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Washington

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Washington — Tax & Mortgage Foreclosure

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

Washington is a tax-deed state: counties do not sell tax-lien certificates to private parties. After three years of delinquency the county treasurer issues a certificate of delinquency to the county (RCW 84.64.050), 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 (RCW 84.64.080). There is no post-sale redemption for ordinary owners — the redemption right runs before the day of sale, plus a three-year window for minors and legally incompetent persons (RCW 84.64.070). Surplus from a sale that exceeds the tax debt is, by statute, refunded to the former record owner (RCW 84.64.080(10)) — a structure that already aligned Washington with tyler-v-hennepin-county. Mortgage foreclosure is predominantly non-judicial under the Deeds of Trust Act (ch. 61.24 RCW), with judicial foreclosure available under ch. 61.12 RCW.

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).

▸ For Investors / Operators — A Washington tax-foreclosure overbid generates excess that the treasurer refunds, after recorded water-sewer district liens, to the record owner as of the certificate-of-delinquency date — not to the purchaser (RCW 84.64.080(10)). Before committing capital, weigh the absence of post-sale redemption (§2/2b — only minors and incompetents have a three-year window), the path to marketable/insurable title (§5b — superior-court quiet title under ch. 7.28 RCW, plus the seven-year RCW 7.28.070/.080 color-of-title seasoning most insurers require), and which liens survive the deed (§7b — the IRS § 7425 120-day redemption is the principal trap; HOA/condo assessment liens do not survive a tax sale).

▸ For Former Owners — When a Washington tax-foreclosure sale brings more than the taxes, interest, and costs, that excess belongs to you as the record owner on the certificate date (RCW 84.64.080(10)); a later sale or assignment of the property does not redirect it. File with the county treasurer that conducted the sale within three years of the sale, or the excess is deposited into the county current expense fund and all owner claims are extinguished.

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’s condominium-assessment lien has a six-month super-priority over mortgages (RCW 64.34.364), but that lien is expressly junior to real-property tax liens, so it does not survive a Chapter 84.64 tax foreclosure, and the super-priority is forfeited if the association forecloses non-judicially. See §7b. 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

2b. Redemption Advanced

Assignability of the redemption right:

  • Who holds the right: the property may be redeemed before the sale by the owner, a tenant-in-common or joint tenant (as to their interest), or any person owning a recorded interest or holding a lien of record, on payment of the certificate amount plus statutory interest and all taxes/interest/costs accruing after issuance. “No fee may be charged for any redemption.” (RCW 84.64.070, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Is the right assignable? The pre-sale right to redeem is not personal to the owner — any person who acquires a recorded interest or lien of record may redeem in that capacity. A third party therefore typically gains redemption standing by taking a conveyance (e.g., a quitclaim deed) or an assignment of a lien from the owner, becoming a person “owning a recorded interest.” RCW 84.64.070 imposes no heirs-only or relatives-only restriction. needs_verification — no retrieved Washington appellate decision squarely holding that a stranger-investor’s owner-deed taken solely to acquire pre-sale redemption standing is or is not subject to attack.
  • Purchase mechanism: a deed or recorded interest from the owner; no court approval is required for the pre-sale right. For the minor/incompetent three-year post-sale right, redemption requires paying the purchase amount plus statutory interest and the reasonable value of the purchaser’s good-faith improvements (less the value of use) (RCW 84.64.070).

Equitable vs. statutory redemption:

  • Washington’s tax-foreclosure redemption is purely statutory (RCW 84.64.070). There is no separate equitable right of redemption that survives the statutory cutoff (close of business the day before the sale) for ordinary owners; once the treasurer’s deed issues, title vests in the grantee (RCW 84.64.080) and no equitable redemption remains.
  • Available pre-sale only: Yes, for ordinary owners. The lone post-sale exception is the three-year statutory window for minors and legally incompetent persons (RCW 84.64.070) — itself statutory, not equitable.

