Maricopa County, AZ

Maricopa County, Arizona — Tax Sale & Surplus Procedure

Local operations layer. The legal framework (16% bid-down interest, 3-year redemption, § 42-18204 excess-proceeds reform, § 33-812 trustee-sale surplus, statutes, and case law) lives on the parent page → arizona. This page covers how Maricopa County actually runs it. Legal information, not legal advice. Last verified: 2026-06-01.

C0. Identity

• County seat: Phoenix · Recording unit: county (FIPS 04013) · Population: ~4.4 million (most populous Arizona county).
• Parent legal framework: arizona — Arizona is a tax-lien-certificate state; Maricopa auctions certificates of purchase (CPs), not deeds.

C1. Local Tax Sale

• Conducts own sale? Yes — the Maricopa County Treasurer conducts an annual delinquent tax-lien sale (sale of certificates of purchase).
• Platform: RealAuction (vendor) — conducted entirely online at https://maricopa.arizonataxsale.com. RealAuction develops and hosts the county’s tax-lien auction site. [Source: realauction.com; treasurer FAQ]
• Calendar: annual, in February. The most recent sale was held February 10, 2026 online at maricopa.arizonataxsale.com. The tax-sale website opens to the public ~2–3 weeks before the sale; for 2026, registration on the site opened January 16, 2026. [Source: treasurer.maricopa.gov tax-sale FAQ]
• Rate within statutory range: bid-down interest starting at the 16% statutory ceiling, bid down in 1% increments; the CP is struck to the bidder accepting the lowest rate. (Statutory framework → arizona.) [Source: treasurer.maricopa.gov tax-lien FAQ]
• Registration / deposit: register at maricopa.arizonataxsale.com; complete an IRS Form W-9, W-8BEN, or W-8BEN-E; make an ACH-Debit deposit equal to 10% of the estimated amount you intend to purchase, minimum $500. [Source: treasurer.maricopa.gov tax-sale FAQ]
• Bidder requirements: registered bidder number, completed tax form, and funded deposit before the sale. Treasurer contact for registration questions: (602) 506-8511. [Source: treasurer.maricopa.gov tax-sale FAQ]
• Delinquent list location: the delinquent-parcel list/notice is published in a county-wide newspaper 2–3 weeks before the sale (and on the publishing newspaper’s online legal-notice site through March 1), posted at the Treasurer’s office, and viewable through the county’s Lien & Delinquent Parcel GIS viewer at https://gis.maricopa.gov/tsr/liendelinquentparcel/index.html and via the tax-sale website. [Source: gis.maricopa.gov; treasurer.maricopa.gov]

Tax-deeded land (separate from the lien sale): parcels whose liens were foreclosed to the state are later sold by the Treasurer/Board of Supervisors on an as-needed basis — first at public auction, then over-the-counter to the public via a Parcel Offer Form, with offers submitted directly to the Treasurer’s Office (no third-party online platform identified). Clerk of the Board: (602) 506-3766. [Source: maricopa.gov/780/Tax-Deeded-Land-Sales]

C2. Local Redemption → framework: right-of-redemption

• Where/how to redeem locally: redeem through the Maricopa County Treasurer (the office that issues the certificate of redemption); the 3-year redemption period, who may redeem, and the redemption amount formula are statutory and live on arizona.
• Local fees: standard statutory redemption amount (lien price + CP-rate interest + endorsed subsequent taxes + statutory fees); no Maricopa-specific surcharge identified. (exact local redemption-processing fee schedule — needs_verification.)
• Redemption contact: Maricopa County Treasurer, (602) 506-8511, https://treasurer.maricopa.gov.
• Deviations from state default: none identified — Maricopa follows the A.R.S. Title 42 Ch. 18 framework.

C3. Local Surplus / Excess Proceeds → framework: surplus-funds

• Two distinct surplus tracks (legal mechanics → arizona):
  • (A) Trustee’s-sale / mortgage-foreclosure surplus (A.R.S. § 33-812). Excess proceeds from a deed-of-trust/mortgage foreclosure are deposited with the Maricopa County Treasurer; release is obtained by filing in Superior Court.
  • (B) Tax-lien foreclosure excess-proceeds sale (A.R.S. § 42-18204, post-Tyler tyler-v-hennepin-county). Requested in the Superior Court foreclosure action itself.
• Claim filing venue: Clerk of the Superior Court of Maricopa County (civil filing), Downtown Phoenix — 601 W. Jackson St., Phoenix, AZ 85003 (Customer Service Center) / Clerk main filing 620 W. Jackson St., Phoenix, AZ 85003, (602) 372-5375. The Treasurer holds the deposited funds; the Application for Release is adjudicated by the Superior Court. [Source: clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov; superiorcourt.maricopa.gov]
• Claim form: “Application for Release of Excess Proceeds of Sale” — packet CVEP1 (“Excess Proceeds Forms and Instructions”), from the Maricopa County Superior Court Law Library Resource Center: https://superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/llrc/civil_cvep1/ (packet PDF: https://superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/media/jpkptcx4/cvep1z.pdf). [Source: superiorcourt.maricopa.gov]
• Local deadline notes: statutory — funds deposited with the Treasurer are presumed abandoned after 2 years with no pending application (then escheat per § 33-812; see arizona). No Maricopa-specific shortened deadline identified.
• Unclaimed-funds list published? Yes. The Treasurer publishes a list of Unclaimed Sale Proceeds (trustor name, deposit date, amount received, case balance, civil action number) at http://treasurer.maricopa.gov/excessproceeds/. Funds removed from the list have been released by court order or sent to the Arizona Dept. of Revenue unclaimed-property unit. [Source: treasurer.maricopa.gov excess-proceeds page]
• Contact: Treasurer’s Office (602) 506-8511 (deposited funds / excess-proceeds list); Clerk of Superior Court (602) 372-5375 (filing the Application). (named excess-proceeds desk contact — needs_verification.)

