New Castle tax sales, Delaware

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Two features of the New Castle County system are easy to miss. First, county tax sales carry a prequalification layer: under section 8726 of Title 9 and county ordinance, the Sheriff's Auction Rules state a prequalification requirement for New Castle County tax sales only, and the winning bidder of a county tax sale, identified by an asterisk in the address on the sale list, must also submit Part 1 and Part 2 forms and a 50 dollar payment in accordance with the county ordinance. Second, the final bid at a county monition sale is subject to approval or disapproval by the Department of Finance or the chief county financial officer under section 8726, for any public purpose or reason stated in that section, where the sale notice so provides; if the bid is not approved, the county may expose the property to another and as many succeeding sales as it chooses. A protection added in 2025 also matters here: under section 8701(d), added by Chapter 134 of Volume 85 of the Laws of Delaware, a New Castle County taxpayer who enters and complies with an authorized payment plan for county and school taxes on residential property for the 2025 to 2026 tax year may not be subjected to a monition, a writ of venditioni exponas, or a sheriff sale for those taxes.

Selling office: New Castle County Sheriff's Office, Louis L. Redding City/County Building, 800 N. French Street, 5th Floor, Wilmington, DE 19801, phone (302) 395-8450.

Next sale: Sheriff sale, Tuesday, December 8, 2026, 9:00 a.m., City/County Building, Wilmington. Sheriff sales of real estate are held at 9:00 a.m. on the second Tuesday of each month. The sale on Tuesday, November 10, 2026 is the current sale; its published poster list contains three monition posters, each for a Wilmington property and each stating that the sale is subject to the approval of the Director of Finance of the City of Wilmington under section 113 of Title 22, which marks them as City of Wilmington sales rather than county sales. The next monthly sale day is Tuesday, December 8, 2026. Whether a given monthly list contains county monition properties depends on the praecipes the Office of Finance has filed.

Second Tuesday of every month at 9:00 a.m.; the next sale day after the November 10, 2026 sale is Tuesday, December 8, 2026. Watch the sheriff sales page and the current poster list, which state the writ type for each property, to see whether county monition properties are in a given month.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Sheriff sale, Tuesday, December 8, 2026, 9:00 a.m., City/County Building, Wilmington
Seller	New Castle County Sheriff's Office, City/County Building, 800 N. French Street, 5th Floor, Wilmington, phone (302) 395-8450
2026 sale	Sheriff sales at 9:00 a.m. on the second Tuesday of every month, City/County Building, 800 N. French Street, Wilmington; monition sales are 100 percent due at the time of sale
Registration	Sale day registration from 7:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m., with government photo identification, verification of 10,000 dollars in certified funds, and a signed bidder auction rules form; county tax sales also carry the county prequalification requirement
The list	Published per sale on the county sheriff sales page as the sale list and the current sheriff sale poster list, by parcel and address, with the writ type stated for each property
Leftover channel	Excess proceeds held by the Sheriff's Office; if unclaimed after 90 days, paid to the Prothonotary for escrow and listed on the Superior Court Project Rightful Owner pages
Format	Tax sales are monition sales under Subchapter II of Chapter 87 of Title 9 of the Delaware Code, sections 8721 to 8733. The county tax collecting authority, the Office of Finance, files a praecipe in Superior Court, the sheriff posts the monition on the property, and after a writ of venditioni exponas issues the property is exposed to public sale at the county sheriff sale, held at 9:00 a.m. on the second Tuesday of every month in the City/County Building, 800 N. French Street, Wilmington. Monition sales are 100 percent due at the time of sale. The current poster list is for Tuesday, November 10, 2026; the monition posters in that list are City of Wilmington sales, as the Wilmington record in this set explains, and county monition sales use the same monthly sale day when the county files them.: In person public sale by the New Castle County Sheriff. No online bidding platform is used. The sale list and the poster list for each sale are published on the county sheriff sales page, and a printed list may be purchased at the Sheriff's Office for 20 dollars by money order or cashier's check.
Selling office	New Castle County Sheriff's Office, Louis L. Redding City/County Building, 800 N. French Street, 5th Floor, Wilmington, DE 19801, phone (302) 395-8450.

