USA Foreclosure Wiki

Guam

42 min read

Guam — Tax & Mortgage Foreclosure

Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited primary sources before acting. Last verified: 2026-06-02.

Territory note. Guam is an unincorporated, organized U.S. territory (insular area). Its property-tax system is not the 50-state county-treasurer model and not the Puerto Rico CRIM municipal model. There are no counties — Guam is a single island-wide taxing jurisdiction administered by the Department of Revenue and Taxation (DRT). The real-property-tax framework lives entirely in 11 GCA Chapter 24 (a California-derived code) and is unusual in that the statute itself already returns surplus/excess sale proceeds to the former owner (11 GCA § 24810), a feature that predates Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023). Where a standard 50-state module does not map (e.g., “county” recording units, lien certificates, non-judicial trustee tax sales), this page says so explicitly.

0. Identity & Classification

  • Recording unit: none — single territory-wide jurisdiction; land records and the tax deed are recorded at the Department of Land Management (DLM), Division of Land Records (count of recording units: 1).
  • Tax sale type: Tax deed (redeemable). Property is “sold to the government of Guam by operation of law,” redeemable for one year, then deeded to the Government; the Government later sells tax-deeded parcels at public auction. There is no tax lien certificate sold to private investors. (11 GCA §§ 24803, 24813, 24811)
  • Tax foreclosure process: Administrative (statutory sale “by operation of law” on declaration of the Tax Collector — no court action required to vest title in the Government). (11 GCA § 24803)
  • Mortgage foreclosure process: Judicial by default (mortgagee forecloses the right of redemption “in the manner prescribed by Title 7 … Civil Procedure”); a power of sale may be conferred by contract. (18 GCA §§ 36112, 36113)
  • Selling authority: Director of Revenue & Taxation, ex-officio Tax Collector (real property tax); the Government of Guam (re-sale of tax-deeded land). For mortgage foreclosure sales, the court / sheriff (Marshal) under Title 7. (11 GCA § 24601)
  • Statutory home: Title 11 GCA (Finance & Taxation), Division 2, Chapter 24 — Real Property Tax — https://www.guamcourts.org/CompilerofLaws/GCA/11gca/11gc024.PDF
  • Tyler v. Hennepin compliance: compliant — 11 GCA § 24810 directs that when the Government auctions tax-deeded property, “any amount received in excess of the amount of delinquent taxes assessed on such property shall be paid to the owner of record … as determined immediately prior to tax deeding.” Guam therefore does not retain surplus equity. (See tyler-v-hennepin-county.)

1. Tax Sale Mechanics

  • What is sold: the real property itself (deed), not a lien certificate. After the delinquent-list publication, property “shall by operation of law and the declaration of the tax collector be sold to the government of Guam.” (11 GCA § 24803)
  • Bidding method: No competitive bidding at the operative tax sale — the sale is a statutory transfer to the Government at the office of the Tax Collector. Competitive bidding occurs only later, when the Government offers tax-deeded parcels at public auction (highest_bid_deed). (11 GCA §§ 24803(b), 24810, 24811)
  • Interest / penalty:
    • Delinquency penalty: 9% on each unpaid installment after it becomes delinquent (Feb 20 / Apr 20), minimum $5. (11 GCA §§ 24701, 24702)
    • Redemption penalties (pre-deed): ½ of 1% per month (~6%/yr) on the sold taxes, minimum $2. (11 GCA § 24819)
    • Post-auction redemption interest: 12% per annum to redeem from an auction purchaser. (11 GCA § 24812)
  • Minimum bid composition (Government auction): statutory floor is the delinquent taxes assessed; any excess over that amount is returned to the former owner of record. (11 GCA § 24810) Exact upset/reserve mechanics → needs_verification.
  • Tax rate / levy: 7/72% of land value + 7/18% of improvement value (plus an additional 7/18% on improvements valued ≥ $1,000,000). (11 GCA § 24103)
  • Sale frequency / typical month: Delinquent list + notice of (operation-of-law) sale published annually on or before June 8; sale occurs 21–28 days after first publication. (11 GCA §§ 24801, 24803)
  • Venue: operation-of-law sale is in the Tax Collector’s office; Government re-sale of tax-deeded land is by public auction. (11 GCA §§ 24803(b), 24811)
  • Platform vendors: none identified (no online auction platform documented for Guam tax-deeded land) → needs_verification.
  • Registration / deposit: at the public auction the Tax Collector sells for U.S. currency or negotiable paper, and “any person, regardless of any prior or existing lien, claim, or interest” may purchase. (11 GCA § 24811) Deposit specifics → needs_verification.
  • Subsequent taxes (“subs”): redemption amount expressly compounds unpaid taxes for each subsequent year “for which the property would have been sold … if there had not been a previous sale.” (11 GCA § 24819(b))

2. Right of Redemption → see right-of-redemption

Guam has two distinct redemption windows:

  • Pre-deed right (post operation-of-law sale to Government):
    • Exists: yes. “Until the right of redemption shall have terminated, tax sold property may be redeemed by the owner or his successor in interest.” (11 GCA § 24817)
    • Period: one (1) year from the date of sale to the Government; if unredeemed after one year the Tax Collector makes a deed to the Government and “all rights of redemption shall automatically expire.” (11 GCA §§ 24813, 24815)
    • Notice before deed: 90 days’ notice (publication in each municipality, media advertising, and certified mail) stating the date the right of redemption terminates. (11 GCA § 24809)
  • Post-public-auction right (after Government resale):
    • Exists: yes. Within one (1) year after the Government’s public-auction sale, the prior owner “may redeem the property by paying to the purchaser the amount paid to the government plus interest at the rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum”; thereafter “no further redemption rights or interest whatsoever.” (11 GCA § 24812)
  • Who may redeem: the owner or the owner’s successor in interest; a holder of an interest “evidenced by a deed, deed of trust, mortgage, or decree of court” may apply to have a parcel separately valued in order to redeem it. (11 GCA §§ 24817, 24827)
  • Redemption amount formula (pre-deed): sold taxes + delinquent penalties & costs for the year of sale + redemption penalties (½% per month). (11 GCA §§ 24818, 24819)
  • Procedure: application to the Tax Collector, who prepares triplicate estimates; payment is made to the Treasurer of Guam, who issues receipts. (11 GCA §§ 24820, 24821)
  • Extinguishment: upon execution/acknowledgment of the deed to the Government, all redemption rights automatically expire and the deed conveys absolute title free of all encumbrances; thereafter the deed may be set aside only for actual fraud. (11 GCA § 24815)
  • Special tolling (minors, incompetents, SCRA, bankruptcy): not addressed in Chapter 24 → needs_verification.

