State Foreclosure Law Library

washington

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Washington — Tax & Mortgage Foreclosure

Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited primary sources before acting. Last verified: 2026-06-01.

Washington is a tax-deed state: counties do not sell tax-lien certificates to private investors. Instead, after three years of delinquency the county treasurer issues a certificate of delinquency to the county, the county forecloses the lien judicially in superior court, and the treasurer sells the property itself at public auction to the highest bidder for a deed. There is no post-sale redemption for ordinary owners — the only redemption right runs before the day of sale (plus a narrow three-year window for minors and legally incompetent persons). Surplus from a sale that exceeds the tax debt is, by statute, refunded to the former record owner — a structure that already aligned Washington with tyler-v-hennepin-county.

0. Identity & Classification

  • Recording unit: county (count: 39)
  • Tax sale type: tax deed (no lien-certificate sales to investors; the lien certificate is issued to the county, RCW 84.64.050)
  • Tax foreclosure process: judicial — foreclosed in superior court in the name of the county by the treasurer with the prosecuting attorney (RCW 84.64.050)
  • Mortgage foreclosure process: both — predominantly non-judicial under the Deeds of Trust Act (ch. 61.24 RCW); judicial mortgage foreclosure available under ch. 61.12 RCW
  • Selling authority: county treasurer (RCW 84.64.080)
  • Statutory home: Title 84 (Property Taxes), Ch. 84.64 RCW (Lien Foreclosure) — https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=84.64&full=true ; collection/interest in Ch. 84.56 RCW; tax-title land disposition in Ch. 36.35 RCW
  • Tyler v. Hennepin compliance: compliant — RCW 84.64.080(10) requires the excess over the minimum bid to be refunded to the record owner (the person who held title on the date the certificate of delinquency issued); the county may only escheat the surplus if unclaimed for three years. The state therefore did not retain surplus equity even before Tyler (2023). https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=84.64.080

1. Tax Sale Mechanics

  • What is sold: the deed (fee title) to the property, sold “as is,” conveyed by treasurer’s tax deed under RCW 84.64.080. No investor lien certificates.
  • Bidding method: highest-bid deed (oral/online auction to the “highest and best bidder”), RCW 84.64.080(4). https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=84.64.080
  • Interest / penalty (on the delinquent tax, not a bid-down): delinquent property taxes accrue interest monthly from the date of delinquency. Since Jan 1, 2023 the rate is 9% per annum on residential real property with four or fewer units (incl. manufactured/mobile homes per RCW 59.20.030) and 12% per annum on all other property (it was 12% across the board through 2022). RCW 84.56.020. https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=84.56.020
  • Minimum bid composition: “the total amount of taxes, interest, and costs” due on the whole property in the certificate of delinquency, RCW 84.64.080(4).
  • Sale frequency: annual in most counties (after the foreclosure judgment).
  • Typical month: varies by county; commonly November–December (e.g., King, Snohomish, Pierce treasurer calendars).
  • Venue: both — historically in-person courthouse auctions; many counties now use online auction platforms.
  • Platform vendors: county-specific (e.g., Bid4Assets used by several WA counties); confirm on each county treasurer page → see county pages.
  • Registration & deposit: set by county; the property is sold “as is” with no warranty (RCW 84.64.080).
  • Subsequent taxes (“subs”): not applicable in the investor sense — there are no certificate holders. The county simply forecloses all delinquent years embraced in the certificate of delinquency.

