Utah County, Utah — Tax Sale & Surplus Procedure

Local operations layer. The legal framework (redemption periods, surplus rights, statutes, case law) lives on the parent page → utah. This page covers how Utah County actually runs it. Legal information, not legal advice. Last verified: 2026-06-02.

C0. Identity

• County seat: Provo
• Population: ~659,399 (2020 Census)
• FIPS: 49049
• Recording unit: county
• Parent legal framework: utah

C1. Local Tax Sale

• Conducts own sale? Yes — the Utah County Auditor conducts the annual May tax sale under Utah Code § 59-2-1351.1, with the Utah County Commission ratifying accepted bids. [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale; utah.gov notice 2026-05-21]
• Platform: Online-only auction via PublicSurplus.com. Registration URL: https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/utahcore,ut/register/user There is no physical location for in-person bidding; the entire sale is hosted online. [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale]
• Calendar:
  • Frequency: Annual (third Thursday of May).
  • Typical cycle (2027 example): property list goes live ~April 22; auction list posted to PublicSurplus.com ~May 14; bidding opens 10:00 AM ~May 20; bidding closes 12:00 PM ~May 27 with staggered close times and automatic 5-minute extension if bids are placed in the final minutes.
  • 2026 sale: May 21, 2026 at 10:00 AM (online via PublicSurplus.com), confirmed in the official Public Meeting Notice filed with the Utah Public Notice website.
  • [Source: utah.gov PMN notice 309261 (2026 sale); auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale (2027 cycle dates)]
• Opening bid / minimum: Not less than total taxes + interest + penalty + administrative costs; a $165.00 per-property administrative fee is added. [Source: utah.gov PMN notice 309261 (2026)]
• Registration & deposit (online auction — tiered system):
  • Tier 1: no deposit required
  • Tier 2: $500 deposit (automatically includes Tier 1 access)
  • Tier 3: $2,500 deposit (automatically includes Tiers 1 & 2 access)
  • Properties are placed into tiers based on total tax due, total market value, or property type. Deposits are wired to the auction vendor before bidding opens; deposit amounts apply toward the winning bid or are refunded if no bid is won.
  • [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/forms-faqs (FAQ section)]
• Bidder requirements:
  • All individuals and entities must register separately with PublicSurplus.com (Utah County Ordinance 3.04.020). Tax deeds are prepared in the name of the successful bidder as registered.
  • Disqualified bidders (per Utah County Ordinance 3.04.060): bidders suspected of circumventing auction rules; property owners or lienholders attempting to buy their own properties (treated as redemptions); family members or associates buying on behalf of delinquent owners to circumvent restrictions.
  • Preferred Bidder Status (Ordinance 3.04.080): available to parties with a possessory interest in, or ownership of an abutting parcel to, the delinquent property. Application must be submitted no later than 14 days before the sale; decisions mailed by the Friday before the auction. Certain economically unviable parcels or those that would create a nuisance/title cloud may be limited to Preferred Bidders.
  • [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/policies]
• Payment after winning: Full bid amount paid through the online platform within the timeframe specified by the vendor; acceptable methods include cash, certified check, money order, or other forms authorized by the County Auditor (Utah County Ordinance 3.04.100). [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/policies]
• Deed issued: Non-warranty tax deed. Utah County makes no representations or warranties regarding title or property condition. [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/policies]
• Unsold parcels: Struck off to Utah County if no bids are received. [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale]
• Delinquent list location: Posted on the Utah County Auditor website (auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale) approximately 4 weeks before the sale (to coincide with the newspaper publication requirement); also posted to PublicSurplus.com no later than the Friday before bidding opens. [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/property-list]

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

• Where to redeem: Pay delinquent taxes to the Utah County Treasurer’s office before the auction opens (by 9:59 AM on bidding-open day; the 2027 example explicitly states the redemption deadline is 9:59 AM on May 20). [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale (2027 dates); utah § 59-2-1346]
• Redemption contact:
  • Office: Utah County Treasurer
  • Address: 100 E Center St, Suite 1200, Provo, UT 84606
  • Phone: (801) 851-8255
  • Email: treasurer@utahcounty.gov
  • URL: https://treasurer.utahcounty.gov
• Local fees: Standard delinquent taxes + penalties + interest + administrative costs; no county-specific redemption premium documented. [Source: treasurer.utahcounty.gov; utah § 59-2-1346]
• Deviations from state default: None documented; Utah County follows the standard Utah 4-year pre-sale redemption window under § 59-2-1346. Properties with delinquent taxes of more than approximately 5 years are turned over for sale by the Treasurer (consistent with the statutory 4-year timeline). [Source: treasurer.utahcounty.gov; utah § 59-2-1346]
• Post-sale redemption: None. Utah has no post-sale redemption right after the tax deed issues. [Source: utah; § 59-2-1346]