3. Surplus / Excess Proceeds → see surplus-funds, third-party-recovery-rules

  • Belongs to: the former owner (owner of record immediately prior to tax deeding). (11 GCA § 24810)
  • Claim waterfall: statute speaks only to paying the excess (over delinquent taxes assessed) to the owner of record; it does not enumerate an intervening lienholder waterfall → needs_verification for junior-lien priority.
  • Filing venue: the Department of Revenue & Taxation (Tax Collector); payment flows through the Treasurer of Guam. (11 GCA §§ 24810, 24821, 24601)
  • Claim deadline: Chapter 24 sets no express deadline or escheat for the § 24810 excess (the statute directs it “shall be paid to the owner of record”). Procedural deadline / unclaimed-funds handling → needs_verification.
  • Escheat: no escheat of surplus is specified in Chapter 24 → needs_verification.
  • Documentation required: not specified by statute → needs_verification.
  • Third-party recovery (surplus-recovery agents):
    • fee_cap_pct: null — no Guam statute located capping surplus-recovery / finder fees for tax-sale excess proceeds → needs_verification.
    • licensing_required: unknown → needs_verification.
    • assignment_of_claim_allowed: § 24827 contemplates that a person claiming an interest “evidenced by a deed, deed of trust, mortgage, or decree of court” may act, but assignment of the bare § 24810 excess claim is not addressed → needs_verification.
    • cooling_off_period / contract_disclosure_rules / prohibited_practices: none located → needs_verification.
    • citation: none found (absence of a dedicated statute).
  • Notice to former owner required? Yes — the § 24810 excess is paid to the owner of record by operation of the statute, and § 24809 requires 90-day pre-deed notice by certified mail. (11 GCA §§ 24809, 24810)

▸ For Investors / Operators — Guam does not sell private lien certificates: delinquent parcels pass to the Government by operation of law (11 GCA § 24803), and only later are tax-deeded parcels offered at public auction. A purchaser at that auction takes subject to a 1-year post-auction redemption at 12% (§ 24812) and any § 24810 excess goes to the former owner. Before committing capital, weigh redemption risk (§2/2b — and note Guam’s California-derived redemptioner scheme lets junior lienholders redeem), the path to marketable title (§5b — quiet title under 21 GCA § 25101 plus the § 24816 6-month deed-challenge bar), surviving liens (§7b — un-noticed federal tax liens, the IRS § 7425 120-day right), and entity/insider rules (§11b).

▸ For Former Owners — When the Government auctions a tax-deeded parcel for more than the delinquent taxes assessed, the excess belongs to you, the owner of record immediately prior to tax deeding (11 GCA § 24810). The funds flow through the Department of Revenue & Taxation and the Treasurer of Guam; Chapter 24 sets no express claim deadline or escheat for the § 24810 excess, but you should also note the 1-year window to redeem from the auction purchaser at 12% (§ 24812).

4. Mortgage Foreclosure

  • Process: Judicial by default. A mortgage is not a conveyance and gives no right of possession without “a foreclosure and sale”; the mortgagee “may foreclose the right of redemption of the mortgagor in the manner prescribed by Title 7 … (Civil Procedure).” A power of sale may be conferred by contract (non-judicial route) under § 36113. (18 GCA §§ 36108, 36112, 36113; 21 GCA § 25107) The foreclosure-action procedure is codified at 7 GCA §§ 24101–24108 (California-CCP-derived; CCP §§ 726–729a): all foreclosure actions “must be brought in the Superior Court.” (7 GCA § 24101)
  • Timeline (NOD / NOS / sale / confirmation): Upon trial, the court ascertains the amount due and orders it paid into court within three (3) months for real property (one month for personal property) before any sale; only on default of that payment does the court order a sale “in the manner … that govern sales of real estate under execution,” which must then be confirmed by decree of the court to vest title in the purchaser. (7 GCA §§ 24103, 24104) Pre-suit NOD/NOS day-counts (loss-mitigation) → needs_verification.
  • Reinstatement right: the three-month pay-into-court window of § 24103 functions as the statutory cure opportunity before sale; a separate post-judgment reinstatement window is not codified in Ch. 24 → needs_verification.
  • Redemption after judicial sale: Yes — one (1) year. The judicial sale runs under the execution-sale rules, so the judgment debtor or a redemptioner “may redeem the property from the purchaser any time within twelve (12) months after the sale on paying the purchaser the amount of purchase, with one percent (1%) per month” plus taxes, assessments, insurance, maintenance/upkeep/repair, and improvements the purchaser paid. (7 GCA §§ 24104, 23124; redemptioners defined § 23123) A junior redemptioner may then re-redeem within 60 days at +2%. (7 GCA § 23125)
  • Deficiency judgment / fair-value offset / one-action rule:
    • One-action rule — yes. “Any action for the recovery of any debt, or the enforcement of any right secured by mortgage on real or personal property, must be in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter” (the single security-first foreclosure action). (7 GCA § 24101, = CCP § 726)
    • Deficiency judgment — permitted. After the sale, “if there be a balance due to the plaintiff after applying the proceeds of the sale, the court, upon motion, shall give a decree against the defendant for any such balance for which … he may be personally liable to the plaintiff.” (7 GCA § 24107, = CCP § 729) Personal liability requires an express covenant — “a mortgage does not bind the mortgagor personally … unless there is an express covenant.” (18 GCA § 36109)
    • Fair-value offset: no statutory fair-value/appraisal offset of the South-Carolina type is codified in 7 GCA Ch. 24 → needs_verification.
  • Surplus distribution (mortgage sale): sale proceeds, after costs, are paid to the foreclosing mortgagee; “when there shall be any surplus, after paying off such mortgage … the same shall be paid to junior encumbrances in the order of their priority … or if there be no such encumbrances … then to the mortgagor.” (7 GCA § 24105)
  • Sale officer: court-appointed commissioner / sheriff (Marshal of Guam) for judicial sales; trustee/attorney-in-fact where a contractual power of sale is used. (18 GCA §§ 36112, 36113; 7 GCA § 24104)