Sources: New Castle County, Sheriff Sales. New Castle County, Current Sheriff Sale Poster List. New Castle County, Sheriff Auction Rules and Bidder Registration. Delaware Code Online, Title 9, Chapter 87, Subchapter I, General Provisions. Delaware Code Online, Title 9, Chapter 87, Subchapter II, Monition Method of Sale. Delaware Superior Court, Project Rightful Owner. 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.

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How Delaware monition sales work

Delaware collects delinquent real estate taxes by a court sale under the monition method in Subchapter II of Chapter 87 of Title 9 of the Delaware Code, sections 8721 to 8733. The buyer purchases the real estate itself at a sheriff sale; there is no sale of liens or certificates.
The county tax collecting authority files a praecipe in the office of the Prothonotary of the Superior Court for the county where the property is located, and the Prothonotary records it on a special judgment docket against the property for the taxes due (section 8722). The tax is a lien for 10 years from July 1 of the levy year, and in Kent and Sussex Counties the lien has priority over all other liens (section 8705).
On a praecipe for monition, the Prothonotary issues a monition to the sheriff stating the judgment, including accrued penalty. The monition warns every person with an interest that the judgment must be paid within 20 days or the property may be sold for the judgment, accrued penalties and all costs (sections 8722 and 8723). The sheriff posts the monition on a prominent part of the property and returns it within 10 days; the posting is notice to the owner and all interested persons (section 8724).
After 20 days following the sheriff's return, if the judgment and costs are not paid, a writ of venditioni exponas issues commanding the sheriff to expose the property to public sale (section 8725). Sales are held by the county sheriff on the county's published sale day, and in all three counties the full purchase price is due on the day of sale for a monition sale.
Where the sale notice so provides, the county department of finance or chief county financial officer may approve or disapprove the final bid for any public purpose or reason, and counties may require bidders to be certified before they bid (section 8726). A municipality has the same approval and certification powers for its own monition sales under section 113 of Title 22.
On the return of the writ, the Superior Court inquires into the regularity of the proceedings and either approves the sale or sets it aside (section 8731). The owner may then redeem at any time within 60 days from the day the sale is approved, by paying the purchaser the purchase price and 15 percent in addition, together with all costs (section 8729).
If the property is not redeemed, the purchaser must petition the Superior Court for an order directing the sheriff to execute and deliver a deed (section 8728). The sale vests in the purchaser all the right, title and interest of the person assessed and of the owners, freed and discharged from liens and encumbrances (section 8727).
Kent and Sussex Counties have a second statutory channel, the sale of land for delinquent taxes in Subchapter IV, sections 8771 to 8779, under which the tax collecting authority sells the land itself at the courthouse door, no deed issues until 1 year from the sale, the owner redeems at the purchase money with 20 percent interest, prior liens survive the sale, and any excess over the tax, costs and expenses is paid at once to the owner (sections 8704, 8776 and 8779). Neither county presents its published sheriff tax sales as sales under that channel.
On a monition sale, proceeds above the judgment and costs are not kept by the county: in the published New Castle County practice, lien holders and homeowners contact the Sheriff's Office for proceeds remaining after distribution of the costs of the sale, and excess proceeds unclaimed after 90 days go to the Prothonotary for escrow and listing on the Superior Court Project Rightful Owner pages, which the Court maintains for all three counties. Delaware enacted no amendment to Chapter 87 after Tyler v. Hennepin County addressing surplus.

How buying works in New Castle

All bidders must register before the start of the sale. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. on sale day and closes at 9:15 a.m. A bidder number is issued on completion of the bidder registration form and signing of the bidder auction rules, on presentation of a current government photo identification, a current phone number and email address, and verification of 10,000 dollars in certified funds with a checkbook to pay the balance of the deposit. No bids are accepted from an unregistered bidder. County tax sales only carry an additional prequalification requirement under county ordinance, and a bidder certificate under section 8726 of Title 9 where the sale notice so indicates.