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

  • Pre-sale right: YES. Any person owning a recorded interest may pay the taxes, interest, and costs at any time before the day of the sale and stop the foreclosure as to that property (RCW 84.64.060); the treasurer issues a receipt or certificate of payment. https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=84.64.060 Redemption is permitted up to the close of business the day before the day of sale (RCW 84.64.070). https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=84.64.070
  • Post-sale period (ordinary owners): NONE. Washington has no general statutory right of redemption after a tax-foreclosure sale. Title vests in the grantee on the treasurer’s deed (RCW 84.64.080).
  • Post-sale period (minors / legally incompetent persons): three years after the date of sale to redeem, on payment of the purchase amount plus statutory interest and the reasonable value of good-faith improvements (less value of use), RCW 84.64.070.
  • Who may redeem (pre-sale): the owner and any person owning a recorded interest or holding a lien of record (RCW 84.64.060, .070).
  • Redemption amount formula (pre-sale): certificate amount + statutory interest from issuance + all taxes, interest, and costs accruing after issuance (RCW 84.64.070).
  • Premium to certificate holder: N/A (no private certificate holders).
  • Extinguishment: the right to redeem ends at close of business the day before the sale; the treasurer’s deed then conveys absolute title (RCW 84.64.070–.080).
  • Special tolling: minors and legally incompetent persons — three years post-sale (RCW 84.64.070). Bankruptcy automatic stay and SCRA apply as elsewhere → see bankruptcy-automatic-stay, scra-protections.

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

  • Belongs to: the former record owner (the person who held title on the date the certificate of delinquency issued), after recorded water-sewer district liens are paid, RCW 84.64.080(10). https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=84.64.080
  • Claim waterfall: (1) minimum bid (taxes, interest, costs) retained by county; (2) recorded water-sewer district liens; (3) record owner receives the excess on application (RCW 84.64.080(10)).
  • Filing venue: the county treasurer’s office that conducted the sale (the treasurer mails the record owner a letter and claim application).
  • Claim deadline: three years after the date of the sale (RCW 84.64.080(10)).
  • Escheat: if no claim is received within three years, the treasurer deposits the excess into the county current expense fund, which extinguishes all owner claims to it (RCW 84.64.080(10)). (Note: this is a county-fund deposit, not escheat to the state unclaimed-property administrator.)
  • Documentation required: treasurer’s claim application; proof of record ownership on the certificate-of-delinquency date; identity. (County-specific; King County directs claimants to the Treasury office — see Operations.)
  • Third-party recovery (surplus recovery agents):
    • fee cap: 5% of the value returned to the owner. It is unlawful to seek, receive, or contract for a fee “in excess of five percent of the value thereof returned to such owner” for locating “funds held by a county that are proceeds from a foreclosure for delinquent property taxes, assessments, or other liens.” Originally RCW 63.29.350; the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (ch. 63.29) was repealed effective Jan 1, 2023 and the prohibition was re-enacted by ESHB 1637 (2023) with the same 5% cap and added to the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (ch. 63.30 RCW). https://wa-law.org/bill/2023-24/hb/1637/S.E/
    • licensing_required: no specific surplus-recovery license identified (the conduct is policed by the fee cap + Consumer Protection Act rather than licensure).
    • assignment_of_claim_allowed: statute regulates locating-fee agreements, not outright purchase of the right; see needs_verification.
    • cooling_off_period: under the recovery-agreement rules, agreements to locate property held by the unclaimed-property administrator are enforceable only if in a signed record disclosing recovery before/after the fee (RCW 63.30.780); ESHB 1637 voids agreements over the cap. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=63.30.780
    • contract_disclosure_rules: written, signed agreement stating the property, services, and the amount expected before and after the fee (RCW 63.30.780).
    • prohibited_practices: charging more than 5% — a misdemeanor (fine of not less than the fee and up to 10× the fee, and/or up to 30 days), and an unfair/deceptive act under the Consumer Protection Act, ch. 19.86 RCW (ESHB 1637 (2023)).
    • citation: ESHB 1637 (2023) (re-enacting former RCW 63.29.350); RCW 63.30.780.
  • Notice to former owner required? Yes — the treasurer notifies the record owner of available excess funds and provides a claim application (RCW 84.64.080(10); confirmed by King County Treasury practice).

