Pima 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 Pima County actually runs it. Legal information, not legal advice. Last verified: 2026-06-02.

C0. Identity

County seat: Tucson · Recording unit: county (FIPS 04019) · Population: ~1.08 million (2024 Census estimate; second-most populous Arizona county). [Source: census.gov QuickFacts Pima County]
Parent legal framework: arizona — Arizona is a tax-lien-certificate state; Pima County auctions certificates of purchase (CPs), not deeds.

C1. Local Tax Sale

Conducts own sale? Yes — the Pima County Treasurer conducts an annual delinquent tax-lien sale (sale of certificates of purchase / CPs under A.R.S. Title 42, Ch. 18).
Platform: RealAuction (vendor) — conducted entirely online at https://pima.arizonataxsale.com. RealAuction develops and hosts Pima County’s dedicated tax-lien auction storefront. [Source: to.pima.gov/taxLienSale/]
Calendar: annual, in February. For the 2026 cycle:
- Registration open: February 2–19, 2026 (10:00 AM – 2:00 PM MST)
- Main auction: February 26, 2026 — first batch closes 8:00 AM MST, final batch closes 12:00 PM MST
- Auxiliary session: February 26, 2026, 1:00–3:00 PM MST (unsold parcels)
- Taxes offered: delinquent 2024 and prior years [Source: to.pima.gov/taxLienSale/]
Rate within statutory range: bid-down interest starting at the 16% statutory ceiling, bid down in 1% decrements (0% bids acceptable); the CP is struck to the bidder accepting the lowest rate. (Statutory framework → arizona.) [Source: to.pima.gov/taxLienSale/]
Registration / deposit: register at RealAuction.com; no specific pre-sale deposit amount identified from county sources — payment of winning bids is due by the deadline specified in the RealAuction bidding rules; accepted methods include ACH (electronic check), Fed wire, check, or cash at the Treasurer’s Office. No pre-sale deposit percentage confirmed from the official Pima County booklet (the 2026 booklet PDF was inaccessible for machine parsing). (pre-sale deposit amount or percentage — needs_verification.) [Source: to.pima.gov/taxLienSale/]
Bidder requirements: all prospective investors must register at RealAuction.com. Pima County enforces a Single Simultaneous Bidding Entity Rule — each bidding entity may register only once and may not have a contractual, legal, or financial relationship with any other registered bidding entity in the sale. [Source: to.pima.gov/taxLienSale/]
Fee structure (county-assessed, in addition to winning lien amount):
- Certificate fee: $10.00 per parcel
- County processing fee: $1.00-$ 10.00 per parcel (tiered by purchase amount: < $50 \to$ 1; $50- <$ 200 → $5; \geq$ 200 → $10)
- RealAuction platform fee: $0-$ 10 per delinquent tax year (same tiered scale; RealAuction fees are refundable on non-purchase)
- Data request (excess-proceeds list): $50.00 non-refundable [Source: to.pima.gov/taxLienSale/]
Delinquent list location: published in the Daily Territorial newspaper (contact: (520) 294-1200) at least two weeks before the sale and online at www.ananews.com (the Daily Territorial’s legal-notice site). [Source: to.pima.gov/taxLienSale/]
Subsequent taxes (“subs”): CP holders may pay and endorse subsequent years’ taxes on the certificate; subs earn interest at the same rate as the original CP (statutory framework → arizona).

Treasurer’s Deed Sales (separate from the lien sale): Parcels to which the Treasurer has issued a Treasurer’s Deed (post-foreclosure of redemption) are listed separately as “Treasurer’s Deed Sales” on the Pima County website and sold through Pima County Real Property Services. Contact: George Cardieri via the Real Property Services portal. [Source: pima.gov/625/Treasurers-Deed-Sales]

