and will be conducted at Montrose County Event Center, 1036 North 7th Street, Montrose Colorado." Bidders are told to arrive no later than 9:30 a.m. because the doors lock at that time. A date for the next sale had not been posted on the county site at last check, so confirm the current year's date with the Treasurer's office.
Registration and deposit

Registration closes roughly three weeks before the sale and is handled on paper, not through an auction platform. The county's registration notice states: "All registrations will be completed electronically or by mail no later than October 10, 2025." Investors obtain two forms, the Investor Bidder Document and an IRS W-9, from the Treasurer's page, complete everything except the Social Security number and signature, and return them by email or post by the deadline. The notice adds: "The number of investors may be limited. THE PERMITTED INVESTORS WILL BE DECIDED BY THE ARRIVAL DATE OF THE REGISTRATION FORMS." Selected investors receive a confirmation email and are assigned a bidder number. The number and documents are placed on a matching numbered chair on sale day, where the Social Security number is recorded and the forms are signed.

Sale format and venue
Montrose County runs a live, in person tax lien sale at the Montrose County Event Center, 1036 N 7th St, Montrose. There is no online bidding platform, so remote bidding is not available. Bidding uses a round robin format: chairs are numbered to match bidder numbers, a number is drawn to start, and bidding proceeds in numerical order with each successive lien. A bidder may pass, but does not get another chance until the rotation comes back around. The procedures state that all bids "must be remitted at close of sale by cash or check" and that "Debit or Credit Cards will not be accepted," with payment taken immediately after the sale in the same room. Buyer agents are barred: "we have agreed NOT TO ALLOW AGENTS to participate in the sale" and "Only individuals buying tax liens on their own behalf will be allowed to participate." County officials, employees, and their immediate family may not buy. Parcels are offered under Title 39 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, following the published list order as closely as practical. For the 2025 sale the county set redemption interest at 14 percent, calculated by adding nine percentage points to the September 1 federal discount rate. Certificate holders may apply for a Treasurer's Deed after the third anniversary of the certificate, which starts a separate Treasurer's Deed public auction held in person at the Treasurer's office. Delinquent lists are published in the Montrose Daily Press and posted on the county site; the real property advertising list currently reports that there are none at this time, so the next cycle's list has not been posted yet. Caution: third party auction websites sometimes publish notices for this sale. The Treasurer's office conducts it in person and lists no online platform, so verify any such listing against the county site.
Source: Montrose County Treasurer's Tax Lien Sale Procedures (PDF)· Verified Jul 30, 2026

Tax deed sale

Run by
County Treasurer
Frequency
on application
Typical timing
There is no fixed calendar.
Registration
What sells is a certificate of option for treasurer's deed, not the parcel outright.
When it runs
There is no fixed calendar. A public auction is scheduled only when a certificate holder applies for one, at least three years after the tax lien sale, and the treasurer must hold it between 110 and 125 calendar days after the known interested party notice is first published or mailed.
Registration and deposit

What sells is a certificate of option for treasurer's deed, not the parcel outright. The treasurer may only accept bids above the combined amount owed to the lawful holder plus the treasurer's fees and costs. County officials, county employees acting in their individual capacity, and their immediate family members may not bid. Payment is by cash, cashier's check, bank check, or electronic funds transfer subject to the treasurer's bidding rules. Any overbid goes to junior lienors who filed a notice of intent to redeem and then to the property owner. Confirm the notice, the bidding rules, and the auction venue with the county treasurer.

Sale format and venue
This Article 11.5 process replaced direct deed issuance on July 1, 2024. Colorado does not hold a routine calendar tax deed sale, so treat this as an occasional, application-driven auction rather than a recurring event.
Source: C.R.S. 39-11.5-102 - Application for public auctionC.R.S. 39-11.5-102· Verified Jul 29, 2026

Montrose County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Montrose 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.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Delinquent Tax Sale List for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    What sells is a certificate of option for treasurer's deed, not the parcel outright. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    There is no fixed calendar. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Montrose County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Delinquent Tax Sale List. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    What sells is a certificate of option for treasurer's deed, not the parcel outright. The treasurer may only accept bids above the combined amount owed to the lawful holder plus the treasurer's fees and costs. County officials, county employees acting in their individual capacity, and their immediate family members may not bid. Payment is by cash, cashier's check, bank check, or electronic funds transfer subject to the treasurer's bidding rules. Any overbid goes to junior lienors who filed a notice of intent to redeem and then to the property owner. Confirm the notice, the bidding rules, and the auction venue with the county treasurer.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Colorado 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 Colorado before you price the title work.