4. Mortgage Foreclosure

  • Process: both. The dominant method is non-judicial trustee’s sale under the Deeds of Trust Act, ch. 61.24 RCW; judicial foreclosure of a mortgage is available under ch. 61.12 RCW.
  • Timeline (non-judicial, ch. 61.24): Notice of Default (≥30 days before recording notice of sale), then Notice of Trustee’s Sale recorded/served, with the sale not less than 190 days from default; sale held no sooner than the statutory window. (Confirm exact day counts against RCW 61.24.030/.040 — see needs_verification.) https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=61.24&full=true
  • Reinstatement right: YES — the borrower may cure the default up to 11 days before the trustee’s sale (RCW 61.24.090). https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=61.24.090
  • Redemption after sale:
    • Non-judicial trustee’s sale: NO redemption — “no person has any right, by statute or otherwise, to redeem the property sold at a trustee’s sale” (RCW 61.24.050). https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=61.24.050
    • Judicial mortgage foreclosure (ch. 61.12): statutory redemption applies under ch. 6.23 RCW — 8 months after sale where the mortgage (post-June 30, 1961) states the property is not principally agricultural and the creditor waived a deficiency, otherwise 1 year (RCW 6.23.020). https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=6.23&full=true
  • Deficiency judgment: non-judicial trustee’s sale generally bars a deficiency; a limited deficiency is allowed only for waste / wrongful retention of rents, insurance, or condemnation awards, and not against a borrower-occupied principal residence (RCW 61.24.100). https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=61.24.100 Judicial foreclosure allows a deficiency subject to the redemption framework.
  • Surplus distribution: trustee applies proceeds to sale costs, then the secured obligation; surplus is deposited with the clerk of the superior court, junior liens/interests attach to the surplus in their prior order of priority, and the clerk disburses only on court order after a motion with ≥20 days’ notice (RCW 61.24.080). https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=61.24.080
  • Sale officer: trustee (non-judicial); sheriff (judicial decree of sale).

5. Sale Procedure Playbooks

  • Treasurer / tax-collector sale — ordered steps → see treasurer-sale:
    1. Taxes become delinquent; interest accrues monthly (RCW 84.56.020).
    2. After 3 years’ delinquency, treasurer issues a certificate of delinquency to the county for all years’ taxes, interest, costs (RCW 84.64.050).
    3. Treasurer files certificates with the superior court clerk and, with the prosecuting attorney, forecloses in the name of the county (RCW 84.64.050).
    4. Notice & summons served / given in a manner reasonably calculated to inform the owner and any recorded interest/lien holder; 30 days to appear and pay or defend (RCW 84.64.050).
    5. Court enters judgment and order of sale; treasurer sells to highest bidder at a minimum bid of taxes + interest + costs (RCW 84.64.080).
    6. Treasurer issues and records the tax deed; surplus refunded to record owner; unclaimed after 3 years → county current expense fund (RCW 84.64.080).
  • Sheriff sale (judicial mortgage) — ordered steps → see sheriff-sale: decree of foreclosure → order of sale → sheriff publishes/posts notice → public auction → confirmation → sheriff’s deed (or certificate of sale, with redemption under ch. 6.23).
  • Notice requirements (tax): notice/summons by personal service or publication once in a newspaper of general circulation plus certified mail to owners and recorded interest holders; content must comply with RCW 84.64.050 (defects are jurisdictional — see Case Law).
  • Upset bid / confirmation: tax sales — no upset-bid period; sale is to the highest bidder and the deed issues (RCW 84.64.080). Judicial mortgage sales are confirmed by the court.
  • Payment terms: tax sale — payment at auction per county terms; “as is.”
  • Deed issued: treasurer’s tax deed, recorded by the county auditor; vests title in the grantee with no warranty of title, fitness, zoning, or condition (RCW 84.64.080).

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

  • Standard: notice “reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise interested parties” (mullane-v-central-hanover) — codified in RCW 84.64.050’s “reasonably calculated to inform” language; failure to comply is jurisdictional.
  • Required attempts: notice and summons to the owner and every person with a recorded interest or lien of record, by personal service or publication + certified mail, with the correct address and an adequate property description (RCW 84.64.050). Returned mail triggers the jones-v-flowers duty to take additional reasonable steps.
  • Consequence of defective notice: VOID — a county’s failure to comply with the statutory content/manner of notice deprives the court of jurisdiction and renders the foreclosure judgment, sale, and tax deed void (see In re King County below).
  • Leading cases: in-re-king-county-foreclosure-of-liens-1991, in-re-foreclosure-of-liens-1996, mullane-v-central-hanover, jones-v-flowers, mennonite-v-adams, tyler-v-hennepin-county.