The full price is due on sale day Every Delaware monition term in this set requires 100 percent of the purchase money on the day of sale: at the time of sale in New Castle County, by 2:00 p.m. on the day of sale in Kent County, and by 3:00 p.m. on the day of sale in Sussex County. The 20 percent deposit structure in the same sheriff offices belongs to mortgage foreclosure sales and does not apply to a tax sale.
Registration money is real money, in bank funds New Castle County requires verification of 10,000 dollars in certified funds at registration, collected only from the winning bidder, and takes no cash. Kent and Sussex Counties each require a 4,000 dollar deposit to register or to close a winning bid, in cash or bank funds as their pages state, and the Kent deposit is expressly non refundable.
The government can reject your winning bid Where the sale notice carries the term, the county finance authority, or for a city sale the municipal finance director, may disapprove the final bid for any public purpose or reason, including your record on other property you own. Counties and the City of Wilmington may also require a bidder certificate before you may bid at all. A winning bid in Delaware is therefore an offer the government can refuse, not a completed purchase.
Approval, redemption, then a petition: the deed takes months The sale is confirmed by Superior Court weeks after sale day, the owner then has 60 days from approval to redeem at the price plus 15 percent and costs (20 percent plus repair costs from a Wilmington city sale), and only after that window closes can the buyer petition the Court for a sheriff's deed. Price the wait, and the redemption risk, into the bid.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Deposit, New Castle	10,000 dollars in certified funds, by cashier's check or money order, is required at registration to receive a bidder card for all real estate sheriff sales, effective March 11, 2025, and is collected only if the bidder is the winning bidder. Cash is not accepted. The balance of any deposit is paid by personal or business check. For a monition sale the deposit is the full purchase price, because monition sales are 100 percent due at the time of sale.
Payment, New Castle	Monition (tax) sales are 100 percent due at the time of sale; the Sheriff's page states the full purchase price at the time of sale in each monition poster. By contrast, mortgage and judgment sales take a 20 percent deposit at the sale with the balance due on or before the third Monday of the month following the sale. Sales are final and deposits are non refundable, and a late payment fee of 500 dollars is charged where final payment is made after the specified due date. Confirmation of all sheriff sales occurs on the Friday following the third Monday of the month following the sale, and a property not deeded within six months after confirmation is returned to Superior Court under the Sheriff's stated policy.
What is sold	The real estate, by tax parcel, at a sheriff sale under a writ of venditioni exponas. A monition purchase is not the purchase of a tax lien, as the Sussex County Sheriff states expressly.
The judgment	Entered on a special judgment docket in Superior Court on the tax collecting authority's praecipe, for the taxes due as billed (section 8722 of Title 9); the monition and writ add accrued penalty and the costs of the proceeding (sections 8723 and 8725).
The tax lien	Taxes are a lien on the real estate for 10 years from July 1 of the year levied, continuing until the tax is collected while the assessed owner still owns the property; in Kent and Sussex Counties the lien has priority over all other liens (section 8705).
The monition	A warning issued by the Prothonotary to the sheriff and posted by the sheriff on a prominent part of the property, returnable within 10 days. Unless the judgment is paid within 20 days after its date, the authority may proceed to sell (sections 8723 and 8724).
The sale	A public sale by the county sheriff on the county's published sale day: the second Tuesday of every month in New Castle County, the last Tuesday of January, April, July and October for monitions in Kent County, and the third Tuesday of every month in Sussex County. The full purchase price is due on the day of sale in all three counties.
Finance approval and bidder certification	Where the sale notice so provides, the county finance authority may approve or disapprove the final bid for any public purpose or reason, and may require bidders to certify that they own no other county property with past due amounts over 1,000 dollars or long vacant without a permit; if a bid is disapproved, the property may be re exposed to succeeding sales (section 8726).
Confirmation	On the return of the writ the Superior Court inquires into the regularity of the proceedings and either approves the sale or sets it aside (section 8731). The redemption clock does not start until approval.
Redemption	Within 60 days from the day the sale is approved by the Court, the owner or the owner's legal representatives may redeem by paying the purchaser the purchase price and 15 percent in addition, together with all costs; if the purchaser cannot be found in the county or refuses the money, it is paid into Court (section 8729). From a City of Wilmington sale the premium is 20 percent plus required repair costs, under section 4-148 of the Wilmington City Code.
The deed and the title	No deed is automatic. If the property is not redeemed, the purchaser petitions the Superior Court for an order directing the sheriff to execute and deliver a deed (section 8728). The sale vests all the right, title and interest of the person assessed and of the owners, freed and discharged from liens and encumbrances (section 8727).
Surplus	Subchapter II states no surplus section. Proceeds above the judgment and costs are held for those entitled: in the published New Castle County practice, excess unclaimed after 90 days at the Sheriff's Office is paid to the Prothonotary for escrow and listed on the Superior Court Project Rightful Owner pages. In the Subchapter IV channel, any excess over the tax, costs and expenses of sale is paid at once to the owner (section 8779).
The leftover channel	There is no leftover list. If the finance authority disapproves the final bid, the property may be exposed to another and as many succeeding sales as the authority chooses (section 8726), and a sale set aside by the Court in the Subchapter IV channel may be followed by another sale, and so on until the tax due be collected (section 8773).
County purchase at the sale	Under section 8753 of Title 9, in the attachment subchapter for New Castle County, County Council may authorize a person to bid at a sale of real estate under Chapter 87 and take title in the name of New Castle County, but may not authorize a bid in excess of the aggregate amount of all taxes, service charges, penalties and obligations due to the county, including costs incurred in the collection process.