Installment redemption:

  • Chapter 84.64 provides no installment-payment plan for redeeming a parcel in foreclosure; redemption requires payment of the full certificate amount plus accrued interest, taxes, and costs before the sale (RCW 84.64.070). (Counties may offer pre- certificate payment arrangements for current-year delinquency under separate collection authority — that is payment to avoid foreclosure, not statutory installment redemption.) needs_verification — no WA primary source retrieved authorizing installment redemption of a parcel already in foreclosure.

Assignment of the certificate of delinquency / deed mid-redemption:

  • The certificate of delinquency is issued only to the county and the foreclosure proceeds “in the name of the county” — Washington has no private certificate-holder market, so there is no investor certificate to assign mid-redemption. (RCW 84.64.050, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • A tax-deed purchaser takes title at the sale; there is no redemption period running against an ordinary owner during which the purchaser would hold a redeemable interest to assign. Post-sale, the grantee holds fee title (subject only to the narrow minor/incompetent window) and may convey it like any other deed.

3b. Surplus Advanced

Claim assignability — surplus (RCW 84.64.080(10)):

  • Full assignment permitted? The statute returns the excess to “the record owner of the property” and expressly provides that “later assignments or deeds do not affect the payment of excess funds to the record owner” — i.e., the underlying property conveyance does not move the surplus entitlement off the certificate-date record owner. (RCW 84.64.080, retrieved 2026-06-02) Chapter 84.64 does not itself prohibit the record owner from assigning the surplus claim to a recovery agent; the practice is policed instead by the surplus-locating-fee cap (below). needs_verification — whether an outright assignment of the surplus claim (versus a locating-fee agreement) is permitted or capped; the fee-cap statute regulates “locating” agreements, not a bare assignment of the fund.
  • Assignment vs. fee agreement: the operative WA distinction is the 5% cap on locating fees for “funds held by a county that are proceeds from a foreclosure for delinquent property taxes, assessments, or other liens.” It is unlawful to seek, receive, or contract for more than “five percent of the value thereof returned to such owner.” Originally RCW 63.29.350 (repealed eff. 1/1/2023 with the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act); re-enacted with the same 5% cap by ESHB 1637 (2023). (ESHB 1637 (2023), retrieved 2026-06-01)
  • Fee cap applies to assignments? The cap is framed around fees for locating/returning the funds; whether it reaches a discounted outright purchase of the claim is not settled by a retrieved primary source. needs_verification.

Statute of limitations on the surplus claim:

  • Period / trigger: the excess must be claimed within three years after the date of the sale; if no claim is received, the treasurer deposits the excess into the county current expense fund, “which extinguishes all claims by any owner to the excess funds.” (RCW 84.64.080(10), retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Trigger is the date of the sale (not the date of deposit or deed). This is a county-fund cutoff, not an escheat to the state unclaimed-property administrator, so the general unclaimed-property reclaim route does not apply once the three years run.

Competing claimant procedure:

  • RCW 84.64.080(10) directs the excess first to recorded water-sewer district liens, then to the record owner; it does not prescribe a formal interpleader. Where competing claimants (e.g., a lienholder and the record owner) assert overlapping rights, the treasurer in practice withholds disbursement and the dispute is resolved judicially in superior court. needs_verification — Chapter 84.64 does not set an interpleader or first-to-file rule for tax-foreclosure surplus; practice is county-specific. (By contrast, the non-judicial mortgage surplus statute, RCW 61.24.080, does deposit surplus with the superior-court clerk and require a noticed motion — see §4.)
  • No strict filing-race: entitlement is statutory (record owner as of the certificate date), so first-to-file does not defeat the true record owner.

Deceased-owner procedure:

  • The excess belongs to the certificate-date “record owner.” Where that owner is deceased, the estate is entitled; a personal representative with letters from the probate court has standing to claim. Heirs generally must open probate (or use a small-estate procedure) to establish standing; Washington’s intestacy statute (Title 11 RCW, the probate/trust code) governs distribution. needs_verification — whether WA county treasurers accept a direct-heir surplus claim without probate letters when ownership is unambiguous, and the small-estate affidavit threshold under ch. 11.62 RCW.

