Sacramento County tax sales, California

Verified

Sacramento has the most predictable calendar in this set: the main auction is normally held the last Monday in February each year, with a follow up sale in May or June for parcels not sold or postponed in February. The county tax sales page states the next public auction will be held in February 2027 and to check back in January 2027 for the auction list and updated terms of sale, read November 9, 2026. That makes the main sale Monday, February 22, 2027 by the county own last Monday rule, but the county has published the month only, so this file records the month as the verified fact and the specific Monday as the pattern date to confirm in January. The county states in capital letters that it does not sell tax lien certificates.

Selling office: Sacramento County Tax Collector

Next sale: February 2027, month published, specific day not published as of November 9, 2026. County page, read November 9, 2026: the next public auction will be held in February 2027, check back in January 2027 for an auction list and updated terms of sale. The county normal rule is the last Monday in February, which is Monday, February 22, 2027, with a follow up in May or June. The Grant Street Group FAQ banner separately says no future auction is scheduled at this time and that the message will update when next year dates are finalized, so the dated day is unverified.

Sacramento rewards early research: the February list posts in November or early December, months before bidding, and the removed list then shrinks it week by week. Subscribe to the county e Subscribe tax sale notifications from the tax sales page to catch the January 2027 terms update.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	February 2027, month published, specific day not published as of November 9, 2026
Sale date and pattern	Main sale the last Monday in February each year, follow up sale in May or June. Next main sale: February 2027, month published by the county, specific day not published as of November 9, 2026. Parcels not sold or postponed in February are normally offered the second Monday in May.
The list	The list is available each year in November or early December for the February sale, and in April for the May or June sale, on the county tax sales page, including the board approved auction list and a removed list that is updated regularly and daily in the week before the sale. A paper copy may be purchased at the Tax Collector office counter for $8.00. The online list itself carries no stated charge.
Registration and deposit	All bidders must register at sacramento.mytaxsale.com. A $5,000 deposit is required to register, plus a non refundable processing fee stated as $35 in older county material and $40 in the current Grant Street Group FAQ read November 9, 2026, so the fee amount for February 2027 is unverified until the updated terms post in January 2027. Vesting is set at registration and cannot be changed. If you are not a winning bidder the deposit is refunded in approximately five business days under the county page, and within 10 days of closing under the FAQ.
Minimum bid and how bidding works	State law as restated by the county: the minimum price at a first offering is no less than the total amount necessary to redeem the parcel, plus costs. Bidding is online on the Grant Street Group site to the highest bidder. The winning payment also includes the documentary transfer tax at $0.55 for each $500 or fraction of the bid over $100, and a final payment processing fee per item won stated in the FAQ.
Redemption before the sale	The right of redemption ceases at the close of business on the last business day prior to the tax sale. A parcel that does not receive a bid in February goes to the May sale and the owner right of redemption is reinstated, with the owner remaining the legal owner of record.
Reoffer	The Tax Collector may reoffer property at a reduced price at the same or next scheduled sale if no bid was received when it was last offered. In practice that is the May follow up for February no bid parcels, and, if a parcel does not sell in May, the next annual February sale, where a reduced price reoffer is also authorized by the county terms.
Format	Online internet auction: Grant Street Group, at sacramento.mytaxsale.com
Selling office	Sacramento County Tax Collector

Sources: Sacramento County Tax Collector, Tax Sales page. Sacramento auction site, Frequently Asked Questions (Grant Street Group). 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 Sacramento 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 Sacramento County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How California tax defaulted property sales work

Default runs on a five year clock. Property taxes that go unpaid become tax defaulted. After five years of default (three years for nonresidential commercial property and the other classes the code names), the property becomes subject to the tax collector's power to sell under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 3691. Until that clock runs, there is nothing to buy: California sells no tax liens.
The county sets a Chapter 7 auction. With the board of supervisors' approval, the tax collector publishes notice and offers the property at public auction under Chapter 7 of Part 6. The minimum price is set by Section 3698.5(a): not less than the total amount necessary to redeem the property, plus costs. Most of the counties in this set now sell online under the electronic auction provisions (Section 3692.2); the county's own tax sale page names the platform and the terms.
The owner can stop the sale until the last business day. Redemption stays open until the close of business on the last business day before the sale begins (Section 3707), and a redemption in full ends the power to sell that parcel. Parcels are pulled right up to that deadline, so a list researched a week out is not the list that sells.
The sale is an auction of the property itself. The highest bidder at or above the minimum wins. Counties gate bidding behind a refundable deposit funded days ahead, and winning bids are due in full on the deadline the county terms set, usually within days of the close. A winner who does not pay forfeits the deposit and the parcel returns to inventory.
The buyer receives a tax deed, and unsold parcels come back as reoffers. The tax collector issues a tax deed under Section 3712; there is no redemption after the sale. A parcel that draws no bid at the minimum is not finished: under Section 3698.5 the tax collector may offer it again, including at a reduced minimum, and Chapter 8 (Section 3771 and following) routes some properties to public agencies and nonprofits instead. The leftover channel in California is a second, cheaper auction, and it is part of the pricing decision on the first one.

