County-Held Certificates of Purchase: how it works
County-held certificates of purchase (assignment by the county)
If a tax lien draws no bid, the treasurer strikes it off to the county, city, town, or city and county for the taxes, delinquent interest, and fees, and issues that government a certificate of purchase. A county holding certificates of purchase may then assign, sell, or transfer them in the manner, at the times, and on the terms set by resolution of its board of county commissioners, which is the mechanism Colorado counties use to sell county-held liens over the counter between annual sales. A sale of a certificate on real estate that owes more than ten thousand dollars in taxes is not valid until the property tax administrator approves the sale and its terms after published notice. Availability, pricing, and whether a county offers a public list at all vary by county, so check with the treasurer.
Does Colorado publish a lands-available list?
Colorado has no statewide lands-available list of the Florida type. Where a county obtained a tax deed under the pre-July-2024 process, the board of county commissioners lists that real property for sale and may repair and insure it in the meantime. Unclaimed Article 11.5 overbids, not properties, are what escheat: they move to the state unclaimed property administrator six months after the auction.
This route skips the live auction, which means these are the parcels nobody bid on, so the due diligence matters even more. Every state names this inventory differently, and the state-held and struck-off land table maps each local name to the same mechanism. The over-the-counter guide has the cross-state playbook.
Verified Jul 29, 2026 against Colorado 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.