5. Sale Procedure Playbooks

  • Treasurer/Tax-Collector sale — ordered steps → see treasurer-sale:
    1. Taxes due Dec 15; delinquent Feb 20 / Apr 20 (9% penalty). (§§ 24701, 24702)
    2. Tax Collector publishes the delinquent list + notice of sale on/before June 8. (§ 24801)
    3. Notice posted in one public place in every village and published once in a daily newspaper; affidavit filed with the Lieutenant Governor. (§ 24802)
    4. 21–28 days after first publication, unpaid property is sold to the Government by operation of law at the Tax Collector’s office. (§ 24803)
    5. Owner may redeem within 1 year (sold taxes + penalties + ½%/month). (§§ 24817–24819)
    6. 90-day notice of intent to deed (publication + media + certified mail) before the deed issues. (§ 24809)
    7. If unredeemed after 1 year, Tax Collector executes a deed to the Government; redemption rights expire. (§§ 24813, 24815)
    8. Government offers tax-deeded parcels at public auction; excess over delinquent taxes paid to former owner. (§§ 24810, 24811)
    9. Prior owner may redeem from the auction purchaser within 1 year at 12%. (§ 24812)
  • Sheriff/judicial-foreclosure sale — ordered steps → see sheriff-sale (7 GCA §§ 24101–24108):
    1. Foreclosure complaint filed in the Superior Court (§ 24101); complaint must name all subordinate interest-holders of record as defendants (§ 24102).
    2. Trial; court ascertains amount due and orders payment into court within 3 months (real property) (§ 24103).
    3. On default of that payment, court orders sale under the execution-sale rules (§ 24104); sale must be confirmed by decree to vest title in the purchaser.
    4. Proceeds: costs → mortgagee → junior encumbrancers by priority → mortgagor (§ 24105).
    5. 1-year redemption from the purchaser at 1%/month runs under § 23124; redemptioners may re-redeem within 60 days at +2% (§§ 23123–23125).
    6. Deficiency decree for any balance the mortgagor is personally liable for (§ 24107). Pre-suit loss-mitigation day counts → needs_verification.
  • Notice requirements: tax sale — publish delinquent list/notice on/before June 8, post in every village, publish once in a daily paper; 90-day pre-deed notice by certified mail. (11 GCA §§ 24801, 24802, 24809)
  • Upset bid / confirmation: no upset-bid statute located for tax-deeded auctions; the 1-year post-auction redemption (§ 24812) functions as the after-sale protection.
  • Payment terms (auction): U.S. currency or negotiable paper. (11 GCA § 24811)
  • Deed issued: Tax Collector’s tax deed to the Government, “conclusive evidence except against actual fraud” of regularity, conveying absolute title free of all encumbrances. (11 GCA §§ 24814, 24815)

6. Due Process & Notice → see due-process-notice

  • Standard: Mullane “reasonably calculated” notice applies to Guam as a U.S. territory; Guam’s statute layers publication + posting in every village + media + certified mail for the 90-day pre-deed notice. (11 GCA §§ 24802, 24809; see mullane-v-central-hanover, mennonite-v-adams, jones-v-flowers)
  • Required attempts: publication of delinquent list; posting in each village; media advertising; certified mail to listed owner / personal representatives / known heirs. (11 GCA §§ 24802, 24809)
  • Consequence of defective notice: a proceeding attacking a tax deed must be brought within 6 months of execution of the deed, and after the deed only actual fraud voids it — so most notice challenges must be raised pre-deed; otherwise the deed is effectively voidable only on narrow grounds. (11 GCA §§ 24815, 24816)
  • Leading cases: tyler-v-hennepin-county, mullane-v-central-hanover, mennonite-v-adams, jones-v-flowers. No Guam-specific tax-sale notice opinion verified → needs_verification.

7. Title & Marketability

  • Deed warranty level: statutory tax deed; “conclusive evidence except against actual fraud” of regularity of all proceedings; conveys absolute title free of all encumbrances. (11 GCA §§ 24814, 24815)
  • Marketable immediately? Title vests in the Government on the deed; a purchaser at the Government’s public auction takes subject to the 1-year post-auction redemption (§ 24812), so practically not clear of redemption risk for one year.
  • Quiet title required? Not statutorily required; a quiet-title action is available under 21 GCA § 25101 if needed.
  • SOL to challenge the deed: 6 months from execution of the deed for procedural invalidity/irregularity; only actual fraud thereafter. (11 GCA § 24816)
  • Title insurance availability: not confirmed from a retrieved source → needs_verification.
  • Common defects: defective § 24809 certified-mail notice to heirs of deceased owners; errors in separate valuation (§§ 24823–24828); challenges within the 6-month window (§ 24816).

8. Case Law (real, verified)

CaseYearTopicHolding (plain English)Source
tenorio-v-government-of-guam (527 F.2d 1095, 9th Cir.)1974sale_procedure / titleIn a land-title-registration contest against the Government of Guam, the applicant could not register acreage beyond what his deed conveyed; excess land was government property not acquirable by adverse possession — illustrates the Government’s title posture and the conclusiveness of recorded title in Guam.https://openjurist.org/527/f2d/1095
tyler-v-hennepin-county (598 U.S. 631)2023surplus / due_processRetaining surplus equity beyond the tax debt is an unconstitutional taking; Guam’s 11 GCA § 24810 already returns the excess to the former owner, so Guam is facially compliant.https://law.justia.com/codes/guam/title-11/division-2/chapter-24/

Honest case-law gap. Extensive searching of the Supreme Court of Guam opinion repository and CourtListener did not surface a verifiable Guam appellate opinion squarely on tax-sale redemption, surplus, tax-sale due-process notice, or mortgage-foreclosure deficiency. Rather than fabricate citations, those topic tags are flagged in Module 11 needs_verification. (The Waathdad v. Cyfred line, 2021 Guam 24 / 2024 Guam 6, appeared in searches but its subject matter could not be verified from retrieved text and is not cited here.)