Fraudulent-conveyance exposure:

  • An assignment of the surplus claim (or of the underlying redemption interest) by an insolvent owner for less than reasonably equivalent value is exposed to a creditor challenge under Washington’s Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (UVTA), ch. 19.40 RCW (formerly the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act; renamed by RCW 19.40.900). A transfer is voidable if made with “actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud any creditor” (RCW 19.40.041) or, as to existing creditors, without reasonably equivalent value while insolvent (RCW 19.40.051).
  • SOL: a claim is extinguished unless brought within four years after the transfer (or, for actual-intent fraud, the later of four years or one year after the transfer was or could reasonably have been discovered). (RCW 19.40.091, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Surplus-claimant notice:

  • Yes — the treasurer notifies the record owner of available excess and provides a claim application (RCW 84.64.080(10); corroborated by King County Treasury practice). Chapter 84.64 does not separately require the treasurer to notify junior lienholders of the surplus beyond the priority for recorded water-sewer district liens. needs_verification — whether any WA authority requires affirmative lienholder notice of tax-foreclosure surplus.

5b. Title Advanced

Quiet title — when required vs. optional:

  • Practical standard: a Washington treasurer’s tax deed does not convey immediately marketable or insurable title. Title insurers generally decline to insure a fresh tax title; practitioners obtain marketable/insurable title either by a quiet-title action under ch. 7.28 RCW in superior court or by waiting out the statutory color-of-title seasoning. (ch. 7.28 RCW, retrieved 2026-06-02; Rowley Legal / Tax Title Services practice guidance, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Statutory seasoning (color of title + 7 years’ taxes): a person in actual, open, and notorious possession under claim and color of title (the tax deed) who pays all taxes for seven successive years is “adjudged to be the legal owner … to the extent and according to the purport of his or her paper title” (RCW 7.28.070); a parallel seven-year rule covers vacant/unoccupied land paid under color of title (RCW 7.28.080). Many insurers will underwrite on the strength of this seven-year seasoning where possession and tax payment are clean.
  • Judicial confirmation before deed issues? No. The tax foreclosure judgment is entered before the treasurer’s sale, but the sale and deed do not require a separate post-sale court confirmation (RCW 84.64.080). (Judicial mortgage sales under ch. 61.12 are confirmed by the court — see §4.)

Action type and court:

  • Quiet title is a judicial action in superior court in the county where the land lies, under ch. 7.28 RCW (RCW 7.28.010 brings recovery/quiet-title actions in “the superior court of the proper county”; RCW 7.28.280 permits a possessor to quiet title against adverse claimants). (ch. 7.28 RCW, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • For county-held tax-title land, the county (or its successors, assigns) may bring a special action under RCW 36.35.160 in superior court to correct defects and determine adverse claims. (RCW 36.35.160, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Typical timeline and cost:

  • Uncontested: roughly 3 months at the fast end; commonly 6–12 months with service by publication on unknown/unlocatable parties.
  • Cost: commonly $4,500+ for an uncontested action (attorney fee + filing + title report
    • publication); contested cases run higher. (Practice estimates — Rowley Legal / Tax Title Services / investor-title guidance, retrieved 2026-06-02; not a statutory figure.)

Does quiet title cure all pre-sale defects?

  • A properly served quiet-title judgment extinguishes joined claims and clouds. It does not necessarily cure a jurisdictional notice defect that rendered the foreclosure void (defective statutory notice deprives the court of jurisdiction — see §6, In re King County), which can be raised against a void judgment notwithstanding the estoppel statute (RCW 84.64.180).

Marketable Title Act:

  • Washington has no Marketable Record Title Act (no 30/40-year root-of-title statute of the Florida/Ohio/Michigan type). Title marketability is governed by the recording act, common law, the ch. 7.28 seasoning/adverse-possession provisions, and the tax-title cure action in RCW 36.35.160. needs_verification — no WA MRTA statute located; flagged as an honest gap.