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

Where/how to redeem locally: redeem through the Pima County Treasurer’s Office at 240 N. Stone Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85701 (lower level, Public Service Center). The 3-year redemption period, who may redeem, and the redemption amount formula are statutory and live on arizona. Pursuant to A.R.S. § 42-18154(A), the Treasurer must be satisfied that the redeeming person has the legal right to redeem; non-owners of record must document that right. [Source: to.pima.gov/; to.pima.gov/taxLienSale/]
Local fees: standard statutory redemption amount (lien price + CP-rate interest + endorsed subsequent taxes + statutory fees); no Pima-specific surcharge above the statutory formula identified from official sources. (exact administrative processing/certificate-of-redemption fee — needs_verification.)
Redemption contact: Pima County Treasurer’s Office, (520) 724-8341 / [email protected], https://www.to.pima.gov.
- ACH redemption enrollment available on request.
Deviations from state default: none identified — Pima County follows the A.R.S. Title 42, Ch. 18 statutory framework.

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

Two distinct surplus tracks exist under Arizona law (mechanics → arizona):

Track A — Trustee’s-sale / mortgage-foreclosure surplus (A.R.S. § 33-812)

When a deed-of-trust foreclosure sale generates more than the secured debt:

The trustee deposits the surplus with the Pima County Treasurer.
The trustee (as plaintiff) commences a civil action in the Pima County Superior Court naming the Treasurer as defendant.
Any person with a recorded or legal interest at time of sale files an application for distribution in that civil action with the Clerk of the Superior Court (civil division), 110 W. Congress St., Tucson, AZ 85701.
The applicant must mail a copy to the Treasurer and all parties listed on the complaint within 3 business days of filing.
Court determines entitlement; Treasurer disburses per court order.
On release, the Treasurer may deduct up to $100 for its administrative costs.

Claim filing venue (Track A):

Deposited funds held at: Pima County Treasurer’s Office, 240 N. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701; phone (520) 724-8341.
Civil action filed with: Clerk of the Superior Court of Pima County (Civil Division), 110 W. Congress St., Tucson, AZ 85701; phone (520) 724-3200. [Source: azleg.gov §33-812; to.pima.gov/excessProceeds/; cosc.pima.gov/]

Claim form (Track A): The Pima County Treasurer’s Office publishes an “Application for Release of Excess Proceeds” form at https://www.to.pima.gov/static/files/application%20for%20excess%20proceeds.pdf and a broader Application Packet (with instructions, affidavit of mailing, and W-9) at https://www.to.pima.gov/static/files/application%20packet.pdf. The packet includes a Superior Court affidavit of mailing form. Note: the application is filed with the Superior Court in the pending civil action number, not submitted directly to the Treasurer. [Source: to.pima.gov/excessProceeds/]

Thirty-day cooling-off period: per A.R.S. § 33-812, any agreement for assistance with a claim entered into before 30 days after the trustee’s sale is void and unenforceable. Finder fees above $2,500 require court approval demonstrating reasonableness. [Source: dianedrain.com/excess-sale-proceeds-arizona-specific/ (citing A.R.S. § 33-812)]

Track B — Tax-lien foreclosure excess-proceeds sale (A.R.S. § 42-18204)

Requested in the Superior Court foreclosure action itself (framework and waterfall → arizona). The court, if it orders an excess-proceeds sale, retains jurisdiction; the property owner captures surplus equity after the CP holder’s costs. No separate Pima-specific filing form identified.

Unclaimed-surplus list

The Pima County Treasurer’s Office makes excess-proceeds data available for purchase online (via the Treasurer’s portal / Doxo link on the excess-proceeds page) for a $50.00 non-refundable fee. (whether a free publicly browsable unclaimed-proceeds list is published — needs_verification.) [Source: to.pima.gov/excessProceeds/; to.pima.gov/taxLienSale/ (data request fee schedule)]
Funds with no pending application are presumed abandoned after 2 years; ≤ $50 \to co u n t y g e n er a l f u n d; >$ 50 → Arizona Dept. of Revenue unclaimed property (framework → arizona). [Source: azleg.gov §33-812]

Contact:

Deposited funds / excess-proceeds data: Pima County Treasurer’s Office, (520) 724-8341, [email protected], https://www.to.pima.gov/excessProceeds/
Claim application filing: Pima County Clerk of Superior Court (Civil), (520) 724-3200, https://www.cosc.pima.gov/