9. Edge Cases (state-specific notes)

  • bankruptcy-automatic-stay — 11 U.S.C. § 362 applies in the District Court of Guam (federal bankruptcy jurisdiction); a petition stays the operation-of-law sale and the running of the redemption clock. Guam-specific tolling not codified in Ch. 24 → needs_verification.
  • federal-tax-lien-redemption — 26 U.S.C. § 7425 / § 6337 federal redemption rights apply against Guam tax deeds where the United States holds a junior federal tax lien.
  • heirs-property — § 24809 requires certified-mail notice to a deceased owner’s personal representatives or “all of his known heirs,” a recurring issue given Guam’s CHamoru land-tenure and undivided family-estate patterns.
  • tyler-v-hennepin-county — surplus returned to former owner by statute (§ 24810); Guam did not need post-Tyler reform.
  • Separate-valuation redemption — a junior interest holder (deed of trust, mortgage, decree) may force separate valuation of a parcel to redeem only its share (11 GCA §§ 24823–24828) — a Guam-specific mechanic.
  • Contiguous-parcel offer — unusable parcels may be offered at fair market value to owners of contiguous parcels rather than general auction (11 GCA § 24811(b)).

10. Operations

2b. Redemption Advanced

Assignability of the redemption right:

  • Who holds the right (tax side): “Until the right of redemption shall have terminated, tax sold property may be redeemed by the owner or his successor in interest” (11 GCA § 24817). A holder of an interest “evidenced by a deed, deed of trust, mortgage, or decree of court” may apply for separate valuation in order to redeem a parcel (11 GCA §§ 24817, 24827). (11 GCA Ch. 24, retrieved 2026-06-01)
  • Is the right assignable? The tax-redemption right runs to the owner or his successor in interest — i.e., a third party who takes a conveyance from the owner becomes a “successor in interest” and may redeem. Chapter 24 imposes no heirs-only or natural-persons-only restriction on who may be a successor in interest. The bare § 24810 excess-proceeds claim’s assignability is not separately addressed → needs_verification.
  • Purchase mechanism: a conveyance from the owner (deed) making the taker a “successor in interest” under § 24817; no court approval required for the tax-redemption right itself.
  • Mortgage-foreclosure side (California-CCP redemptioner model): after a judicial foreclosure sale, the right to redeem runs to “(a) the judgment debtor, or his successor in interest … (b) a creditor having a lien by judgment or mortgage on the property sold … subsequent to that on which the property was sold” — the latter are termed redemptioners (7 GCA § 23123). The owner’s successor in interest and junior lienholders may redeem; a redemptioner who redeems can itself be re-redeemed from within 60 days (§ 23125). (7 GCA Ch. 23, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Equitable vs. statutory redemption:

  • Guam’s tax redemption is statutory (11 GCA §§ 24812, 24817), as is the post-foreclosure redemption (7 GCA § 23124). Pre-sale, a mortgagor’s equity of redemption is extinguished only by “a foreclosure and sale” (18 GCA § 36108; 21 GCA § 25107) — that pre-sale equity is distinct from the post-sale statutory right. No separate post-sale equitable redemption survives the statutory windows → needs_verification for any equitable gloss in Guam case law.

Installment redemption:

  • No statutory installment-payment plan for redeeming tax-sold property is provided in Chapter 24; redemption requires payment of the sold taxes, penalties, and the ½%/month redemption penalty (11 GCA §§ 24818, 24819), or, post-auction, the purchase price + 12% (§ 24812). Post-foreclosure redemption requires the full purchase price + 1%/month (7 GCA § 23124). → needs_verification that no installment mechanism exists.

Assignment of the purchaser’s certificate/deed interest mid-redemption:

  • Tax side: there is no private lien certificate to assign — the operative tax sale is a transfer to the Government (11 GCA § 24803). At the later Government auction “any person, regardless of any prior or existing lien, claim, or interest” may purchase (§ 24811); the statute does not restrict a buyer from reselling the parcel subject to the 1-year § 24812 post-auction redemption → needs_verification for an express assignment provision.
  • Foreclosure side: an execution-sale purchaser holds a certificate of sale recorded at the Department of Land Management (7 GCA § 23122); the purchaser’s interest is assignable as a property interest, and the deed issues at the end of the 12-month period to the holder (7 GCA § 23126). Restrictions on assignment → needs_verification.

3b. Surplus Advanced

Claim assignability — the § 24810 excess:

  • Full assignment vs. fee agreement: Chapter 24 directs that the auction excess over the delinquent taxes assessed “shall be paid to the owner of record … as determined immediately prior to tax deeding” (11 GCA § 24810). The statute does not expressly authorize or prohibit an outright assignment of that excess claim, and (unlike South Carolina’s “claimed or assigned according to law” language) Guam’s text speaks only of payment to the owner of record. Whether the bare excess claim may be assigned outright, or only worked under a fee/POA agreement, is not resolved by retrieved primary authority → needs_verification.
  • Fee cap applies to assignments? No Guam statute capping surplus-recovery / finder fees for tax-sale excess proceeds was located. → needs_verification.
  • Statute: 11 GCA § 24810 (payment to owner of record; no assignment or fee-cap clause).

Statute of limitations on the excess claim:

  • Period / trigger: Chapter 24 sets no express limitations period or escheat for the § 24810 excess; the statute directs the excess “shall be paid to the owner of record.” Whether Guam’s general unclaimed-property regime or a residual limitations period reaches these funds was not established from a retrieved primary source. → needs_verification. (11 GCA § 24810, retrieved 2026-06-01)
  • Mortgage-sale surplus (by contrast): distributed at confirmation to junior encumbrancers by priority then the mortgagor (7 GCA § 24105) — a judicial distribution, not a later claim.

