Selling a House With Liens or Back Property Taxes

Common Liens and How They Attach

Each kind of lien attaches, ranks and ends under its own statute, as the table below summarizes.

Mechanics liens run on short clocks: a direct contractor has to record its claim after finishing its contract and before the earlier of 90 days after the project is completed or 60 days after the owner records a notice of completion or cessation, while other claimants get the earlier of 90 days after completion or 30 days after such a notice (Civil Code 8412 and 8414).

A California real estate attorney can confirm which liens are recorded against your property and whether any are still enforceable.

Which Lien Comes First

Property taxes sit at the top: Revenue and Taxation Code 2192.1 gives property tax liens, and public improvement assessments that the law declares to be liens, priority over all other liens on the property regardless of when those were created, including deeds, judgments, debts and obligations.

Below that, Civil Code 2897 sets the general rule that, other things being equal, liens on the same property rank by when they were created. A mortgage or deed of trust given for the purchase price at the time of purchase outranks other liens created against the buyer, subject to the recording laws (Civil Code 2898). A city's nuisance abatement lien takes the priority of a judgment lien from the day it is recorded (Government Code 38773.1).

A city can instead make abatement costs a special assessment collected with the property taxes; the owner's notice has to say the tax collector may sell the property after three years for unpaid delinquent assessments, but if the property is sold to a good-faith buyer before the first tax installment goes delinquent, the cost moves to the unsecured roll and doesn't stay a lien (Government Code 38773.5).

At a county tax sale, the tax collector's deed gives the buyer title free of all earlier encumbrances, except listed items such as future tax and assessment installments, easements and recorded restrictions, certain federal tax liens and some unpaid Mello-Roos and 1915 Act bond assessments (R&T 3712). If the sale brings in more than the taxes and costs, lienholders of record can claim the excess first, in order of priority, and then anyone who held title before the tax deed, within one year after the deed is recorded (R&T 4675). A California real estate attorney can explain how these priority rules apply to your title.

This is general information about how the process works, not legal or tax advice. Every situation is different — talk with a California attorney (and a tax professional) about yours.

What Official Sources Say About Liens When a House Sells

Judgment liens: when property subject to a judgment lien is sold or refinanced without the lien being satisfied or extinguished, the property stays subject to the lien in the same amount (CCP 697.390). The California Courts self-help guide explains why creditors record these liens: if the owner ever sells or refinances, the creditor may get paid.

Mortgages: an escrow holder with a license under the state Financial Code is among those who can demand a written payoff statement from the lender, the lender must deliver it within 21 days, and in a voluntary sale the statement can be relied on until the close of escrow, transfer of title or recording of a lien, whichever comes first (Civil Code 2943).

State and federal tax liens follow their own rules; a tax professional can explain how one on your title is handled.

Current property taxes: Fresno County's tax collector says there was most likely a proration between buyer and seller in escrow, but warns that the money may not have been withheld and paid, and that owners are responsible for paying on time.

City code liens: Stockton issues payoff demands so that recorded code-enforcement notices and liens can be removed from a property once the balance is paid, and it takes those requests from the property owner, a title or escrow company, or the listing agent. A California real estate attorney can tell you how the liens on your title would be handled in a sale.

From Unpaid Property Taxes to a County Tax Sale

The tax-default process runs on dates set in the Revenue and Taxation Code, and each county applies them in its own words. PropertyRadar records pulled in October 2026 show 9,318 single-family homes with delinquent property taxes in Fresno County, 2,608 in Tulare County and 1,612 in Stanislaus County.