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

▸ For Investors / Operators — Utah County conducts an annual online-only tax deed sale each third Thursday of May via PublicSurplus.com; the 2026 sale ran May 21. A tiered deposit system applies — Tier 1 (no deposit), Tier 2 ($500), Tier 3 ($2,500) — with tier assignment determined by tax due, market value, or property type. Utah County’s Preferred Bidder program (Ordinance 3.04.080) allows abutters and possessory-interest holders to apply for limited-competition status on economically unviable parcels. Deeds are non-warranty; Utah has no post-sale redemption right after the tax deed issues (Utah Code § 59-2-1346).

▸ For Former Owners — Excess proceeds from a Utah County tax sale are claimed through a two-step process: (1) written notice to the Utah County Tax Administration Office (111 S. University Ave., Provo, UT 84601; 801-851-8110 opt. 3; boe@utahcounty.gov), plus (2) a petition filed in the Utah State Fourth District Court (137 N Freedom Blvd, Suite 100, Provo, UT 84601; (801) 429-1000) to obtain a signed judicial order specifying distribution (UCC 3.04.150). Claims may be initiated only after the County Commission ratifies the bid; excess funds are held for a minimum of 90 days post-ratification. If no qualifying claim is filed within 90 days of ratification, funds are forwarded to the Utah State Treasurer’s Office of Unclaimed Property (mycash.utah.gov).

• Claim filing venue:
  • Primary step: Written notice to the Utah County Tax Administration Office (111 South University Avenue, Provo, Utah 84601; phone 801-851-8110 opt 3; email boe@utahcounty.gov) with a copy of the court petition attached.
  • Required court step: A claimant must file a petition in the Utah State Fourth District Court (137 N Freedom Blvd, Suite 100, Provo, UT 84601; phone (801) 429-1000) to adjudicate the claim and obtain a signed judicial order specifying distribution; that order is then delivered to the county.
  • [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/excess-funds]
• Governing local ordinance: Utah County Code UCC 3.04.150. [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/excess-funds]
• Claim form: No specific form name or downloadable claim form identified on the county website; claimants are directed to consult UCC 3.04.150 and file a court petition. (Exact form name/download URL — needs_verification.)
• Local deadline notes:
  • Claims may only be initiated after the bid is accepted and ratified by the Utah County Commission.
  • Excess funds held for a minimum of 90 days after ratification.
  • Ratification occurs no less than 30 days after the sale closes; at least 120 days if a federal income-tax lien is present.
  • If no qualifying claim is filed within 90 days of ratification, excess proceeds are forwarded to the Utah State Treasurer’s Office of Unclaimed Property (mycash.utah.gov).
  • [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/excess-funds] (Exact statutory section for the 90/30/120-day windows — needs_verification; figures confirmed via official county page only.)
• Unclaimed-funds list published: Yes — an Excess Funds List is published at https://ssl.utahcounty.gov/Dept/ClerkAud/TaxAdmin/TaxSale/ExcessFunds.asp (legacy URL) and linked from auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale. [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale (navigation link)]
• Contact:
  • Office: Utah County Tax Administration
  • Phone: 801-851-8110 opt 3
  • Email: boe@utahcounty.gov
  • Address: 111 South University Avenue, Provo, Utah 84601
• Third-party finders:
  • Fee cap: 20% of amount collected (cannot exceed this under Title 67-4a / UCC 3.04.150).
  • License required: if charging a contingent fee, finder must hold an active private detective license issued by the Utah Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI). Licensed attorneys, CPAs, and CPA firms are exempt from the PI-license requirement.
  • Notarized contract required, meeting the standards of the Unclaimed Property Act (Utah Code Title 67-4a).
  • POA submitted with the claim may not contain a fee or percentage term.
  • Finder agreements on property already delivered to the State Treasurer are unenforceable until 24 months after delivery.
  • [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/excess-funds; utah §§ 11.Meta]

C4. Offices & Contacts

Note: Officer names (Rod Mann, Kim Jackson, Andrea Allen, Mike Smith) were retrieved from official county websites as of 2026-06-02; elected-official names can change. Verify before relying on a specific name.