C4. Offices & Contacts

Office	Name	Address	Phone	URL
Treasurer / Tax Collector	Brian Johnson, Pima County Treasurer (assumed office Jan. 1, 2025; term ends Jan. 1, 2029)	240 N. Stone Ave., Lower Level, Tucson, AZ 85701 (Mail: PO Box 29011, Phoenix, AZ 85038-9011)	(520) 724-8341	https://www.to.pima.gov
Clerk of Superior Court	James W. Giacomino	110 W. Congress St., Tucson, AZ 85701-1317	(520) 724-3200	https://www.cosc.pima.gov
Recorder / Register of Deeds	Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, Pima County Recorder	Downtown: 240 N. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701 · Eastside: 6920 E. Broadway Blvd., Suite D, Tucson, AZ 85710 (Mail: PO Box 3145, Tucson, AZ 85702-3145)	(520) 724-4350 (recording)	https://recorder.pima.gov
Sheriff (execution sales only)	Chris Nanos, Pima County Sheriff	HQ: 1750 E. Benson Hwy., Tucson, AZ 85714 · Civil Enforcement: 32 N. Stone Ave., 16th Floor, Tucson, AZ 85701	(520) 351-4600 (main) · (520) 351-6000 (Civil Enforcement)	https://pimasheriff.org

Note on Assessor (not a surplus/sale office but useful for parcel research): Suzanne Droubie, Pima County Assessor (assumed office Jan. 1, 2025; re-elected Nov. 2024, term ends Jan. 1, 2029); 240 N. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701; (520) 724-8630 (exemptions line); https://www.asr.pima.gov. [Source: ballotpedia.org/Suzanne_Droubie; asr.pima.gov/contact]

Note on Sheriff: The Pima County Sheriff’s Civil Enforcement Unit conducts court-ordered execution sales of real property at the Pima County Superior Courthouse. Trustee’s sales (non-judicial mortgage foreclosures) in Arizona are conducted by the trustee, not the sheriff. Tax-lien foreclosure is judicial (Superior Court) but the deed issues through the Treasurer, not the Sheriff. [Source: pimasheriff.org/services/civil-enforcement]

C5. Local Procedure Notes

Tax-lien sale is 100% online via RealAuction (pima.arizonataxsale.com) — no in-person bidding; must pre-register on the platform.
Single Simultaneous Bidding Entity Rule is actively enforced — unlike some counties, Pima explicitly prohibits bidders with any contractual, legal, or financial relationships from both registering. [Source: to.pima.gov/taxLienSale/]
Delinquent list published in Daily Territorial + ananews.com — at least two weeks pre-sale; accessible online (no GIS viewer identified for the delinquent- parcel list, unlike Maricopa). (GIS-based delinquent-parcel viewer — needs_verification.)
Quarterly statements: CP holders receive quarterly “Unmatured Tax Lien Portfolio” statements from the Treasurer tracking their certificate holdings. [Source: to.pima.gov/taxLienSale/]
Property-tax due dates: first half due October 1, delinquent after 5:00 PM November 1; second half due March 1, delinquent after 5:00 PM May 1 (for bills > $100). [Source: to.pima.gov/payment/]
Trustee-sale surplus bifurcation: Track A (§ 33-812) — deposit with Treasurer + Superior Court civil action; Track B (§ 42-18204) — requested in the tax-foreclosure action itself. (Framework → arizona, surplus-funds.)
Treasurer’s Deed Sales (post-foreclosure deeded parcels) are sold separately by Pima County Real Property Services and are not part of the RealAuction lien-sale platform. [Source: pima.gov/625/Treasurers-Deed-Sales]
No Pima County–specific ordinance deviating from A.R.S. Title 42 Ch. 18 tax-foreclosure procedure identified.