Competing-claimant procedure:

  • Tax excess (§ 24810): the statute names only the “owner of record … immediately prior to tax deeding” and does not enumerate an intervening lienholder waterfall or an interpleader procedure for competing claimants → needs_verification.
  • Foreclosure surplus: § 24105 supplies the priority rule — surplus goes to “junior encumbrances in the order of their priority, to be ascertained by the court,” then the mortgagor; the court ascertains priority, so it is a judicial-priority (not first-to-file) determination. (7 GCA § 24105, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Deceased-owner procedure:

  • Chapter 24’s § 24809 pre-deed notice runs to a deceased owner’s “personal representatives” or “all of his known heirs,” signaling that the estate/heirs stand in the owner’s shoes for redemption and for the § 24810 excess. Whether a Guam personal representative must first open probate (Title 15 GCA, Probate) before claiming the excess, or whether heirs may claim directly, is not established from a retrieved primary source → needs_verification. Guam’s CHamoru land-tenure and undivided family-estate patterns make this a recurring issue (see heirs-property).

Fraudulent-conveyance exposure:

  • Applicable statute — NOT the UFTA/UVTA. Guam has not adopted the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act / Uniform Voidable Transactions Act. Its fraudulent-conveyance law is the California-Civil-Code-derived statute at 20 GCA §§ 6101–6103 (former CC §§ 3439–3442): “Every transfer of property … made … with intent to delay or defraud any creditor … is void against all creditors of the debtor, and their successors in interest” (20 GCA § 6101). A voluntary or no-consideration transfer “by a party while insolvent or in contemplation of insolvency, shall be fraudulent, and void as to existing creditors” (20 GCA § 6103). (20 GCA Ch. 6, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Note: so an owner’s assignment of the § 24810 excess (or of the redemption right) to defeat creditors is voidable by those creditors under § 6101/§ 6103 — but the analysis is the California “actual intent / insolvency” common-law test, not the UVTA badges-of-fraud framework, and the limitations period for a § 6101 action was not retrieved → needs_verification.

Surplus-claimant notice:

  • Tax side: § 24809 requires 90-day pre-deed notice (publication + media + certified mail) to the owner / personal representatives / known heirs; the § 24810 excess is then paid to the owner of record by operation of statute. Chapter 24 does not separately require the Government to notify junior lienholders of an excess → needs_verification.
  • Foreclosure side: subordinate interest-holders of record must be made defendants in the foreclosure action (7 GCA § 24102), so they are before the court when surplus priority is ascertained under § 24105.

5b. Title Advanced

Quiet title — when required vs. optional:

  • A Guam tax deed to the Government is “conclusive evidence except against actual fraud” of regularity and conveys “absolute title free of all encumbrances” (11 GCA §§ 24814, 24815); a parcel later bought at the Government auction is subject to the 1-year § 24812 post-auction redemption, after which “no further redemption rights or interest whatsoever” remain. Quiet title is therefore not statutorily required, but is available where a cloud or notice question exists. (11 GCA Ch. 24, retrieved 2026-06-01)
  • Action type / court: judicial quiet-title action under 21 GCA § 25101 (“An action may be brought by any person against another who claims an estate or interest in real or personal property, adverse to him, for the purpose of determining such adverse claim”) in the Superior Court of Guam. For unknown claimants / cloud removal, 21 GCA §§ 25111–25113 provide a determination-of-adverse-claims action with service by publication and a bar on default judgments (the court must hear evidence). A good-faith improver’s improvements are a set-off (§ 25104). (21 GCA Ch. 25, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Typical timeline / cost: not established from a retrieved Guam source → needs_verification (single Superior Court; publication service adds time for unknown CHamoru-estate heirs).
  • Cures all pre-sale defects? A quiet-title judgment binds joined/served claimants; but a tax deed is itself “conclusive except against actual fraud” (§ 24815) and challenges must be brought within 6 months of deed execution (§ 24816), so most curing happens through those statutory bars rather than a separate quiet-title suit. A jurisdictional § 24809 notice failure (e.g., to known heirs) could still support an actual-fraud / due-process attack → needs_verification for the void-vs-voidable line in Guam case law.

Judicial confirmation:

  • Tax sale — none: the operation-of-law sale and the deed to the Government are administrative (no court confirmation) (11 GCA §§ 24803, 24813).
  • Mortgage-foreclosure sale — required: the judicial sale “when confirmed by decree of the court, shall operate to divest the rights of all the parties … and to vest their rights in the purchaser”; the court may decline to confirm and order a resale (7 GCA § 24104). (7 GCA § 24104, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Deed seasoning / title insurance:

  • Title-insurer seasoning practice and the availability of title insurance for Guam tax deeds were not confirmed from a retrieved source → needs_verification. Practically, the § 24816 6-month deed-challenge window and the § 24812 1-year post-auction redemption are the periods a cautious insurer would expect to run.

Marketable Title Act:

  • No Guam Marketable Record Title Act (30-year-root-of-title type) was located; title marketability rests on the recording system at the Department of Land Management, the quiet-title/adverse-claims regime (21 GCA Ch. 25), and the tax-deed conclusiveness/6-month bar (11 GCA §§ 24815, 24816). → needs_verification that no MRTA exists.

Chain-of-title cure depth:

  • The tax deed, once incontestable after the § 24816 6-month window, conveys “absolute title free of all encumbrances” (§ 24815) — a deep cure on its face — but does not by its own force defeat a federal lien where the United States was not noticed (see §7b). A quiet-title judgment cures clouds from claimants properly joined/served (21 GCA §§ 25101, 25111).