▸ For Investors / Operators — Maricopa County sells tax-lien certificates of purchase online through RealAuction at maricopa.arizonataxsale.com each February (2026 sale: February 10). Registration requires a W-9/W-8 and an ACH-debit deposit of 10% of intended purchase amount (minimum $500). Bidding runs down from the 16% statutory ceiling in 1% increments; the lowest bidder wins. The 3-year redemption clock, lien foreclosure path, and § 42-18204 surplus procedure on foreclosure of the lien are governed by arizona. Tax-deeded land (parcels already foreclosed to the state) is sold separately by the Treasurer/Board of Supervisors via public auction and then over-the-counter Parcel Offer Form.

▸ For Former Owners — Two surplus tracks apply in Maricopa County: for trustee’s-sale (deed-of-trust) surplus, the Treasurer holds the deposited funds (list at treasurer.maricopa.gov/excessproceeds/) and release requires a Superior Court filing; for tax-lien foreclosure surplus (post-Tyler, A.R.S. § 42-18204), the excess is requested within the foreclosure action itself. In both cases the filing is through the Clerk of the Superior Court, 620 W. Jackson St., Phoenix, AZ 85003 ((602) 372-5375) using the CVEP1 packet (“Application for Release of Excess Proceeds of Sale”) from the Law Library Resource Center (superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/llrc/civil_cvep1/). Funds unclaimed after 2 years with no pending application are presumed abandoned and escheated under A.R.S. § 33-812.

C4. Offices & Contacts

Office	Name	Address	Phone	URL
Treasurer / Tax Collector	John M. Allen, Treasurer	301 W. Jefferson St., Room 100, Phoenix, AZ 85003	(602) 506-8511	https://treasurer.maricopa.gov
Clerk of Superior Court	Clerk of the Superior Court of Maricopa County	620 W. Jackson St., Phoenix, AZ 85003 (Downtown; CSC at 601 W. Jackson St.)	(602) 372-5375	https://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov
Recorder	Justin Heap, County Recorder	111 S. Third Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85003	(602) 506-3535	https://recorder.maricopa.gov
Sheriff	n/a — tax-lien foreclosure is judicial (Superior Court); trustee’s sales are non-judicial. Sheriff conducts judicial-foreclosure/execution sales only.	—	—	—

C5. Local Procedure Notes

• Tax-lien sale is online via RealAuction (maricopa.arizonataxsale.com) — not in-person; bidders must pre-register and fund a 10%/$500-minimum ACH deposit.
• Tax-deeded land is sold separately by the Treasurer/Board of Supervisors on an as-needed basis (public auction then over-the-counter offer form), not on the RealAuction lien platform.
• Property-tax due dates (Maricopa): first half due Oct 1, delinquent after 5:00 p.m. Nov 1; second half due Mar 1, delinquent after 5:00 p.m. May 1 (bills

  $100). [Source: treasurer.maricopa.gov property-tax calendar]

• Surplus is bifurcated: trustee-sale surplus → § 33-812 deposit with Treasurer + Superior Court release; tax-foreclosure surplus → § 42-18204 excess-proceeds sale requested in the foreclosure action. (Framework → arizona, surplus-funds.)
• No Maricopa-specific ordinance deviating from state tax-foreclosure procedure identified.