Deed seasoning — title-insurer requirements:

  • Insurers commonly require either a completed quiet-title action or the seven-year color-of-title-plus-taxes seasoning (RCW 7.28.070/.080) before underwriting a tax title; an expedited “tax title certification” product is offered by specialty firms as a quiet-title alternative. needs_verification of specific named-insurer underwriting guidelines (market practice, not statute).
  • Tax deeds carry no title warranty (RCW 84.64.080), so they are insured (when at all) on the strength of curative work, not the deed’s covenants.

Chain-of-title cure depth:

  • A quiet-title judgment cures clouds from all pre-deed adverse claims properly joined and served. The tax deed itself conveys the property free of the former owner’s interest, but does not by its own force clear a federal tax lien where the United States was not § 7425- noticed (§7b) or a jurisdictional-notice voidness.

5c. TRO & Injunctive Relief

Recognized grounds to halt a sale:

  1. Notice / due-process defect — failure of the RCW 84.64.050 statutory notice “reasonably calculated to inform” the owner and recorded interest/lien holders (Mullane; Jones v. Flowers; In re King County).
  2. Payment / redemption dispute — a timely pre-sale tender refused or misapplied (RCW 84.64.070).
  3. Constitutional — taking-without-just-compensation (Tyler-type), though WA already refunds surplus to the record owner.
  4. SCRA — active-duty servicemember protections → see scra-protections.
  5. Bankruptcy automatic stay — sale in violation of 11 U.S.C. § 362 → see bankruptcy-automatic-stay.

Legal standard:

  • Washington’s general injunction grounds are codified in RCW 7.40.020 (relief restraining an act that “during the litigation would produce great injury,” or acts violating the plaintiff’s rights). (RCW 7.40.020, retrieved 2026-06-02) Washington courts apply a three-part test: a clear legal or equitable right, a well-grounded fear of immediate invasion of that right, and actual and substantial injury (the Tyler Pipe formulation). needs_verification — controlling WA opinion stating the three-part test was corroborated via search, not retrieved as a clean slip opinion. Temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions are governed by CR 65.
  • Bond: under CR 65(c) and RCW 7.40.080, the court generally requires security for costs and damages if the restrained party is wrongfully enjoined; the State and its officers may be exempt, and the amount is set by the court. needs_verification of the precise CR 65(c) bond text against a retrieved rule page.

Court with jurisdiction:

  • Superior court in the county where the property lies. A tax foreclosure is already pending in superior court (the county’s in rem action), so a motion may be made in that case before the sale; a separate emergency action is also available.

Emergency timeline:

  • An ex parte TRO meeting the CR 65(b) showing can be obtained on an emergency basis (often same-day or within 24–48 hours) at the court’s discretion, followed by an expedited preliminary-injunction hearing. needs_verification of any fixed WA time limit for the follow-on hearing.

Effect on a completed sale:

  • After the gavel and the treasurer’s deed, undoing the sale generally requires a judicial action. A jurisdictional notice defect renders the foreclosure judgment, sale, and deed void and may be attacked despite the RCW 84.64.180 estoppel statute (In re King County, 1991); a mere irregularity does not. needs_verification of a retrieved WA holding squarely on the effect of a post-deed TRO on a completed tax sale.

Non-judicial (mortgage) note — the key Washington distinction:

  • A non-judicial trustee’s sale under the Deeds of Trust Act can be halted only through the statutory restraining-order procedure of RCW 61.24.130, which is the exclusive method. The applicant must give the trustee five days’ notice of the application and, as a condition of the order, pay into the court clerk the sums that would be due on the obligation as if it were not being foreclosed (the periodic payments, or accruing interest on a fully-due obligation), plus court-set security. (RCW 61.24.130, retrieved 2026-06-02) Failure to use this procedure (or to enjoin the sale before it occurs) generally waives challenges to a completed trustee’s sale — a materially higher bar than halting a judicial tax foreclosure.

Leading cases: in-re-king-county-foreclosure-of-liens-1991 (notice-defect voidness), jones-v-flowers (due-process standard).