5c. TRO & Injunctive Relief

Recognized grounds to halt a sale:

  1. Notice / due-process defect — failure of the § 24809 90-day certified-mail/publication chain, “reasonably calculated” to reach the owner/heirs (Mullane; Jones v. Flowers).
  2. Payment / redemption dispute — a timely tender to the Tax Collector / Treasurer refused or misapplied (11 GCA §§ 24817–24821).
  3. Actual fraud in the proceedings (the only ground that voids a deed post-execution, 11 GCA § 24815).
  4. Bankruptcy automatic stay — 11 U.S.C. § 362, enforced in the U.S. District Court of Guam (see bankruptcy-automatic-stay).
  5. Waste during foreclosure — the Superior Court “may, by injunction, on good cause shown, restrain the party in possession from doing any act to the injury of real property during the foreclosure of a mortgage … or, after a sale on execution, before a conveyance.” (21 GCA § 25108) (21 GCA § 25108, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Legal standard / court / bond:

  • Injunctive relief is sought in the Superior Court of Guam under the Guam Rules of Civil Procedure (Rule 65), which are modeled on the Federal Rules — a movant must show likelihood of success, irreparable harm, balance of equities, and public interest, and a TRO without notice requires a verified showing of immediate, irreparable injury. The precise Guam Rule 65 text (including the security/bond requirement) was not retrieved from a clean primary source this pass → needs_verification. The substantive GCA injunction hook for foreclosure/execution-sale waste is 21 GCA § 25108 (verified).
  • Bond: typical amount not established → needs_verification.
  • Emergency timeline: not established from a retrieved Guam source → needs_verification.

Effect on a completed sale:

  • Tax sale: after the deed to the Government is executed, redemption rights expire and the deed is “conclusive evidence except against actual fraud”; any challenge must be brought within 6 months of execution (11 GCA §§ 24815, 24816). After that window, only actual fraud disturbs the deed — so post-deed injunctive relief is narrowly confined.
  • Foreclosure sale: title vests only on the court’s confirming decree (7 GCA § 24104), so relief is most effective before confirmation; thereafter the 1-year statutory redemption (7 GCA § 23124) is the operative after-sale remedy.

Non-judicial notes:

  • The operative tax sale is administrative / non-judicial (operation of law, 11 GCA § 24803) — there is no pending case in which to move, so a separate emergency action in the Superior Court is required. Mortgage foreclosure is judicial (7 GCA § 24101), so the motion is filed in the pending foreclosure action.

Leading cases: jones-v-flowers, mullane-v-central-hanover (notice standard); no Guam-specific injunctive-relief opinion on a tax sale verified → needs_verification.

7b. Lien Survival & Purchaser Exposure

IRS 120-day redemption (26 U.S.C. § 7425):

  • Applies. Where a federal tax lien is recorded junior to the Guam tax lien being enforced, the United States must be noticed of the sale (≥ 25 days before, § 7425(c)); if properly noticed, the federal lien is discharged but the IRS holds a 120-day post-sale right of redemption (§ 7425(d)); if not noticed, the federal lien survives the sale. (26 U.S.C. § 7425, retrieved 2026-06-02) Guam’s tax deed is “free of all encumbrances” (11 GCA § 24815) as a matter of territorial law, but cannot by its own force extinguish an un-noticed federal lien. See federal-tax-lien-redemption.

HOA / condominium super-priority:

  • Guam is NOT a super-priority / super-lien jurisdiction for assessment liens. Under the Horizontal Property Act, a condominium common-expense assessment lien “constitute[s] a lien on the apartment prior to all other liens, except only (1) liens for taxes and assessments lawfully imposed by governmental authority against the apartment, and (2) all sums unpaid on mortgages of record.” (21 GCA § 45124(a)) The assessment lien is thus junior to tax liens and recorded mortgages — no super-priority over a first mortgage or the ad valorem tax lien. A mortgagee/purchaser taking title at foreclosure “shall not be liable for the share of the common expenses … which became due prior to the acquisition of title.” (21 GCA § 45124(b)) (21 GCA Ch. 45, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Survives a tax sale? No — because the assessment lien is expressly junior to “taxes … imposed by governmental authority,” a tax sale enforcing the ad valorem tax lien takes priority and the tax deed conveys free of the assessment lien (11 GCA § 24815; 21 GCA § 45124(a)).
  • Survives a mortgage foreclosure? A senior recorded mortgage is prior to the assessment lien (§ 45124(a)(2)); its foreclosure extinguishes the junior assessment lien, and the acquirer is not liable for pre-acquisition assessments (§ 45124(b)).
  • Planned-community (non-condo) HOAs: no separate Guam planned-community HOA-lien priority statute was located; such liens arise from recorded covenants → needs_verification.

Environmental / CERCLA liens:

  • A federal CERCLA lien (42 U.S.C. § 9607(l)) is a federal claim; like a federal tax lien, proper notice to the United States governs discharge, and CERCLA owner/operator liability runs with the land regardless of how title was acquired. No Guam-specific authority on CERCLA lien survival of a Guam tax deed was retrieved → needs_verification (reflects the general federal rule). A Guam environmental super-lien was not located → needs_verification.

Municipal / code-enforcement liens:

  • Guam has no county/municipal layer (single territory-wide jurisdiction), so the 50-state “municipal code lien” question largely collapses; territory-imposed taxes/assessments are the senior governmental liens the tax sale enforces (cf. 21 GCA § 45124(a)(1)). Survival of any Guam government nuisance-abatement / code lien against a tax deed was not established → needs_verification.

Mechanic’s liens:

  • A mechanic’s/materialman’s lien is a statutory lien (referenced at 7 GCA Ch. 33 via 21 GCA § 45109); its priority against a Guam tax title turns on recording and the seniority of the governmental tax lien. No retrieved Guam authority squarely on whether a perfected mechanic’s lien survives a tax deed → needs_verification.

Junior-mortgage exposure:

  • The tax deed conveys “absolute title free of all encumbrances” (11 GCA § 24815), which as a matter of territorial law clears junior and senior private mortgages on a regularly conducted sale. Common mistake: assuming the deed clears everything — it does not clear an un-noticed federal tax/CERCLA lien (§ 7425), and a § 24809 notice failure to a mortgagee/heir can expose the deed to an actual-fraud / due-process attack within the § 24816 6-month window. On the foreclosure side, a junior-mortgage foreclosure leaves senior liens in place — the purchaser takes subject to prior encumbrances (7 GCA § 24104: the sale “shall not affect the rights of persons holding prior encumbrances”).

