Maricopa County tax sales, Arizona

Verified

Maricopa County runs the largest tax lien sale in Arizona, online through RealAuction, and the sale mechanics live on the vendor site rather than the Treasurer's own pages: registration and bidding run through RealAuction, which issues the bidder number, and the Treasurer's Tax Lien Web account is a separate account used to manage certificates after purchase. The Treasurer does publish the assignment process for state held certificates and a State Liens report. Neither a dated 2027 sale nor a deposit amount was published on the official pages read, so both are marked unverified on this page instead of being borrowed from older secondary guides.

Selling office: Maricopa County Treasurer

Next sale: February 2027 annual online tax lien sale; no dated 2027 sale was published on the official pages read. Under ARS 42-18112 the sale is held in February. The 2026 sale was held February 10, 2026. One third party guide mentioned February 9, 2027 in a deadline sentence while its own key facts table said the 2027 date was not yet announced, so no 2027 date is claimed here. Watch the Treasurer's site and maricopa.arizonataxsale.com for the announcement.

Maricopa is reported to be the largest tax lien sale in Arizona, with tens of thousands of parcels in a typical year; that scale figure comes from secondary sources, not the Treasurer's pages read. The dated 2027 sale announcement is the thing to watch.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	February 2027 annual online tax lien sale; no dated 2027 sale was published on the official pages read
The sale	The annual sale is held online in February under ARS 42-18112. The 2026 sale was held February 10, 2026. No dated February 2027 sale was published on the official pages read.
The list	The treasurer prepares the delinquent tax list on or before December 31 and posts and publishes the list and notice under ARS 42-18106 and 42-18109. The biddable parcel list is on the RealAuction site.
Registration	Register with RealAuction at maricopa.arizonataxsale.com; the vendor issues the bidder number. The Treasurer's Tax Lien Web account is a second, separate account created after the vendor issues a bidder number.
Bidding and the certificate	Bidders pay the full amount of delinquent taxes, interest, penalties and charges and compete on the interest rate, bidding down from the 16 percent maximum in ARS 42-18053 under ARS 42-18114. The winner receives a certificate of purchase under ARS 42-18118, a lien on the property, not the property itself. Published fees include an advertising charge under ARS 42-18107 and the $10 per certificate fee under ARS 42-18118.
Redemption	The owner, the owner's agent, assignee or attorney, or a person with a legal or equitable claim may redeem at any time before delivery of a treasurer's deed, paying the Treasurer the sale amount with interest at the certificate rate, plus subsequent taxes the holder paid with interest at the same rate, plus statutory fees, under ARS 42-18151 to 42-18153. If the lien is not redeemed, the holder may bring a foreclosure action beginning three years after the sale under ARS 42-18201.
Unsold liens	Liens that draw no bid are assigned to the state under ARS 42-18113 and carry the 16 percent rate. The Treasurer later sells state held certificates by assignment under ARS 42-18122.
Format	Online only: RealAuction, at maricopa.arizonataxsale.com
Selling office	Maricopa County Treasurer

Sources: Maricopa County Treasurer. Maricopa County tax lien sale, RealAuction. ARS 42-18112, Time of sale. Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and parcels are pulled up to sale day.

Research Maricopa County parcels before you bid

A sale list gives you the parcels, the date, and the opening terms. It does not give you the owner, the value, or the rest of the picture: liens, foreclosure status, and parcel history. PropertyRadar is the data platform for that layer. It carries owner records, assessed and market values, foreclosure and tax data, and property history for parcels across Maricopa County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How Arizona tax lien sales work

Unpaid taxes become a lien, and the lien is what sells. Property taxes in Arizona are a lien on the property, and when they stay unpaid the county treasurer prepares the delinquent list (by December 31 under ARS 42-18106), advertises it, and sells the tax lien at the annual sale under Title 42, Chapter 18. What the buyer receives is a certificate of purchase: a lien position against the property, not the property, not a deed, and no right to enter or use it.
The sale runs every February, mostly online. The treasurer of each county holds the annual sale in February. Most Arizona counties now sell through an online vendor the treasurer names on its tax lien sale page; registration and a funded account come before bidding, and each county sets its own registration deadline and deposit rule on top of the statute.
Bidding is the interest rate, and it goes down. Buyers bid the annual interest rate the lien will earn, starting at the 16 percent per annum maximum in ARS 42-18053 and bidding down under ARS 42-18114; the lowest rate wins. The winner pays the treasurer the full amount of delinquent taxes, interest, penalties and fees for the parcel on the day of sale. Competition, not the county, sets the rate a lien actually carries.
Redemption is the normal exit, and it runs through the treasurer. The owner, or another party in interest, may redeem at any time before a court enters judgment foreclosing the lien, by paying the treasurer the certificate amount plus interest at the bid rate, plus any subsequent taxes the holder paid and the statutory fees. The treasurer then pays the holder. Most certificates are redeemed; the interest, not the property, is the usual return.
The deed is a court case that cannot start for 3 years. If the lien is still unredeemed 3 years after the sale, the certificate holder may bring a foreclosure action in superior court under ARS 42-18201. Only a final judgment in that action bars the owner's right to redeem and directs the treasurer to issue a treasurer's deed. Liens nobody buys at the sale are struck off to the state, and the state held liens can later be bought by assignment from the treasurer.