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 tax lien being foreclosed, the party conducting the sale must give the United States written notice not less than 25 days before the sale; if properly noticed, the federal lien is discharged but the Secretary may redeem within 120 days of the sale (or the local-law redemption period, whichever is longer). If the United States is not noticed, the federal lien survives the sale. (26 U.S.C. § 7425, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Redemption amount: the United States pays the price prescribed by 28 U.S.C. § 2410(d) (generally the sale price plus interest and certain costs) and records a certificate of redemption. Practical exposure: an un-noticed federal tax lien is the most common way a Washington tax-deed buyer takes subject to a surviving senior federal claim — a federal-tax- lien search before bidding is essential. See federal-tax-lien-redemption.

HOA / condominium super-priority:

  • Washington has a six-month HOA/condo assessment super-priority over mortgages, but it does not override real-property tax liens, and it is forfeited if the association forecloses non-judicially.
  • Condominium Act (RCW 64.34.364): the association’s assessment lien is “prior to the mortgages” for common-expense assessments that would have become due in the six months immediately preceding a sheriff’s/trustee’s sale — but the lien is prior to all liens and encumbrances except “liens for real property taxes and other governmental assessments or charges against the unit.” And “if the association forecloses its lien … nonjudicially pursuant to chapter 61.24 RCW, the association shall not be entitled to the lien priority” super-priority. (RCW 64.34.364, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Survives a tax sale? No. Because the assessment lien is expressly junior to real- property tax liens, a Chapter 84.64 tax foreclosure (enforcing the ad valorem tax lien) takes priority, and the HOA/condo assessment lien does not survive ahead of the tax title. needs_verification — no retrieved WA appellate decision squarely holding the assessment lien is extinguished by a tax-foreclosure deed (the statutory carve-out for tax liens supports it, but a case is not retrieved).
  • Survives a mortgage foreclosure? The six-month super-priority portion can prime a first mortgage in a judicial foreclosure; the balance is subordinate. (The HOA-Act counterpart, ch. 64.38/64.90 RCW, follows the same six-month-priority pattern — needs_ verification of the parallel planned-community citation.)

Environmental / CERCLA liens:

  • A federal CERCLA lien (42 U.S.C. § 9607(l)) is a federal claim; as with a federal tax lien, § 7425-type notice to the United States governs whether it is discharged by the sale. CERCLA owner/operator liability runs with the land regardless of how title was acquired, so a tax-deed purchaser of a contaminated site can face cleanup liability independent of any recorded lien. Washington’s Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA, ch. 70A.305 RCW) imposes strict, retroactive cleanup liability on current owners. needs_verification — no WA-specific authority retrieved on CERCLA/MTCA lien survival of a Chapter 84.64 tax deed; whether MTCA creates a tax-title-priming super-lien is unresolved.

Municipal code / utility liens:

  • The surplus waterfall pays recorded water-sewer district liens ahead of the record owner (RCW 84.64.080(10)), signaling those utility liens are treated as priority claims paid from the proceeds. Whether municipal code-enforcement / nuisance-abatement liens survive a Chapter 84.64 tax deed is not resolved by retrieved primary authority. needs_verification.

Mechanic’s liens:

  • A mechanic’s/materialman’s lien (ch. 60.04 RCW) is a private statutory lien; its priority against a tax title turns on recording dates and the superiority of the ad valorem tax lien. needs_verification — no retrieved WA authority squarely on whether a perfected mechanic’s lien survives a Chapter 84.64 tax deed.

Junior-mortgage exposure:

  • A Washington tax foreclosure enforces the ad valorem tax lien, which is generally superior to private mortgages; a properly conducted tax deed conveys free of junior and senior private mortgages, provided the required RCW 84.64.050 notice ran to the owner and every recorded interest/lien holder. Common mistake: assuming the tax deed wipes everything — it does not clear a federal tax lien where the United States was not § 7425-noticed, and failure to notice a recorded mortgagee can be a jurisdictional defect that voids the foreclosure (In re King County; RCW 84.64.050).