Due-diligence checklist (Guam tax-deed / foreclosure buyer):

  1. Federal tax lien search (IRS / DLM index) — § 7425 notice / 120-day redemption exposure.
  2. DLM chain-of-title review — recorded mortgages, deeds of trust, and the tax-deed/notice chain (11 GCA §§ 24809, 24814).
  3. § 24809 notice compliance — certified mail to owner / personal representatives / known heirs (jurisdictional, given CHamoru undivided estates).
  4. Condominium status — assessment lien is junior to tax/mortgage (21 GCA § 45124), but confirm any separately recorded interests.
  5. Bankruptcy search on the owner — active 11 U.S.C. § 362 stay at the time of sale?
  6. Probate / heirs check — undivided family estates and unprobated heirs (see heirs-property).
  7. Redemption-clock check — 1-year tax post-auction redemption (§ 24812) or 1-year post-foreclosure redemption (7 GCA § 23124) still running?
  8. Environmental check — CERCLA / contaminated-site liability runs with the land.

10b. Purchaser Obligations During Redemption

Subsequent taxes:

  • Tax side: the redemption amount expressly compounds unpaid taxes for each subsequent year “for which the property would have been sold … if there had not been a previous sale” (11 GCA § 24819(b)) — so subsequent-year taxes are folded into the redemption figure rather than paid by a certificate holder (there is none). (11 GCA § 24819, retrieved 2026-06-01)
  • Foreclosure side: an execution-sale purchaser who pays taxes/assessments during the redemption period has those amounts added to the redemption price (7 GCA § 23124); a redemptioner must, on redeeming, also pay taxes/assessments/liens the purchaser paid (§ 23125). Failure simply means the purchaser is not reimbursed for unpaid items.

Owner-expiration notice:

  • Tax side: the Tax Collector (not a private purchaser) gives the 90-day pre-deed notice of the date the right of redemption terminates, by publication, media, and certified mail (11 GCA § 24809). A private auction purchaser bears no statutory owner-notice duty.
  • Foreclosure side: no separate purchaser-served expiration notice is codified in 7 GCA Ch. 23; the redemption clock runs from the sale by operation of § 23124 → needs_verification.

Owner occupancy / purchaser entry:

  • A mortgagee/foreclosure purchaser cannot recover possession “without a foreclosure and sale” (21 GCA § 25107), and on the execution side the purchaser’s estate becomes absolute and possession is delivered only after the redemption period and conveyance (7 GCA §§ 23126, 25109). During redemption the court may enjoin the party in possession from committing waste (21 GCA §§ 25108, 23129). The owner generally remains in possession until the conveyance. Tax-side occupancy during the 1-year redemption → needs_verification.

Costs collectible upon redemption:

  • Tax side: sold taxes + delinquent penalties & costs + ½%/month redemption penalty (pre- deed, 11 GCA §§ 24818, 24819); post-auction, purchase price + 12% per annum (§ 24812).
  • Foreclosure side: purchase price + 1%/month + taxes, assessments, insurance, maintenance/upkeep/repair/rehabilitation/improvements, and land rental the purchaser paid (7 GCA § 23124) — so, unlike many tax-lien states, Guam’s execution-sale redemption expressly reimburses documented improvements and maintenance. (7 GCA § 23124, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Property-maintenance obligation:

  • No statutory maintenance duty is imposed on the purchaser during redemption; instead the purchaser who chooses to maintain/repair recovers those reasonable sums on redemption (7 GCA § 23124), and the court may restrain waste by the possessor (§§ 23129, 25108). → needs_verification for any code-based maintenance duty.

11b. Restrictions & Special Rules

Entity / insider restrictions:

  • At the Government’s tax-deeded auction, “any person, regardless of any prior or existing lien, claim, or interest” may purchase for U.S. currency or negotiable paper (11 GCA § 24811) — broad eligibility, no natural-persons-only restriction stated. Guam’s general alien-land / foreign-ownership rules and any insider (DRT-official) bidding bar were not established from a retrieved primary source → needs_verification. (11 GCA § 24811, retrieved 2026-06-01)
  • Contiguous-parcel preference: unusable parcels may be offered at fair market value to owners of contiguous parcels rather than at general auction (11 GCA § 24811(b)) — a limited statutory preference, not a general ROFR.

Right of first refusal / land bank:

  • No general land-bank program or municipal/nonprofit ROFR was located in Chapter 24; the Government itself is the holder of tax-deeded land pending auction (11 GCA §§ 24810, 24811), and the contiguous-parcel offer (§ 24811(b)) is the only statutory preference identified. → needs_verification for any Guam land-bank authority.
  • CHamoru Land Trust: Guam operates the CHamoru Land Trust (21 GCA Ch. 75) for CHamoru-ancestry homestead leasing; whether and how it interacts with tax-deeded land was not established → needs_verification.

Deficiency / anti-deficiency / one-action rule:

  • One-action rule — yes. All recovery of a mortgage-secured debt “must be in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter” — the single security-first foreclosure action (7 GCA § 24101, = CCP § 726). (7 GCA § 24101, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Deficiency judgment — permitted after a mortgage-foreclosure sale, by decree for any balance the defendant is personally liable for (7 GCA § 24107), and personal liability exists only with an express covenant (18 GCA § 36109).
  • After a tax sale — no deficiency: the territory’s remedy is the sale of the property and return of any § 24810 excess to the owner; no personal deficiency is pursued.
  • Anti-deficiency statute: no purchase-money or general anti-deficiency bar of the western-state type was located; § 36109 limits deficiency to debtors who expressly covenanted personal liability, and § 24107 conditions the deficiency decree on that personal liability — a functional limit rather than a categorical anti-deficiency statute. → needs_verification for any express anti-deficiency provision.
  • Fair-value offset: none located in 7 GCA Ch. 24 → needs_verification.

Who this page is for

▸ For Investors / Operators — Start with §1 (no private lien certificates — parcels pass to the Government, then tax-deeded land is sold at public auction; pre-deed redemption at ½%/month, post-auction redemption at 12% for 1 year), §2/2b (redemption risk and the California-derived successor-in-interest / redemptioner scheme that lets junior lienholders redeem), §5b (path to marketable title — quiet title under 21 GCA § 25101 plus the tax-deed conclusiveness and § 24816 6-month bar), §7b (liens that survive — un-noticed federal tax / CERCLA liens and the IRS § 7425 120-day right; condo assessment liens are junior, not super-priority, under 21 GCA § 45124), and §11b (broad auction eligibility, the contiguous-parcel preference, one-action rule, and deficiency limits).

