California · Law checked October 19, 2026

California tax sale: your deadline, your office, your money

Behind on property taxes in California? Your house can be sold at a tax sale — here's how much time you have to stop it. Your house was sold at a tax sale in California? The extra money from the sale may be yours to claim — and there's a deadline. Both answers are on this page, from the statute.

Count my California deadline

How California sells

The machine, in four lines

Door one: getting the house back (redemption)

Redemption in California runs until the deed is issued — Until the sale happens. Your protection is the 5-year runway after default (3 years for nonresidential commercial property in applicable counties) — the collector's power to sell arises only after that period, and redemption ends when the sale occurs. There is no redemption after a California tax sale. Statute-verified

What it costs to redeem: Defaulted taxes + penalties at 1.5% per month (18% per year) + costs and the redemption fee.

Source: Cal. Rev. & Tax Code §3691; §§3706–3707

Before any sale: your quieter doors

Payment plans: Yes — the Installment Plan of Redemption ('Five-Pay'): defaulted taxes in 5 annual installments of 20%+ plus interest. It must be started before the property becomes subject to the power of sale, and current taxes must be kept paid.

Deferrals (senior / veteran / disability): The State Controller's Property Tax Postponement Program: owners 62+, blind, or disabled, with at least 40% equity and household income at or under $57,002 (2026-27 figure), can defer current-year taxes at 5% interest; the state records a lien.

Door two: the extra money (surplus)

Who holds the money: the County treasurer-tax collector (delinquent tax sale trust fund).

Your claim window: 1 year from the date the tax collector's deed to the buyer is recorded. The claim must be postmarked by that 1-year date. Statute-verified

If nobody claims it: After the 1-year window, unclaimed excess may be transferred to the county general fund (minus claim-administration costs).

Finder-fee protection: California disciplines anyone who acts for you on a claim instead of capping the fee in the claim statute: an agent must disclose to you, as part of the claim, that you may file directly with the county at no cost (Rev. & Tax Code §4675(c)).

Source: Cal. Rev. & Tax Code §4675

The county figure rule. This page gives you the law — the window, the formula, the office. The exact payoff or surplus figure lives in the County treasurer-tax collector's books and changes as interest runs. Ask that office for the figure, in writing, and keep the letter.

Included in the $49 TaxSaleDecoded Kit

  • The surplus claim pack: how to prove the house was yours (deed records, address history, ID), the claim-form path in your state, and what to do when the county says it has no record of your money
  • The redemption playbook: your state's window and cost formula worked step by step, who to pay, how to prove you paid, and the traps in the payoff figure (added fees and interest)
  • The heirs page: the house was a parent's — what changes, which papers prove you are an heir, and the point where it stops being simple
  • The scam shield: how surplus-recovery companies work, the fee caps your state sets for them, and the assignment papers you should never sign
  • The lookback module: what Tyler won, what Pung limited (the extra money is the sale price minus the debt — not your home's value), and the dated state lookbacks, including Illinois claims that die in July 2028

Get the TaxSaleDecoded Kit — $49

One payment of $49. No subscription. The kit is a web page you can return to and print — the claim pack, the redemption playbook, the heirs page, and the scam shield.

All 50 states · The surplus, explained · Redemption, explained