How bidding works in Sacramento County

Register at sacramento.mytaxsale.com, hosted by Grant Street Group. Registration is open year round and is free on the Sacramento FAQ banner, but bidding requires the deposit below. As part of online registration you must state how the deed will be vested if you win, and that vesting information will not be changed afterward.

The deposit gate is real. California online sales close registration and deposit funding days before the auction opens, and an unfunded deposit cannot bid. The deadline that decides whether you are in the sale is the deposit deadline, not the auction date.
Payment clocks are short and enforced. Winning bids come due on the county's deadline, often within days of the close, and a missed payment forfeits the deposit. Fund the maximum bid before the auction opens, not after it closes.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Deposit, Sacramento County	A $5,000 deposit is required to register, submitted via ACH through the Grant Street Group site before the deposit deadline for the sale, with funds drawn on a United States financial institution. The deposit is applied to the purchase price if you win. If you bid and do not pay, the deposit is forfeited and you are banned from bidding for five years. The processing fee that goes with the deposit is stated as $40 in the current FAQ read November 9, 2026; confirm the February 2027 fee in the updated terms of sale in January 2027.
Payment, Sacramento County	Payment in full is required within five business days from the close of the auction, paid directly to Grant Street Group, the host of the online auctions, plus the documentary transfer tax on the bid amount. If the successful bidder does not pay in full within five business days after the conclusion of the sale, the sale is void, any right to the property is forfeited, the $5,000 deposit is forfeited, and the bidder is banned for five years.
What is sold	The property itself, by tax deed. California sells no tax liens or certificates to the public at any stage: the Chapter 7 auction is the whole event, and the deed is what the winning bid buys.
Minimum bid	The minimum price under Section 3698.5(a), built from the delinquent taxes, penalties and costs the code specifies. At a first offering the floor is the full statutory amount, not a market estimate. Reoffers under Section 3698.5 can carry a lower minimum, which is why the same parcel can be two very different buys in two rounds.
Redemption	The owner may redeem until the close of business on the last business day before the sale begins. After the sale there is no redemption, by anyone, at any price. Everything about a California bid is priced on that hard stop.
The deed	A tax deed issued by the tax collector under Section 3712. It conveys the title described in the statute, free of most liens and encumbrances, with statutory exceptions (liens of public agencies with priority and recorded easements among them). It is not a title insurance policy; title work after the sale is the buyer's job.
Costs on top of the bid	The deposit mechanics and payment deadline in the county terms, plus documentary transfer tax and recording charges as the county publishes them, and current year taxes the sale terms assign to the buyer.

What happens between February and May

Sacramento runs the cleanest two step leftover system in this set. A parcel that receives no bid at the February sale is scheduled for the May sale, the owner right of redemption is reinstated, and the owner remains the legal owner of record in between. The Tax Collector may reoffer at a reduced price at the same or the next scheduled sale when no bid was received at the last offering, under Section 3698.5(c). If the parcel does not sell in May either, it may be offered at the next annual sale in February, again with a possible reduced price reoffer.

Before you bid

Work the list twice. Redemption pulls parcels until the close of business on the last business day before the sale. The list a county publishes at notice is the research list; the list that actually sells is shorter. Re-check the morning the auction opens.
As is, and the deed is not a policy. No interior access, occupants may be in place, and the tax deed's statutory exceptions leave title homework behind the sale. Drive the property, read the county disclosures, and budget the title and cleanup work.
Price the reoffer before the first sale. Parcels that draw no bid at the minimum return under Section 3698.5, sometimes at a reduced minimum. Decide in advance whether you are a first round buyer at the statutory floor or a reoffer buyer waiting for the second price.
Set the maximum before the sale opens. The free Max-Bid Calculator below works backwards from your resale or hold value to the highest bid you can pay, 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 · Arizona tax lien sales