C6. Records Access

• Parcel search (Assessor Parcel Viewer): https://maps.mcassessor.maricopa.gov/
• Recorder document/deed search: https://recorder.maricopa.gov/recording/document-search.html
• Lien & delinquent-parcel GIS viewer: https://gis.maricopa.gov/tsr/liendelinquentparcel/index.html
• Tax payment / parcel inquiry portal: https://treasurer.maricopa.gov
• GIS portal (countywide): https://www.maricopacountyaz.org/Property_Search.html

C7. Meta

• sources:
  • {type: county_treasurer, url: https://www.treasurer.maricopa.gov/Pages/LoadPage?page=FAQTaxLiens, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # tax-lien FAQ: bid-down 16%, registration
  • {type: county_treasurer, url: https://treasurer.maricopa.gov/Pages/LoadPage?page=TaxSaleDetails, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # sale details/registration (403 to fetch; content via index/search)
  • {type: auction_platform, url: https://maricopa.arizonataxsale.com, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # RealAuction tax-sale site
  • {type: auction_platform, url: https://realauction.com/, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # vendor confirmation
  • {type: county_treasurer, url: http://treasurer.maricopa.gov/excessproceeds/, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # unclaimed sale proceeds list (33-812)
  • {type: county_treasurer, url: https://treasurer.maricopa.gov/PropertyTaxInformation/calendar/, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # property-tax due dates
  • {type: gis, url: https://gis.maricopa.gov/tsr/liendelinquentparcel/index.html, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # lien & delinquent parcel viewer
  • {type: clerk_of_court, url: https://superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/llrc/civil_cvep1/, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # Application for Release of Excess Proceeds (CVEP1 packet)
  • {type: clerk_of_court, url: https://superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/media/jpkptcx4/cvep1z.pdf, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # excess-proceeds packet PDF
  • {type: clerk_of_court, url: https://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/about/office-hours-locations, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # filing locations/address
  • {type: recorder, url: https://recorder.maricopa.gov/recording/document-search.html, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # deed/document search
  • {type: recorder, url: https://recorder.maricopa.gov/information/contact-us.html, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # recorder name/address/phone
  • {type: assessor, url: https://maps.mcassessor.maricopa.gov/, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # parcel viewer
  • {type: county, url: https://www.maricopa.gov/780/Tax-Deeded-Land-Sales, retrieved: 2026-06-01} # tax-deeded land sales / Clerk of Board
• needs_verification:
  • “Exact local redemption-processing fee schedule charged by the Maricopa County Treasurer (statutory amount is clear; any administrative add-on fee not confirmed from an official Treasurer page).”
  • “Named contact / specific desk at the Treasurer’s Office for excess-proceeds-deposit inquiries (only the main (602) 506-8511 line confirmed).”
  • “Whether the Clerk of Superior Court charges a specific civil filing fee for the CVEP1 Application for Release of Excess Proceeds (general civil filing fee applies; exact amount not retrieved from an official fee schedule).”
  • “treasurer.maricopa.gov detail pages returned HTTP 403 to direct fetch; facts confirmed from official-site search excerpts and the RealAuction vendor page rather than a full direct page render — recommend a direct re-verification of the 2027 sale date and deposit terms when the tax-sale window opens.”
• cross_links: arizona, surplus-funds, right-of-redemption, tyler-v-hennepin-county, treasurer-sale
• changelog:
  • “2026-06-01 — Initial population (county operations layer). Auction platform (RealAuction / maricopa.arizonataxsale.com), Feb 10 2026 sale date, 10%/$500-min deposit, § 42-18204 vs § 33-812 surplus bifurcation, CVEP1 Application for Release of Excess Proceeds (Superior Court LLRC), Treasurer unclaimed-proceeds list, and offices/portals verified against county-owned sources (treasurer.maricopa.gov, superiorcourt.maricopa.gov, clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov, recorder.maricopa.gov, maricopa.gov, gis.maricopa.gov). Four honest needs_verification flags retained.”

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▸ For Investors / Operators — Maricopa County sells tax-lien certificates of purchase online through RealAuction at maricopa.arizonataxsale.com each February (2026 sale: February 10). Registration requires a W-9/W-8 and an ACH-debit deposit of 10% of intended purchase amount (minimum $500). Bidding runs down from the 16% statutory ceiling in 1% increments; the lowest bidder wins. The 3-year redemption clock, lien foreclosure path, and § 42-18204 surplus procedure on foreclosure of the lien are governed by arizona. Tax-deeded land (parcels already foreclosed to the state) is sold separately by the Treasurer/Board of Supervisors via public auction and then over-the-counter Parcel Offer Form.

▸ For Former Owners — Two surplus tracks apply in Maricopa County: for trustee’s-sale (deed-of-trust) surplus, the Treasurer holds the deposited funds (list at treasurer.maricopa.gov/excessproceeds/) and release requires a Superior Court filing; for tax-lien foreclosure surplus (post-Tyler, A.R.S. § 42-18204), the excess is requested within the foreclosure action itself. In both cases the filing is through the Clerk of the Superior Court, 620 W. Jackson St., Phoenix, AZ 85003 ((602) 372-5375) using the CVEP1 packet (“Application for Release of Excess Proceeds of Sale”) from the Law Library Resource Center (superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/llrc/civil_cvep1/). Funds unclaimed after 2 years with no pending application are presumed abandoned and escheated under A.R.S. § 33-812.

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Legal information, not legal advice. This page summarizes Maricopa County, Arizona tax-sale and surplus procedure as of the last_verified date and may be incomplete or out of date. Verify against the cited county sources and the parent arizona statutes, and consult a licensed Arizona attorney before acting.