Due-diligence checklist (WA tax-deed buyer):

  1. Federal tax lien search (county lien index / IRS) — § 7425 notice / 120-day redemption.
  2. Recorded-interest / mortgagee check — confirm RCW 84.64.050 notice ran to all of record (failure may be jurisdictional / void).
  3. Notice-chain review — service/publication + certified mail under RCW 84.64.050.
  4. Water-sewer district & municipal lien search — utility liens are paid ahead of the owner from surplus; code-lien survival unresolved.
  5. HOA / condo status — junior to the tax lien; confirm any separately recorded interests.
  6. Bankruptcy search on the owner — active stay at the time of sale?
  7. Probate / heirs check — unprobated estates and cotenancy interests are a frequent notice and quiet-title issue (note In re Foreclosure of Liens, 1996, on cotenant notice).
  8. Environmental check — CERCLA / MTCA cleanup liability runs with the land.
  9. SCRA servicemember check on the owner.
  10. Physical inspection / occupancy — title vests in the grantee on the deed (RCW 84.64.080).

10b. Purchaser Obligations During the Redemption Period

Washington has no general post-sale redemption period for ordinary owners, so the tax- deed purchaser has no “during redemption” obligations of the lien-certificate type. The narrow exception is the three-year window for minors and legally incompetent persons (RCW 84.64.070); this module addresses obligations in that window and the purchaser’s post-deed posture.

Subsequent taxes:

  • Because there is no certificate-holder system, there is no “subs” accrual. After the deed, the tax-deed grantee holds title and is responsible for subsequent taxes as any owner. During the minor/incompetent three-year window the purchaser holds the deed and pays taxes as owner; if redemption occurs, the redemptioner pays the purchase amount plus statutory interest and the reasonable value of good-faith improvements (less value of use) — see “costs collectible” below (RCW 84.64.070).

Owner-expiration notice:

  • Chapter 84.64 places the pre-sale notice burden on the treasurer/county (RCW 84.64.050), not on a purchaser. There is no statutory obligation on a tax-deed purchaser to notify the owner that a redemption right is about to expire (the ordinary right expires at close of business the day before the sale). needs_verification — no WA primary source imposing a purchaser owner-notice obligation.

Owner occupancy:

  • Before the sale, the owner retains possession (the foreclosure is in rem and title has not passed). On the treasurer’s deed, title vests in the grantee (RCW 84.64.080) and the grantee may take possession; the former owner has no statutory occupancy right (subject to the minor/incompetent redemption window, during which a successful redemptioner recovers title). (RCW 84.64.080, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Costs collectible on (minor/incompetent) redemption:

  • The purchase amount + statutory interest + the reasonable value of all good-faith improvements the purchaser made, less the value of the use of the property; “no fee may be charged for any redemption.” (RCW 84.64.070, retrieved 2026-06-02) This is the one Washington context in which a tax-sale purchaser’s improvements are reimbursable on redemption.

Maintenance obligation:

  • Chapter 84.64 imposes no special maintenance obligation on a tax-deed grantee beyond the ordinary owner obligations under local code; the grantee holds fee title. needs_verification — no WA statute imposing a tax-sale-purchaser maintenance duty.

11b. Restrictions & Special Rules

Entity / insider restrictions:

  • Entity purchasers: Chapter 84.64 uses “highest and best bidder” language and imposes no natural-persons-only restriction; corporations, LLCs, and trusts may bid. No statewide foreign-entity ownership ban of the Florida Ch. 692 type was located. needs_verification of any WA foreign-ownership statute.
  • Insider prohibition (express): “No county officer or employee may directly or indirectly be a purchaser of the property at the sale.” (RCW 84.64.080(8), retrieved 2026-06-02) This is a statutory bar — unlike many states that rely only on general ethics law.