7. Title & Marketability

  • Deed warranty level: none — tax deed conveys “as is,” without warranty of title, condition, zoning, buildability, or fitness (RCW 84.64.080).
  • Marketable immediately? No — title insurers commonly decline to insure a fresh tax title; practitioners typically quiet title and/or rely on the passage of time before clean insurable title is available.
  • Quiet title required? Practically yes for marketable/insurable title (quiet-title action under ch. 7.28 RCW); tax-title land sold by the county can be cleared under ch. 36.35 RCW.
  • SOL to challenge deed: RCW 84.64.180 makes a tax judgment conclusive in collateral proceedings except where the tax was paid or the property was not taxable, and estops pre-judgment objections; however, void judgments (e.g., for defective notice) may be attacked notwithstanding the estoppel statute (In re King County, 1991). https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=84.64.180 — see needs_verification for the precise limitations period for a direct challenge.
  • Title insurance availability: limited until title is quieted / time has run.
  • Common defects: defective statutory notice (jurisdictional/void), incorrect property description, omitted recorded interest holders, and chain-of-title gaps.

8. Case Law (real, verified)

CaseYearTopicHolding (plain English)Source
in-re-king-county-foreclosure-of-liens-1991 (In re King County for Foreclosure of Liens for Delinquent Real Property Taxes 1985–1988, 117 Wn.2d 77, 811 P.2d 945)1991due_process, sale_procedureA county’s failure to comply with the statutory content/manner of tax-foreclosure notice (here, wrong street address / inadequate property description) deprives the court of jurisdiction and renders the foreclosure judgment, sale, and tax deed void; the estoppel-by-deed statute (RCW 84.64.180) does not bar setting aside a sale on a void judgment.https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/king-county-for-foreclosure-887094737
in-re-foreclosure-of-liens-1996 (In re Foreclosure of Liens, 130 Wn.2d 142, 922 P.2d 73)1996due_process, redemptionA county foreclosing the separately-assessed undivided fractional interest of one tenant-in-common need not give notice to the other cotenants; statutory and due-process notice ran only to the delinquent cotenant whose interest was foreclosed.https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1287473/in-re-foreclosure-of-liens/
tyler-v-hennepin-county (Tyler v. Hennepin County, 598 U.S. 631)2023surplus, due_processRetaining the surplus equity from a tax-foreclosure sale beyond the tax debt is a taking under the Fifth Amendment. Washington’s RCW 84.64.080(10) already refunds the excess to the record owner, so WA is consistent with Tyler.https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/598/631/

(See needs_verification re: a directly-on-point Washington appellate decision construing the RCW 84.64.080(10) surplus statute and a published case construing RCW 84.64.070 pre-sale redemption.)

9. Edge Cases (state-specific notes)

  • bankruptcy-automatic-stay — a Chapter 7/13 filing stays the tax foreclosure; the 3-year delinquency/foreclosure timeline is affected by the stay (general federal rule).
  • federal-tax-lien-redemption — the United States retains a 120-day right to redeem after a sale that discharges a junior federal tax lien (26 U.S.C. § 7425); applies to WA tax-deed sales like any other.
  • heirs-property — fractional/cotenancy interests can be separately assessed and foreclosed without notice to other cotenants (In re Foreclosure of Liens, 1996).
  • manufactured-homes — manufactured/mobile homes (RCW 59.20.030) get the lower 9% delinquency interest rate as “residential real property with four or fewer units” (RCW 84.56.020).
  • hoa-super-priority — Washington has no HOA super-priority lien analog for tax sales; recorded water-sewer district liens are the statutorily prioritized senior claim against tax-sale surplus (RCW 84.64.080(10)).
  • void-vs-voidable — defective statutory notice in a WA tax foreclosure is jurisdictional/void, not merely voidable (In re King County, 1991).
  • scra-protections — Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protections apply.

10. Operations

11. Meta

Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited primary sources before acting. Last verified: 2026-06-01.

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