How bidding works in Maricopa County

Registration is handled by RealAuction at maricopa.arizonataxsale.com, not by the Treasurer's office. A 2027 registration deadline was not published on the official pages read.

The rate is the price. A lien bid at 16 percent and redeemed in year two is a different asset from the same lien bid at 4 percent and redeemed in month three. Arizona returns are set in the bid room, before any property question is reached, so model the rate and the likely redemption window first.
The certificate is not the property. No possession, no rents, no right to enter, and no deed for at least 3 years, and then only through a court foreclosure. Buyers who need the property itself should be reading the deed state pages, not this one.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Deposit, Maricopa County	No deposit amount was published on the Treasurer's pages read for this page. A 10 percent deposit with a $500 minimum appears in older secondary guides; it is unverified for the 2027 sale, and the current deposit terms are set in the RealAuction bidding rules.
Payment, Maricopa County	Under ARS 42-18116 the purchase price is paid in cash at the time the treasurer determines, within fifteen days after the close of the sale, plus a processing fee of not more than $10 per lien. The county's exact payment deadline and method are set on the RealAuction site and were not published on the Treasurer's pages read.
What is sold	A certificate of purchase: a lien on the property for the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and fees. Not the property, not a deed, and no right of possession. A deed exists only at the end of a foreclosure action, years later, if the owner never redeems.
The bid	An annual interest rate, bid down from the statutory maximum of 16 percent. The lowest rate wins the lien. The buyer pays the full certificate amount at the sale and earns the bid rate on the amount while the lien is outstanding.
Redemption	At any time before a foreclosure judgment, through the county treasurer, by paying the certificate amount plus interest at the bid rate, subsequent taxes the holder paid, and statutory fees. The state frame is Title 42, Chapter 18; the county page carries the treasurer's own redemption instructions.
Foreclosure	Available to the certificate holder once the lien has been outstanding 3 years from the sale date, by action in superior court under ARS 42-18201, and not later than 10 years after the last day of the month in which the lien was acquired. Judgment bars redemption and directs the treasurer to issue a treasurer's deed. Before that judgment, the holder owns a claim, not a property.
Lien life	A certificate does not last forever. Under ARS 42-18127, if the lien is not redeemed and no foreclosure action is commenced within 10 years after the last day of the month in which the certificate was acquired, the certificate expires and the lien is void. The treasurer must notify the holder before the deadline, but the deadline runs whether the holder acts or not.
Costs on top of the certificate amount	The sale day payment covers the delinquent taxes, accrued interest, penalties and fees in the certificate amount. A holder who later pays subsequent delinquent taxes on the parcel adds them to the lien position under ARS 42-18121, at the certificate rate; a foreclosure, if it comes, carries court and notice costs the redemption math must also cover.

Unsold liens: state held certificates

Unsold liens are struck off to the state under ARS 42-18113. State held certificates are then available by assignment from the Treasurer under ARS 42-18122: the buyer pays the whole amount then due under the certificate, including interest, penalties and charges, plus the entire amount of subsequent taxes assessed on the property, with an assignment fee of not more than $10. The Treasurer publishes a State Liens report with the assignment process. Secondary sources report assignment purchasing opening in July; the Treasurer's pages read did not confirm a start month, so treat that timing as unverified.

Before you bid

Know the redemption window before the rate. Interest accrues at the bid rate from the sale, and the owner can cut it off at any time by redeeming. A lien priced for a 3 year hold that redeems in 90 days pays a quarter of the model; run the short case first.
Read the treasurer's current terms, not a recap. Vendors, registration deadlines and deposit rules change between sales, and county pages are rewritten each season. Re-read them on the treasurer's page before funding a deposit.
Subsequent taxes are part of the position. A holder can pay later delinquent taxes on the parcel and add them to the lien. Budget for carrying the position, not just buying it.
Set the maximum before the sale opens. The free Max-Bid Calculator below works backwards from your exit value to the highest certificate amount you can carry, with the costs shown.

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New York tax sales · Florida tax deed sales · Texas tax sales · Pennsylvania tax sales · Georgia tax sales · North Carolina tax foreclosure sales · Ohio tax foreclosure sales · Illinois tax lien sales · Michigan tax foreclosure sales · California tax defaulted property sales