Onondaga County tax sale, 2026 season

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Onondaga County (county seat Syracuse) sells its tax foreclosed real estate online only through Absolute Auctions and Realty, on NYSAuctions.com, for the county's Chief Fiscal Officer. The 2026 auction opened for bidding Tuesday, October 6, 2026 and was dated Thursday, October 8, 2026. October is this county's month: the 2024, 2025, and 2026 sales all ran in it.

The gate is the paper: register as a site member, register for this specific auction, and complete the Internet Bidding Packet through DocuSign, government ID uploaded, so all documents are received by 4:00 PM on the Tuesday before the auction, no exceptions. For the 2026 sale that Tuesday was October 6, the day bidding opened. Every bid is subject to the Chief Fiscal Officer's approval, and the deposit rule below is the steepest on this hub for mid priced parcels.

Dates and deadlines

Last sale, bidding opened	Tue, Oct 6, 2026 2026-10-06
Last sale, auction date	Thu, Oct 8, 2026 2026-10-08
Packet deadline	Tue, Oct 6, 2026 · 4:00 PM, all Internet Bidding Packet documents received by the auctioneer 2026-10-06
Balance due	Fri, Oct 16, 2026, balance received by the County on or before this date 2026-10-16
Format	Online only
Platform	NYSAuctions.com, Absolute Auctions and Realty
Selling office	Onondaga County Chief Fiscal Officer; deposits payable to the Onondaga County Treasurer / Chief Fiscal Officer
Next sale	Not announced. The county's sales have run in October three years in a row.

Sources: the official 2026 Bidder Registration Package (Absolute Auctions). the official auction terms for this auction series (Absolute Auctions). the official 2025 auction brochure (Absolute Auctions). Confirm with the county or the auctioneer before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and parcels get pulled.

Research Onondaga 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 Onondaga County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How New York tax foreclosure works

Unpaid taxes become a lien on the property, and the county enforces that lien in court under Real Property Tax Law Article 11, the in rem foreclosure process.
The owner gets a redemption period, two years from the lien date by default, longer where a local law extends it for homes or farms. Paying everything owed during that window ends the case.
When the period expires, the court can award the property to the county. The former owner's right to redeem is over at that point; there is no post-sale redemption period on a New York tax deed.
The county then sells at public auction, which is the sale this page tracks. Deeds are usually quitclaim, bids can require county legislature approval, and any surplus over the taxes and charges is handled under RPTL sections 1195 to 1197 for the former owner and lienholders.

How registration works

Three steps, all online. Become a NYSAuctions.com member (a valid credit card is required), register for the specific auction (membership alone does not qualify you), and complete the Internet Bidding Packet via the DocuSign link, including a government ID upload. All documents must be received by 4:00 PM on the Tuesday before the auction, no exceptions; bidder approvals happen that Tuesday, and late registrations cannot be guaranteed approval.

Entities must attach the state filing notice, the federal EIN, and a corporate resolution.
Barred bidders: the foreclosed owner or their agent, anyone owing current or prior year Onondaga County property taxes, county and auctioneer employees, and prior defaulters.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

The money layer, from the official registration package and terms. One figure is deliberately not stated as current: the buyer premium clause in the 2026 packet did not survive document extraction, so the premium below is the last cleanly published rate, labeled by year.

Down payment, on the day	$10,000 or 20 percent of the total contract price (bid plus buyer premium), whichever is higher, paid on the day of the auction as soon as you are declared the successful bidder. Non-refundable. Contract prices of $10,000 or less are paid in full at the auction. Paid by credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover), cash, or guaranteed funds from an FDIC insured bank. Wire transfers are not accepted.
Buyer premium	Stated in the county's published terms through the 2025 cycle as 10 percent when the deposit is paid by credit card and 7 percent when paid by cash or guaranteed funds (guaranteed funds had to reach the auctioneer's Pleasant Valley office by 4:00 PM the day before the deadline to earn the 7 percent rate). The 2026 packet's premium clause was not legible in the official document as published, so confirm the 2027 rate in that cycle's packet before bidding.
Administrative fee	$250, in the published terms, including on contracts paid in full at the auction. A $750 chargeback recovery fee applies if a card chargeback is attempted and upheld in the auctioneer or county's favor.
Balance due	The remaining balance of the total contract price plus the administrative fee, in cash or guaranteed funds received by the County on or before Friday, October 16, 2026 for the 2026 cycle. Miss it and the deposit is forfeited. No selective closings: default on one parcel forfeits all of them.
Deed type	Quitclaim deed only. The County records the deed with the Onondaga County Clerk on payment in full of the price, premium, and closing costs; title vests on recording and possession before recording is forbidden. The deed reserves a 40 foot highway easement along county roads.

What happens when a winner defaults

On a default, the County may, but is not obligated to, offer the parcel to the second highest bidder on the same terms. The disposition of parcels that receive no bids was not published in the terms checked; watch the Chief Fiscal Officer's postings after each sale.

Before you bid

Approval here belongs to one office: every bid is subject to the Chief Fiscal Officer, who may reject any bid for any reason; the Legislature authorized the auction itself but does not confirm individual bids. Two traps deserve emphasis. A buyer may not convey a parcel back to its former owner within 36 months of the auction, and if the former owner re-acquires within that window, the liens of record when the county took title are automatically reinstated. And the buyer steps into the parcel's current school taxes, village taxes, and other municipal charges. Sales are as is, with no inspection right beyond a drive-by. Conveyances remain subject to federal and state tax liens and to any IRS right of redemption. Verify the live terms before you go.

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