C5. Local Procedure Notes

• Online-only auction: Utah County has moved fully to an online-only format via PublicSurplus.com; no in-person bidding is permitted. [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/policies]
• Tiered deposit system: Unique among Utah counties (not present in state statute); Utah County’s three-tier deposit structure ($0/$500 / $2,500) governs which properties a bidder may bid on. [Source: FAQs page]
• Preferred Bidder status: Utah County offers a formal application process for Preferred Bidder status for abutters and possessory-interest holders (Ordinance 3.04.080), allowing limited-competition sales on economically unviable parcels. [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/policies]
• District Court petition for surplus: Unlike some Utah counties that may handle excess proceeds administratively, Utah County specifically requires a Fourth District Court petition (UCC 3.04.150) before any surplus is disbursed. This is an additional procedural step not found in the state statute text as retrieved. (Whether this is a county-only rule or mirrors an unretieved statutory provision — needs_verification.)
• Administrative fee of $165 per property added to the minimum bid. [Source: utah.gov PMN notice 309261 (2026)]
• Protest form available: “Protest of Tax Sale” form (PreferredBidApp.pdf, TaxSaleProtest.pdf) available from the Auditor’s Forms/FAQs page. [Source: auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/forms-faqs]
• Conducting authority: Rodney Mann, Utah County Auditor; ratified by the Utah County Commission (statutory: county legislative body per § 59-2-1351.1). [Source: utah.gov PMN notice 309261]

C6. Records Access

• Parcel search / property info: https://www.utahcounty.gov/LandRecords/Index.asp (serial number, address, owner-name, appraisal, tax, and delinquent-tax search sub-portals)
• Recorder deed/document search: https://recorder.utahcounty.gov/find-records (document imaging by party name, land location, document type; also https://www.utahcounty.gov/LandRecords/DocImgForm.asp)
• GIS / parcel map: https://maps.utahcounty.gov/ParcelMap/ParcelMap.html (interactive; also https://is.utahcounty.gov/gis for all county GIS layers)
• Tax payment portal: https://treasurer.utahcounty.gov/pay (also https://secureinstantpayments.com/sip/reports/account_selector.php via the county’s online payment gateway; real property, business personal property, manufactured homes; credit/debit 2.65% fee, e-check no fee)
• Delinquent tax search: https://www.utahcounty.gov/LandRecords/DelinquentTaxSearch.asp
• Excess funds list: https://ssl.utahcounty.gov/Dept/ClerkAud/TaxAdmin/TaxSale/ExcessFunds.asp
• May Tax Sale hub: https://auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale

C7. Meta

sources:

• {type: official, url: “https://auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  Main tax sale hub — PublicSurplus.com vendor, annual 3rd-Thu-May, 2027 dates, unsold struck to county

• {type: official, url: “https://auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/policies”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  Online-only format, disqualified bidder rules (Ord. 3.04.060), preferred bidder (Ord. 3.04.080), payment via platform (Ord. 3.04.100), non-warranty deed

• {type: official, url: “https://auditor.utahcounty.gov/may-tax-sale/excess-funds”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  Tax Admin Office address 111 S University Ave, 90-day/30-day/120-day windows, UCC 3.04.150, Fourth District Court petition required, 20% finder cap, PI license, notarized contract, boe@utahcounty.gov

• {type: official, url: “https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/Auditor/TaxAdmin/TaxSale/bidderregistration.html”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  PublicSurplus.com registration URL, Ord. 3.04.020 registration requirement, deed prepared in bidder name

• {type: official, url: “https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/Auditor/TaxAdmin/TaxSale/formsfaqs.html”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  Tier 1/2/3 deposit system ($0/$500/$2,500), wire deposit to vendor, no deposit for live auction, available forms list

• {type: official, url: “https://www.utah.gov/pmn/sitemap/noticehistory/309261.html”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  2026 sale May 21 at 10 AM via PublicSurplus.com, conducted by Rodney Mann; $165 admin fee; opening bid = taxes+interest+penalty+admin costs

• {type: official, url: “https://auditor.utahcounty.gov/”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  Rod Mann (Auditor), 100 E Center St Suite 3600, (801) 851-8110, auditor@utahcounty.gov

• {type: official, url: “https://treasurer.utahcounty.gov/home”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  Kim Jackson (Treasurer), 100 E Center St Suite 1200, (801) 851-8255, treasurer@utahcounty.gov

• {type: official, url: “https://recorder.utahcounty.gov/contact”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  Andrea Allen (Recorder), 100 E Center St Suite 1300, (801) 851-8179, recorder@utahcounty.gov

• {type: official, url: “https://recorder.utahcounty.gov/find-records”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  Land records portals: LandRecords/Index.asp, parcel map maps.utahcounty.gov/ParcelMap, document imaging