C6. Records Access

Parcel search (Assessor):
- https://www.asr.pima.gov/Parcel/Search (Assessor search by parcel, owner, address)
- https://gis.pima.gov/maps/landbase/parsrch.htm (GIS-based parcel search)
- https://gis.pima.gov/parcels/ (Parcel Information Search)
Recorder / deed search: https://www.recorder.pima.gov/PublicSearch (Public Records Research / document purchasing)
GIS map (PimaMaps): https://gis.pima.gov/pimamaps/
Tax payment / parcel tax inquiry portal: https://www.to.pima.gov/payment/ (also: https://paypimagov.com/ — Treasurer’s online payment system; accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, PayPal, eCheck; eCheck fee $0.50; c a r d co n v e ni e n ce f ee 1.95$ 1.95 minimum)
Treasurer property search: https://www.to.pima.gov/propertySearch/

C7. Meta

sources:
- {type: county_treasurer, url: https://www.to.pima.gov/taxLienSale/, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: county_treasurer, url: https://www.to.pima.gov/excessProceeds/, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: county_treasurer, url: https://www.to.pima.gov/, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: county_treasurer, url: https://www.to.pima.gov/payment/, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: county, url: https://www.pima.gov/625/Treasurers-Deed-Sales, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: clerk_of_court, url: https://www.cosc.pima.gov/, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: recorder, url: https://recorder.pima.gov/, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: sheriff, url: https://pimasheriff.org/services/civil-enforcement, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: sheriff, url: https://pimasheriff.org/about-us/organization, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: assessor, url: https://www.asr.pima.gov/, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: assessor, url: https://asr.pima.gov/contact, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: gis, url: https://gis.pima.gov/pimamaps/, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: gis, url: https://gis.pima.gov/parcels/, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: gis, url: https://gis.pima.gov/maps/landbase/parsrch.htm, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: form, url: https://www.to.pima.gov/static/files/application%20for%20excess%20proceeds.pdf, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: form, url: https://www.to.pima.gov/static/files/application%20packet.pdf, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: statute, url: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/00812.htm, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: secondary, url: https://dianedrain.com/excess-sale-proceeds-arizona-specific/, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: census, url: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/pimacountyarizona/LND110210, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: ballotpedia, url: https://ballotpedia.org/Brian_Johnson_(Arizona), retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: ballotpedia, url: https://ballotpedia.org/Suzanne_Droubie, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
- {type: ballotpedia, url: https://ballotpedia.org/Chris_Nanos, retrieved: 2026-06-02}
needs_verification:
- “Pre-sale deposit amount or percentage required at Pima County — the 2026 booklet PDF was inaccessible for machine parsing; no deposit percentage confirmed from retrieved county web pages (Maricopa requires 10%/$500-min ACH; Pima may differ).”
- “Exact administrative redemption-processing or certificate-of-redemption fee charged by the Pima County Treasurer above the statutory redemption amount.”
- “Whether a free publicly browsable unclaimed-excess-proceeds list exists on the Treasurer’s website (the page references a paid $50 data purchase; a free public list was not confirmed).”
- “GIS-based delinquent-parcel viewer for Pima County (Maricopa publishes a GIS viewer; no equivalent confirmed for Pima — the delinquent list is newspaper/ananews.com only).”
- “Clerk of Superior Court civil filing fee for a § 33-812 Application for Release of Excess Proceeds (general civil filing fees apply per Ordinance 2026-4 effective June 1, 2026; exact amount not retrieved).”
cross_links: arizona, surplus-funds, right-of-redemption, tyler-v-hennepin-county, treasurer-sale, sheriff-sale, due-process-notice, bankruptcy-automatic-stay
changelog:
- “2026-06-02 — Initial population. Auction platform (RealAuction / pima.arizonataxsale.com), Feb 26 2026 sale date, Single Simultaneous Bidding Entity Rule, delinquent list (Daily Territorial / ananews.com), fee schedule, § 33-812 two-step surplus process (Treasurer deposit + Superior Court civil action), Application for Release of Excess Proceeds form URLs, Treasurer’s Deed Sales (separate track), all four offices, and six records-access portals verified against Pima County official sources. Five honest needs_verification flags retained.”

Legal information, not legal advice. This page summarizes Pima 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.

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