• Default on July 1: taxes still unpaid are declared in default by operation of law at 12:01 a.m. on July 1 (R&T 3436). Fresno and Kings counties put the cutoff at 5 p.m. on June 30, Madera at close of business on the last day of June, and Merced at 12:01 a.m. on July 1.
• Redemption cost: redeeming takes all prior-year defaulted taxes, delinquent penalties and costs, redemption penalties, and a $15 redemption fee per parcel for property defaulted on or after January 1, 1984 (R&T 4102). Redemption penalties accrue at 1.5% a month on the defaulted taxes from July 1 of the default year until redemption (R&T 4103).
• Installment plan: until 5 p.m. on the last business day before the tax collector obtains the power to sell, an owner can start a five-year plan by paying at least 20% of the redemption amount plus all current-year taxes, and counties may charge a setup fee set by ordinance (R&T 4217 and 4219). In later years, current taxes have to be paid on time and installments have to reach 40%, 60%, 80% and then 100% of the original redemption amount by the fourth fiscal year after the election, with interest of 1.5% a month on the unpaid balance (R&T 4220 and 4221). While payments are made as required, the property can't become subject to the power of sale; if they aren't, it can, as if no plan had been started (R&T 4218 and 4222).
• Power to sell after five years: once a home has been tax-defaulted for five years or more, the tax collector has the power to sell it and must attempt to, and anyone may buy at the sale regardless of existing liens or claims (R&T 3691). The wait can be three years when a city, county or nonprofit requests a sale under R&T 3692.4, or when someone who recorded a nuisance abatement lien on the property requests it. For a home damaged in a declared disaster area and not substantially repaired, the five-year period is paused until five years after the damage.
• Notices: by June 8 each year the tax collector publishes a notice of power and intent to sell (R&T 3361); 45 to 120 days before a sale, certified-mail notice goes to parties of interest with the sale date, the redemption amount and their right to claim excess proceeds (R&T 3701); and the notice of intended sale runs once a week for three successive weeks, starting at least 21 days ahead, with the minimum bid (R&T 3702 and 3704).
• Last day to redeem: the right of redemption ends at the close of business on the last business day before the sale begins, and whoever holds title then loses all rights in the property; if the property doesn't sell, the right of redemption revives (R&T 3707).
• What gets sold: California counties sell the tax-defaulted property itself, and Merced County's tax collector notes that no county in the state sells tax lien certificates.

This is general information about how the process works, not legal or tax advice. Every situation is different — talk with a California attorney (and a tax professional) about yours.

Tax-Defaulted Auctions in the Seven Counties We Serve

We buy houses in seven Central Valley counties, and each county's tax collector runs its own sale under the state rules above. The table shows what each county had posted when checked on October 27, 2026, so treat the dates as a snapshot.

As posted on each county's tax collector pages, checked October 27, 2026.

Default Charges and Payment Plans the Counties List

Here is what each county's own pages add about defaulted taxes; a tax professional can explain how the numbers apply to your bill.

• Fresno County: taxes unpaid at 5 p.m. on June 30 put the property in default, with a $15 redemption fee and penalties of 1.5% a month; its five-year installment plan takes at least 20% of the redemption amount, a $135 setup fee and the current year's taxes.
• Madera County: defaulted taxes accrue interest at 1.5% a month (18% a year), and its five-year plan takes the current-roll taxes, including supplementals, a $55 setup fee and an initial payment of at least 20% of the redemption amount.
• Merced County: a 1.5% monthly redemption penalty and a $15 redemption fee; its plan takes 20% or more of the redemption amount up front and, by April 10 of each later year, another 20% or more plus interest on the unpaid balance, and a setup fee is not stated on the county site.
• Tulare County: property with taxes unpaid at the close of the fiscal year is declared tax-defaulted, and the tax collector may offer it at public auction once the taxes have gone unpaid for five years or more.
• Kings County: a $30 redemption fee plus penalties of 1.5% a month; its five-year plan takes at least 20% down, a one-time $100 fee and current taxes paid on time.
• Stanislaus County: property becomes subject to the tax-default sale five years or more after default (three years for nonresidential commercial property), and a parcel that doesn't sell gets its right of redemption back.
• San Joaquin County: taxes unpaid at 5 p.m. on June 30 put the property in default, with a $15 state redemption fee and interest of 1.5% a month on the unpaid base taxes; its five-year plan starts with at least 20% of the redemption amount plus current-year taxes.

This is general information about how the process works, not legal or tax advice. Every situation is different — talk with a California attorney (and a tax professional) about yours.

Selling a House With Liens or Back Taxes to Spark Home Offers

Our homepage lists title and code issues, including liens, back taxes or city code violations, among the situations we buy in, and we buy houses as-is.

We also cover the standard closing costs, so the offer we agree on is what you can expect to walk away with (minus any existing mortgage or liens on the property).

We close through a reputable local title company, which handles the paperwork and makes sure the funds and title transfer properly, and you'll know exactly where and when you're getting paid. The offer is free with no obligation, and if selling to us isn't the right fit, we'll still try to point you toward a better option.

A sale doesn't by itself pay the taxes or cancel a scheduled tax sale; a California attorney can explain the deadlines that apply to you.

This is general information about how the process works, not legal or tax advice. Every situation is different — talk with a California attorney (and a tax professional) about yours.