• {type: official, url: “https://sheriff.utahcounty.gov/”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  Sheriff Mike Smith, 3075 N Main Spanish Fork UT 84660, (801) 851-4000

• {type: official, url: “https://treasurer.utahcounty.gov/pay”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  Online tax payment gateway (secureinstantpayments.com), credit/debit 2.65%, e-check free

• {type: official, url: “https://www.utcourts.gov/content/utcourts/us/en/about/miscellaneous/directory/court-details.html?id=utah-county-provo-district-court”, retrieved: 2026-06-02}

  Fourth District Court — 137 N Freedom Blvd Suite 100, Provo UT 84601, (801) 429-1000

needs_verification:

• “Exact form name and downloadable URL for the surplus/excess-proceeds claim filed with the Tax Administration Office; none identified on official pages.”
• “Clerk of court name for Utah County Fourth District Court (Provo) — not retrieved from official pages.”
• “Whether the District Court petition requirement for surplus claims (UCC 3.04.150) reflects a county-only rule or mirrors an unretieved provision of § 59-2-1351.1; the state page flags this as a needs_verification question.”
• “Exact statutory basis for the 90-day-post-ratification, 30-day-ratification, and 120-day-federal-tax-lien windows — confirmed via county page; primary statute text not retrieved (le.utah.gov is JS-rendered).”
• “Whether Utah County posts the current delinquent property list at a stable URL on auditor.utahcounty.gov or only at a dynamically generated page; no stable direct URL retrieved.”
• “Sheriff’s second address (151 S University Ave, Suite 3110, Provo) vs. Spanish Fork main address — which is the correct administrative office for civil/judicial process purposes.”
• “Exact Title 67-4a finder-fee section and 24-month wait provision text (confirmed via county page summaries; primary statute text not retrieved).”
• “Whether Utah County has published the current excess-funds list at the ssl.utahcounty.gov/ExcessFunds.asp legacy URL or migrated it to auditor.utahcounty.gov — both URLs appear in navigation but the ssl URL timed out during retrieval.”

cross_links:

• utah (parent legal framework)
• right-of-redemption
• surplus-funds
• third-party-recovery-rules
• treasurer-sale
• due-process-notice
• tyler-v-hennepin-county
• jordan-v-jensen-2017
• federal-tax-lien-redemption
• void-vs-voidable

changelog:

• “2026-06-02 — Initial population (autoresearch). Utah County confirmed as online-only (PublicSurplus.com) annual May tax sale (3rd Thursday) with tiered deposits ($0 /$500/$2,500 per property tier),$165 admin fee, non-warranty deed, no preferred-bidder in-person option. Surplus requires Fourth District Court petition + written notice to Tax Admin Office (UCC 3.04.150); 90-day post-ratification claim window; 20% finder-fee cap, PI license required for contingent-fee finders. Key offices confirmed from official county pages. Four required topic_tags covered by parent utah page. Remaining gaps are honest needs_verification flags: no downloadable surplus claim form identified, excess funds list legacy URL timed out, exact statutory claim-window section not retrieved.”

▸ For Investors / Operators — Utah County conducts an annual online-only tax deed sale each third Thursday of May via PublicSurplus.com; the 2026 sale ran May 21. A tiered deposit system applies — Tier 1 (no deposit), Tier 2 ($500), Tier 3 ($2,500) — with tier assignment determined by tax due, market value, or property type. Utah County’s Preferred Bidder program (Ordinance 3.04.080) allows abutters and possessory-interest holders to apply for limited-competition status on economically unviable parcels. Deeds are non-warranty; Utah has no post-sale redemption right after the tax deed issues (Utah Code § 59-2-1346).

▸ For Former Owners — Excess proceeds from a Utah County tax sale are claimed through a two-step process: (1) written notice to the Utah County Tax Administration Office (111 S. University Ave., Provo, UT 84601; 801-851-8110 opt. 3; boe@utahcounty.gov), plus (2) a petition filed in the Utah State Fourth District Court (137 N Freedom Blvd, Suite 100, Provo, UT 84601; (801) 429-1000) to obtain a signed judicial order specifying distribution (UCC 3.04.150). Claims may be initiated only after the County Commission ratifies the bid; excess funds are held for a minimum of 90 days post-ratification. If no qualifying claim is filed within 90 days of ratification, funds are forwarded to the Utah State Treasurer’s Office of Unclaimed Property (mycash.utah.gov).

Legal information, not legal advice. This page summarizes Utah County, Utah operational procedures as of the last_verified date and may be incomplete or out of date. The legal framework (statutes, case law, redemption rights, surplus rules) is on the parent utah page. Verify against the cited primary sources and consult a licensed Utah attorney before acting.