▸ For Former Owners — Start with §3 (the § 24810 excess — when the Government sells your tax-deeded parcel for more than the delinquent taxes assessed, that surplus is paid to you, the owner of record immediately prior to deeding; note Chapter 24 sets no express claim deadline), §2 (redemption — ½%/month before the deed, or 12% within 1 year after the auction; deceased-owner estates and heirs are noticed under § 24809), and §5c (grounds and the 6-month / actual-fraud limits on challenging a completed tax deed).

11. Meta

  • sources:
  • needs_verification:
    • Surplus/excess-proceeds claim deadline, documentation, and escheat for § 24810 funds (Ch. 24 sets none expressly); assignability of the bare § 24810 excess claim (statute speaks only of payment to owner of record).
    • Third-party surplus-recovery fee caps / licensing / assignment / disclosure rules — no Guam statute located.
    • Junior-lienholder priority waterfall for the § 24810 tax excess (the § 24105 court-ascertained priority applies to mortgage-sale surplus, not the tax excess).
    • Mortgage foreclosure pre-suit NOD/NOS / loss-mitigation day-counts and any separate post-judgment reinstatement window (the § 24103 3-month pay-in window is verified; pre-suit counts are not). Fair-value/appraisal offset — none located in 7 GCA Ch. 24.
    • Limitations period for a 20 GCA § 6101 fraudulent-transfer action (statute defines the void transfer but not the SOL).
    • Rule 65 (Guam Rules of Civil Procedure) verbatim text — TRO standard, bond/security requirement, and emergency timeline not retrieved from a clean primary source (substantive § 25108 waste-injunction hook is verified).
    • Quiet-title timeline / cost ranges in the Superior Court (statute verified; durations/costs not).
    • Marketable Title Act — none located for Guam (confirm absence).
    • Title insurance availability / deed-seasoning practice for Guam tax deeds.
    • Entity / foreign-ownership restrictions and insider (DRT-official) bidding bar; land-bank authority; CHamoru Land Trust (21 GCA Ch. 75) interaction with tax-deeded land.
    • Special tolling (minors, incompetents, SCRA, bankruptcy) of the redemption periods; installment redemption (none found).
    • Online auction platform / deposit mechanics for Government tax-deeded resale.
    • CERCLA / environmental lien survival of a Guam tax deed; Guam environmental super-lien; mechanic’s-lien and government code-lien survival.
    • Deceased-owner procedure — whether probate (Title 15 GCA) is a prerequisite to a § 24810 excess claim or heirs may claim directly.
    • A verified Guam appellate opinion on each of the four required topic tags (redemption, surplus, due_process, sale_procedure) — none located beyond Tenorio (sale_procedure/title-adjacent) and the controlling federal Tyler/ Mullane line.
  • open_questions:
    • Does DRT in practice hold periodic public auctions of tax-deeded land, and through what venue/platform?
    • Has any Guam or Ninth Circuit decision construed § 24810’s surplus-return clause post-Tyler?
    • How does Guam reconcile § 24816’s 6-month deed-challenge SOL with federal due-process notice requirements (Jones v. Flowers)?
  • cross_links: right-of-redemption, surplus-funds, third-party-recovery-rules, treasurer-sale, sheriff-sale, due-process-notice, tyler-v-hennepin-county, mullane-v-central-hanover, mennonite-v-adams, jones-v-flowers, tenorio-v-government-of-guam, bankruptcy-automatic-stay, federal-tax-lien-redemption, heirs-property
  • changelog:
    • 2026-06-01 — Initial page. Researched 11 GCA Ch. 24 (verbatim), 18 GCA Ch. 36, 21 GCA Ch. 25, DRT official pages, and the 90-day notice. Verified Tenorio v. Government of Guam (527 F.2d 1095). Flagged thin Guam-specific tax/foreclosure case law and the third-party-recovery statutory void as honest gaps.
    • 2026-06-02 — Wave 2: Added the 7 advanced modules (2b, 3b, 5b, 5c, 7b, 10b, 11b) and applied the neutral-reference + segmented-CTA voice (two CTA blocks: after §3 and the “Who this page is for” pair before §11). Newly retrieved primary sources (parsed locally with pdftotext): 7 GCA Ch. 23 (execution-sale 12-month redemption +1%/mo, redemptioners, maintenance/improvements collectible), 7 GCA Ch. 24 (one-action rule § 24101, 3-month pay-in § 24103, confirmed sale § 24104, surplus waterfall § 24105, deficiency § 24107), 20 GCA Ch. 6 (fraudulent transfers — CC-derived, NOT UFTA/UVTA), 21 GCA Ch. 45 Horizontal Property Act (§ 45124 condo lien junior to tax + recorded mortgages — Guam is NOT a super-lien jurisdiction), 21 GCA Ch. 25 re-parsed (§ 25101 quiet title, § 25108 waste injunction), and 26 U.S.C. § 7425. Resolved prior gaps: mortgage-foreclosure post-sale redemption (1 yr, § 23124), deficiency/one-action (§§ 24107, 24101), surplus distribution (§ 24105), HOA super-priority status (none — § 45124), quiet-title court (Superior Court, § 25101), fraudulent-conveyance statute (20 GCA § 6101). gap_score 11 → 5 (rows 11/13/15 cleared via the 7 modules + quiet-title map + HOA status; all remaining points are honest needs_verification flags — no rows 3–5 contributions).

Local pages

County deep dives: county pages for this jurisdiction are being added largest-first.

Legal information, not legal advice. This page summarizes Guam law for educational purposes and may be incomplete or out of date. Guam is a U.S. territory whose code is sparsely available online and largely California-derived; statutes and case law change. Verify every cited primary source and consult a licensed Guam attorney before acting. Last verified: 2026-06-02.

Graph View

Backlinks