A tax lien and buyer

The investor is responsible for all research on the parcels available for auction. County maps for research may be found by visiting the Maricopa County Assessor's website. Read our Recommendations to all bidders.

Pre-sale Requirements

Please mail completed forms to Maricopa County Treasurer, 301 W Jefferson St #140, Phoenix, AZ 85003, or fax to (602) 506-1102.

A number will be assigned to each bidder for use when purchasing tax liens through the Treasurer’s office and the online Tax Lien Sale.

Registration is processed through the Treasurer’s Office, except during the time the Tax Sale website is available to the public (from mid-January through mid-February). Then, during the Tax Sale, registration will be processed through https://maricopa.arizonataxsale.com.

Proxy Bid Procedure

The successful bidder will pay the entire amount of taxes, interest, and fees via ACH debit by the end of the next business day. Fees include a non-refundable/non-interest earning Tax Payer Information Fee of $5.00/10.00 as per ARS 42-18122B. If payment has not been made, the parcel(s) will be struck to the State of Arizona.

Each investor will receive an Outstanding Portfolio Report identifying each parcel for which the investor had acquired a tax lien.

When making an inquiry on a property, use the parcel number located in the left column of the Portfolio.

Bid Interest

Bids are for the percent of interest income to bidder. The maximum bid is 16% simple interest per annum, prorated monthly. The lowest acceptable bid is 0% per annum. The successful (lowest) bid will determine the rate of interest to be paid on the Tax Lien, representing the amount of taxes, interest, fees and charges then due. Also read Proxy bidding in this Tax Lien Tutorial back to top

Redemption of Liens

If the owner and/or agent redeems the property tax lien, the investor receives a payment of what they paid for the lien, less the processing fee, plus the prorated monthly rate of interest that was awarded at the sale. The lien bears interest at the bid rate from the first day of the month following the purchase of the tax lien. back to top

Deeds

When a property owner fails to redeem the CP prior to the expiration of three years from the date the parcel was first offered at sale, the investor may apply for a court ordered deed to the property (judicial foreclosure). As of December 31, 2003, the Treasurer's Office does not issue Treasurer's deeds on buyer purchased CPs. All buyer foreclosures are judicial. back to top

Re-Assignment Purchasing aka Transfer of Ownership of a CP

If not redeemed, a CP may be transferred by affidavit to another person who is a registered CP buyer with the Maricopa County Treasurer's office. We do have a pre-made form for the reassignment of a Certificate of Purchase, or the current lien holder may create one of their own. The affidavit should include the:

Date Current CP Buyer #, name, address and notarized signature The new CP Buyer #, name, address and signature The parcel #, CP #

There is a $10.00 transfer fee for each CP#. The out of office negotiations are agreements solely between the current and new lien holders. The Treasurer's Office simply processes the reassignments. It usually takes a few days to complete the reassignment process, you are welcome to mail or walk in your reassignment request. We will notify you by email when it is complete. If the lien is redeemed during the transition period, the Treasurer pays the redeemed taxes to the last CP holder on record. The $10 fee would be refunded to whichever lien holder paid the fee. The Treasurer's Office must be notified of the transfer with an original affidavit for it to be valid. back to top

Purchasing Delinquent Taxes for Subsequent Years
  1. In the Treasurer’s office using computer terminals located in our lobby. Instructions and assistance are available.
  2. Send a list of desired purchases and payment to:
    Maricopa County Treasurer
    Attention: Tax Lien Department
    301 W. Jefferson Street, Suite 140
    Phoenix, AZ 85003-2199

Please use the format below when submitting a purchase request.

Parcel number(s) Certificate of Purchase number Total Amount of taxes & interest plus a $5.00 sub-tax fee per parcel Buyer number

Maricopa County Treasurer’s Office recommends using EXCEL or one of the other spreadsheet programs when using OPTION 2. This will increase the accuracy and timeliness of processing your request.

The amount due is on our website at: http://treasurer.maricopa.gov. To retrieve the “Tax Summary” page for a parcel, you can click here and enter a "Parcel #", or you can go to our Homepage and enter a "Parcel #" in the "Taxpayer" panel. From June through August, if there is a dollar amount printed in red in the upper right column, there is a delinquency eligible for sub-taxing. After August, the new tax year amounts are added to our website. You will now need to look for the "unpaid tax" line for the prior tax year to determine the amount to sub-tax. A redemption statement is another source used to determine sub-tax purchase amounts. That amount, plus the $5.00 fee, is the total amount necessary to sub-tax. Personal and business checks are accepted.

Monthly Activity Statement and Outstanding Portfolio Report

An Activity Statement will be created for each CP buyer, listing their redemptions, purchases, surrenders, expirations, and extinguishments.
Only those accounts with activity in the last month will have a report available on the Tax Lien Web site.
Outstanding Portfolio Reports will also be available for active buyers The Tax Lien Web is updated the first week of each month. These statements can be viewed on the Maricopa County Treasurer's Tax Lien Web site. To have access to this information you must first register. back to top

Seniors needing additional property tax relief and Arizonans not required to file individual income taxes may be able to take advantage of state tax credits

Individual income tax filing season in the state provides potential benefits for Arizonans whose income level is below minimum threshold limits and not required to file an individual income tax return or are seniors who own a residence.

Both may still be eligible for state tax benefits by submitting two forms available through the Arizona Department of Revenue - Form 140ET Credit for Increased Excise Taxes or Form 140PTC Property Tax Refund Claim.

Individuals not filing an income tax return and claiming both credits need only to complete Form 140PTC. However, individuals not submitting a tax return and not claiming the property tax credit must complete Form 140ET to claim the credit for increased excise taxes.

To determine eligibility for either Form 140PTC or Form 140ET, see form instructions at www.azdor.gov/Forms/Individual.

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The Maricopa County Treasurer has made every effort to ensure that the information contained on this Web site is accurate and current. However, the Treasurer’s Office does not guarantee that each and every item of information is completely accurate. Therefore, the user is advised to make his or her own independent analysis and investigation, rather than reliance on this information. The Maricopa County Treasurer’s Office hereby disclaims liability for any damages, direct or indirect, arising from use of or reliance upon this information.

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