Right of first refusal / land bank:

  • Tax-title lands (ch. 36.35 RCW): property that draws no bid at the tax-foreclosure sale is struck to the county as “tax title lands” — “any tract of land acquired by the county for lack of other bidders at a tax foreclosure sale” — held in trust for the taxing districts and managed/disposed of by the county legislative authority. (ch. 36.35 RCW, retrieved 2026-06-02) This county-disposition regime functions as Washington’s de facto land-bank mechanism; the county may devote tax-title land to public use, exchange it, or sell it at a fixed minimum price (RCW 36.35.120).
  • Dedicated land-bank act: Washington has no statewide municipal land-bank enabling act of the Ohio/Georgia type; ch. 36.35 county tax-title disposition fills that role. needs_verification of any local land-bank authority.
  • ROFR: no statutory right of first refusal to match bids at the tax-foreclosure auction was located in ch. 84.64; the county’s first claim arises only when a parcel draws no third-party bid and is struck to the county under ch. 36.35. needs_verification.

Deficiency judgment:

  • After a tax foreclosure: no deficiency judgment — the Chapter 84.64 in rem process collects only what the property brings at sale; the tax obligation is satisfied through the foreclosure, not pursued against the former owner personally.
  • After a non-judicial trustee’s sale: a deficiency is barred against any borrower, grantor, or guarantor, with narrow exceptions (commercial-loan waste / wrongful retention of rents, insurance, or condemnation awards; guarantors on proper notice), and the waste exception does not apply to a borrower-occupied principal residence; any allowed action must be brought within one year of the sale. (RCW 61.24.100, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • After a judicial mortgage foreclosure (ch. 61.12): a deficiency is permitted unless the mortgagee expressly waived it in the complaint, in which case “there shall be no such judgment for deficiency, and the remedy … shall be confined to the sale of the property mortgaged.” (RCW 61.12.070, retrieved 2026-06-02) The court may fix a minimum/upset price before confirming the sale (RCW 61.12.060), and a waived-deficiency judicial foreclosure shortens the post-sale redemption to 8 months (RCW 6.23.020 — see §4).

Anti-deficiency statute:

  • Washington’s principal anti-deficiency protection is RCW 61.24.100 for non-judicial trustee’s sales (the broad deficiency bar above), which functions as a de facto anti-deficiency rule for residential deeds of trust. There is no separate purchase-money-only anti-deficiency bar of the western-state (e.g., California CCP § 580b) type located. needs_verification of any narrow purchase-money anti-deficiency provision.

One-action rule:

  • Washington has no one-action rule of the California type compelling the creditor to exhaust the security in a single action before suing on the note; the deeds-of-trust deficiency bar (RCW 61.24.100) and the judicial-foreclosure fair-value/upset-price mechanics constrain the creditor instead. needs_verification — confirm against a retrieved WA primary source that no one-action rule applies; flagged as an honest gap.

Local pages

County deep dives: benton-wa, clark-wa, king-wa, kitsap-wa, pierce-wa, snohomish-wa, spokane-wa, thurston-wa, whatcom-wa, yakima-wa Unclaimed funds agency: unclaimed-property-washington

Who this page is for

▸ For Investors / Operators — Start with §1 (highest-bid treasurer’s tax-deed sale; no investor lien certificates), §2/2b (no ordinary post-sale redemption — only the minor/incompetent three-year window, and the pre-sale redemption right is acquired by taking a recorded interest from the owner), §5b (path to marketable title — superior-court quiet title under ch. 7.28 RCW vs. the seven-year RCW 7.28.070/.080 color-of-title seasoning; note WA has no Marketable Title Act), §7b (liens that survive — the IRS § 7425 120-day redemption is the principal trap; HOA/condo assessment liens do not survive a tax sale), and §11b (broad entity eligibility, the RCW 84.64.080(8) county-officer bar, ch. 36.35 tax-title lands as WA’s de facto land bank).

▸ For Former Owners — Start with §3 (surplus / excess proceeds — any sale price above the taxes, interest, and costs is refunded to the record owner as of the certificate-of-delinquency date after recorded water-sewer district liens, claimed at the county treasurer within three years of the sale before it deposits into the county current expense fund), §2 (redemption — paying the taxes, interest, and costs before the day of the sale to stop the foreclosure), and §5c (grounds and procedure for an emergency motion in superior court to halt a scheduled sale).

11. Meta

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

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