Real Property Sales

What is Tax Foreclosure?
When real property taxes become three years delinquent, the County Treasurer begins foreclosure action. We file a certificate of delinquency with Superior Court. Besides taxes, interest, and penalties, foreclosure costs of upwards to $800 per parcel begin to accrue.

We order title searches for each parcel. As required by law, all parties with recorded legal interest as revealed by title searches are served with notice and summons by certified or registered mail. A notice and summons is also published in the local newspaper. (RCW 84.64.050)
The Treasurer receives a judgment from the court foreclosing on the tax liens and authorizing the sale of parcels. All of the parcels being foreclosed upon can be redeemed by their owners, or other parties with recorded legal interest, until the close of business on the day before the sale. That is, they are allowed to pay all that is due, thus removing their parcel from the sale. We usually hold tax foreclosure sales once a year, in December. (RCW 84.64.060)

Can prior owners redeem their property after it is foreclosed upon?
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. If they do so, they must pay the amount which the property sold for, plus interest on the tax amount. If there were any improvements made by the new owner, those would also be paid for. (RCW 84.64.070)

What happens to all of the property liens?
The county can make no guarantees that prior liens will be extinguished. If prior lien holders attempt to collect on their liens after the property has been foreclosed upon, it is entirely up to the new owner to defend against these claims. (RCW 84.64.080) Do not count on buying a house at foreclosure auction. Normally, owners of improved properties subject to tax foreclosure will raise the money to redeem the property before the sale; often at the last minute. Most houses that are foreclosed upon have delinquent loans held by banks, mortgage companies, or other lenders. There is no department within the county that has information on these lending agency foreclosures.

What happens to the excess proceeds?
If we sell a parcel at a foreclosure auction for more than the amount owing, the previous record title owner 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)

Mailing List
For those who wish a listing of foreclosure properties please send a request along with a self-addressed stamped envelope.
We do not maintain a mailing list to notify people of each year's tax foreclosures. The great majority of people who ask for information never attend the auction or do any research once they find out what is required and what is involved. Further, people move without telling us, and it becomes a waste of county resources when the list is returned. Starting in mid-November we will have a list that will be available. In addition, a list will be published in the Wenatchee World newspaper sometime in the fall after all our title reports are completed and we know the names of all interested parties that must be listed in Notice and Summons.

If you obtain a list from us, remember that you will need to periodically delete those accounts that were paid since your list was printed. Parcels may be redeemed from foreclosure at any time up to the day before the auction, thus we do not know what will be in the sale until the morning of the auction.

What does tax-title mean?
Parcels offered for auction at tax foreclosure sales, but not bid upon, are deeded to the county. These parcels are "Tax-Title Properties." Most of these parcels are of little value which is why they did not sell at the auction in the first place. Many of these properties are "dangling strips" or "isolated triangles." The former are usually narrow strips, anywhere from a few inches to a few feet wide, that were left over because of an error in a legal description, a survey, a platting error, or a mis-measurement by the Assessor's office. The triangles generally are created when a street or highway cuts through a lot leaving a small isolated triangle cut off from the rest of the lot or block. They may still be purchased from the county, but through a different process. Tax-Title properties are subject to the same risks as tax foreclosure properties.

How long does it take to get a deed?
We will issue a deed within thirty to sixty days of the date of sale. Deeds are forwarded to the Chelan County Auditor's office for recording and mailed to the address provided in the bidder registration. Treasurers' deeds provide the purchaser no guarantees. There can be clouded title or other problems which the county is neither aware of, nor responsible for, that will become the responsibility of the purchaser.

Thorough research on all potential purchases is essential. It is important that you complete this research prior to the day of the sale. There are definite risks when buying tax foreclosure and tax-title properties. Buying property without doing complete research can result in unwanted and costly surprises. Warning - Even the most diligent research efforts may not uncover all difficulties or unexpected problems.

Where is the best place to begin?
In addition to the minimum bid sheet, the Treasurer's office will provide as much information as it has available. Title reports, maps, appraisal sheets, and tax information are some items that will help you in your research. The Treasurer's office is only a starting point. Sometimes the information available is minimal. It is up to the buyer to pursue other sources.

Other resources - Questions about ability to build, zoning, use restrictions, controls, as well as others, should be looked into prior to any purchase. City and county departments of Engineering, Buildings and Codes, and Planning are good places to get information.

Title Insurance - Some title companies will not provide title insurance for up to ten years from the date of sale. Policies vary with each title company. If you are planning to build, title insurance may be important to you.

Assessments - Many parcels have local improvements or special assessments for which payment will be due. You will need to check on these and find out what districts or associations service the area of the parcel you are researching. Some assessments are collected by the County Treasurer. Some are not. To avoid expensive surprises, you need to be aware of these before the sale.

Local Ordinances - Some properties may be subject to easements or use restrictions, as well as zoning and other land use controls. We sell all properties subject to applicable city and county ordinances. The existence of these is the buyer's responsibility to detect.

Easements - Some properties may be private roads covered by easements for ingress and egress. Easements are not extinguished by the foreclosure sale but remain with the land. You may not block the easement to try to extort money out of the users.

Similarly, when you see that a property lies near or under a transmission line easement, there will likely be restrictions against building anything on the land. Transmission line easements do appear on the Assessor's maps, but private easements do not.

Some properties may be subject to use restrictions and covenants set up in the original plat. Some of these may be labeled Open Space, Open Area, Greenbelt, or similar.

Community Association Dues - We sell all properties subject to restrictive covenants, if any, allowing for imposition of community association fees.

Physical Inspection of Property - We strongly recommend that you visit all of the property sites you are researching. Look at exactly what is being offered for sale. Is there any access to the parcel? Can you accurately identify property boundaries? Is the parcel being used in some way by neighbors? These are just a few of the questions you may want to ask. Just because a property looks desirable on the map, that does not mean it is in actuality. The map does not show the topography such as ravines, hills, slopes, etc.; nor does the map show what is on the property such as dense growth, swamp, boulders, etc.

It is up to you to know exactly what you are bidding upon. We cannot stress this too strongly. Every year people who have done little or no research, or who do not know how to read a legal description, buy properties that, to them, are totally useless. Knowledgeable parties who have done the research will avoid these properties. We do not overturn a sale and refund the purchase price because a bidder did not know what they were bidding upon; nor because they did not understand the legal description.

Improvements - If there are improvements on the parcel, you should find out if the improvements go with the land and how they are currently being used.

Minimum bid sheets are available at the Treasurer's office prior to the auction.
We accept only cash, cashier's checks, and money orders. Absolutely no personal checks and no business checks will be accepted. Those wishing to bid must be present or have a representative present at the auction. Bidding cannot be done by phone or mail. This is an open, oral auction; not a sealed bid auction.

The auctioneer announces the minimum bid for each parcel. The minimum bid includes all unpaid taxes, costs, interest, and assessments. However, it will be only those assessments that are normally collected by the County Treasurer. Bids are made in increments of $50 or more.
These are oral auctions. Each parcel is sold to the highest bidder. When we accept a bid, the successful bidder has until 2 p.m. to make payment to the County Treasurer.

Along with the bid amount, a deed fee, recording fee, and sometimes, advertising fees, must be paid. We will announce these amounts in the opening statement at the beginning of the sale.
If full payment is not made as required, the parcel is re-auctioned at the minimum bid. A successful bidder who does not pay will not be allowed to bid on any other parcels at the auction.