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What does tax-title mean?

Parcels offered for auction at tax foreclosure sales, but not sold, are deeded to the County.  These parcels are called “Tax-Title.”  They may still be purchased from the County through a process called a tax-title sale.  A list of tax-Title is available at the Treasurer’s Office.  Tax-title properties are subject to the same risks as tax foreclosure properties.

What is County owned surplus?

Parcels the County owns, not acquired through tax foreclosure,  County Council has declared a parcel “surplus.”  A list of surplus County owned property will be available at the Treasurer’s Office, from time to time, when so declared.

How is Tax-title or County owned surplus property purchased?

Purchasing tax-title and County owned surplus property is done through public auction, or by private negotiation without a call for bids per RCW 36.35.150, and is called a tax-title sale.  It can take six months or more to bring a parcel to sale.

An application  to purchase county property along with a  deposit fee starts the process.  Each parcel requires a separate form and deposit.  You may, however, request that several parcels be sold as a group.

The Treasurer’s Office will present all applications to the County Property Management Committee at their next meeting.  The committee meets twice a year.  The committee makes a recommendation to retain or sell a parcel, either by public auction or private negotiation.  If the committee recommends retaining the parcel, the applicant’s deposit will be refunded.  If the committee recommends in favor of the sale, a resolution is drafted and submitted to the County Executive.

The County Executive usually forwards the resolution to the  County Council.

The County Council sets a public hearing date and applicants are notified.  At the hearing the Council approves or rejects the sale.  If the sale is rejected, the applicant’s deposit is refunded.

If approved for sale by public auction, the County Treasurer schedules the auction and the applicant is notified of the date, time and location.  The auction is advertised in the local newspaper for three consecutive weeks.

When real property taxes become three years delinquent, the County Treasurer is required by law to begin foreclosure action.  A certificate of delinquency is filed with the Superior Court.  Taxes, interest, penalties, and foreclosure costs begin to accrue.

A title search is conducted for each parcel.  As required by law, all parties with recorded legal interest (as revealed by the title search) are served with a notice and summons by certified or registered mail. 

The  Treasurer receives a judgment from Superior Court foreclosing on the tax liens and ordering the sale of those parcels.  Parcels being foreclosed can be redeemed by their owners, or other parties with recorded legal interest, through the close of business on the day before the sale.  That is, they are allowed to pay all taxes, interest, penalties, costs and fees due, thus removing their parcel from the sale.   Can Prior Owners Redeem Their Property After Foreclosure?

Prior owners have no rights to the property after foreclosure, UNLESS they were a minor or legally incompetent.  Minors and legal incompetents have the right to redeem anytime within three years from the date of the foreclosure sale.  They redeem the property by paying the sales price, plus interest on the tax amount.  Any improvements made by the new owner would also be reimbursed. (RCW 84.64.070)

What happens to all of the property liens?

Generally, all liens on foreclosed property are extinguished.  However, the County can make no guarantees that the prior lienholders will honor this extinguishment.  IRS liens are usually also extinguished, but they are subject to a 120 day redemption period.  If prior lienholders attempt to collect on their liens after the property has been foreclosed on, it is entirely up to the new owner to defend against these claims. 

What happens to the excess proceeds?

If a parcel is sold at auction for more than the amount owing, the previous title owner of record can claim the surplus money.  This is the party who held title on the day that we filed the Certificate of Delinquency.  They have up to three years from the date of the sale to make their claim.  (RCW 84.64.080 and RCW 63.29.350)

The Whatcom County Treasurer may conduct several property auctions per year, as necessary.  Different types of property can be sold at these sales. 

The number of parcels auctioned varies greatly from sale to sale.  An auction may have anywhere from one parcel to hundreds of parcels.  Because they vary so much in size, the location of each auction may also change to accommodate the number of persons attending.  When we have an auction coming up, the foreclosure minimum bid list and/or the tax title minimum bid list can be found here.

No Guarantees
Anyone considering buying property at a Treasurer’s sale should be aware that there is risk.  When selling parcels, the County conveys the entirety of the interest that it is legally capable of transferring, unless otherwise noted.  However, the County does not guarantee or provide warranty as to the extent of the interest.  The County makes no guarantees whatsoever on parcels sold at Treasurer’s sales.

Researching properties
Proceed to our property auction research page for additional research information.

The following statement applies to all Treasurer’s real property sales:
“This is a buyer beware sale.  All sales are final.  We offer the parcels on a “where is” and “as is” basis.  The County makes no representation of warranty, express or implied, nor any guarantee of warranty, express or implied, as to the condition of title to any property, nor the physical condition of any property or it’s fitness for any use or purpose.”

How does the auction work?
Proceed to our property auction process page for additional information on the process.