If no bid is approved, and proceeds left over

If the Department of Finance or the chief county financial officer does not approve the final bid at a monition sale, section 8726 of Title 9 allows the property to be exposed to another and as many succeeding sales as the county chooses; there is no separate leftover list or discount channel. On proceeds, lien holders and homeowners are expected to contact the Sheriff's Office to determine whether proceeds remain after the costs of the sale have been distributed; if excess proceeds remain unclaimed after 90 days, they are distributed to the Prothonotary of New Castle County for placement in escrow and listing on the Superior Court Project Rightful Owner website.

Before you bid

Learn which plaintiff is selling The same sheriff sale mixes mortgage foreclosures, judgments, county monitions and, in New Castle County, City of Wilmington monitions. The writ type and the approval term in each poster tell you whose sale it is, and the answer changes the redemption price, the approval authority and the prequalification rules. Read the poster, not just the address.
Do your own title work; nobody guarantees it The Kent and Sussex sheriffs state expressly that they do not guarantee clear titles. A monition sale discharges liens by statute under section 8727 of Title 9, but a Subchapter IV sale in Kent or Sussex preserves prior liens under section 8704, so the first diligence question in those counties is which channel the sale is under.
Check the payment plan and moratorium screens For the 2025 to 2026 tax year, a New Castle County residential taxpayer complying with an authorized payment plan may not be subjected to a monition or sheriff sale at all under section 8701(d) of Title 9, and Wilmington operated a reassessment moratorium on new monitions through September 2026. A property can leave the list late for reasons that have nothing to do with payment in full.
Calendar the confirmation Friday, not the sale day Redemption runs 60 days from court approval of the sale, and the deed requires a petition after that. The dates that control your money are the confirmation day the sheriff publishes, the end of the 60 day window, and, in New Castle County, the Sheriff's six month policy for deeding after confirmation.

Every Delaware jurisdiction in this set

One page per jurisdiction, each verified against the county's or the city's own publications and the current text of 9 Del. C. chapter 87. Delaware has exactly three counties, and the City of Wilmington runs a verified monition channel of its own under 22 Del. C. section 113 beside the New Castle County sale; this set is the whole state.

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