  4. 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

Liens that draw no bid are struck off to the county and the treasurer issues the county a certificate of purchase. The county may then assign, sell, or transfer those certificates in the manner, at the times, and on the terms set by resolution of the board of county commissioners, which is how county-held liens are sold between annual auctions. A certificate on property owing more than ten thousand dollars in taxes needs the property tax administrator's approval after published notice. Whether a county maintains a published county-held list, and on what terms, varies. Contact the county treasurer.

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Colorado calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)

Montrose County Treasurer - Public Trustee

(970) 249-3565

320 S. 1st Street, Suite 200, Montrose, CO 81401 (mailing: P.O. Box 609, Montrose, CO 81402)

Official website

County notes

  • The sale is conducted in person at the Montrose County Event Center, not at the courthouse and not online.
  • Registration is a mail or email paper process with a hard cutoff about three weeks before the sale, and the field of investors may be capped by order of receipt.
  • Payment is cash or check only, due immediately at the close of the sale.
  • Buyer agents and bidding on behalf of others are prohibited.
  • The Treasurer's office email for investor questions is etreasurer@montrosecounty.net.

Colorado rules

Max interest rate
14% per year, set by statute (bidding is on price)
Minimum return
No statutory minimum return; what you earn is set by the price at the sale
Redemption
Redemption may be made at any time before a treasurer's deed is executed, so the practical window runs well past the three-year mark and through the Article 11.5 auction process. The treasurer must hold that public auction between 110 and 125 calendar days after the known interested party notice is first published or mailed, which gives owners and junior lienors a further defined period to pay. A separate rule lets an owner who was under a legal disability when the deed was executed redeem within nine years of the deed being recorded, at 15 percent per year plus the present value of any improvements.
Deed deposit
The treasurer may require the applying lawful holder to post a deposit covering the recording fee plus the actual and reasonable cost of administering the auction, and all Article 11.5 fees and costs are chargeable as additional amounts owing under the tax lien. For bidders, the treasurer accepts cash, cashier's check, bank check, or electronic funds transfer subject to the treasurer's bidding rules. The statute sets no fixed bidder deposit percentage, so the deposit terms come from county bidding rules.
Surplus proceeds
Any overbid goes first to junior lienors in order of recording priority, measured as of the recording date of the application for public auction, who filed a notice of intent to redeem and whose liens are unredeemed, up to each lien's unpaid amount plus fees and costs. Whatever remains is paid to the property owner. The treasurer must post a public notice about these funds and mail the owner a notice within thirty calendar days of the auction. Unclaimed remaining overbids sit in escrow for six months without interest, then transfer to the state administrator under the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. An agreement to pay someone to recover an owner's overbid is unenforceable, and inducing one is a class 2 misdemeanor.
Governing statute
C.R.S. Title 39, Article 11

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.

See the full Coloradorules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Montrose County, Colorado sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Montrose County follows Colorado's tax lien state system.

When is the Montrose County tax certificate sale?

Annual, held in late October. The county's Tax Lien Sale Procedures state: "The sale of Montrose County delinquent tax and special assessment tax liens will be held on October 30, 2025. The sale will commence at 10:00 a.m. and will be conducted at Montrose County Event Center, 1036 North 7th Street, Montrose Colorado." Bidders are told to arrive no later than 9:30 a.m. because the doors lock at that time. A date for the next sale had not been posted on the county site at last check, so confirm the current year's date with the Treasurer's office. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

How often does Montrose County hold tax deed sales?

Montrose County holds its tax deed sale on application. There is no fixed calendar. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Colorado's redemption rule: 3 years from the tax lien sale before the certificate holder can apply for the deed auction. Call the County Treasurer as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the Montrose County tax sale list?

Montrose County posts its tax sale list at montrosecounty.net. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

Verified Jul 30, 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 county office before you bid.

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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

Colorado tax salesDue diligence guide
Call Montrose County Treasurer - Public Trustee