Utah Tax Deeds

Utah State Overview:

All of the counties in Utah have their tax deed sales on the same day at the same time. Therefore it is a good idea to decide which county you want to work in or have some assistants to help you with more than one sale. Once a deed is purchased from the sale, it takes approximately 30 days for the county to send you the tax deed. All tax deed properties must be paid for at time of purchase. Some counties will allow you enough time to go to your bank if it is within an hour’s time. Only cash, cashier’s check or certified funds are accepted. Once a property has gone through the tax deed sale and did not sell, an investor can contact the county to purchase a property for the opening bid price. The county will sell a property after it has been delinquent for five years. The property owner has up until the auction starts to pay off his or her back taxes, penalties, and fees. The county will also list the tax deed properties in a local newspaper about four weeks prior to the sale. Auctions are conducted at the county courthouse.

Utah is an “Oral Bid,” and all participants must register prior to the sale. This can be done on the day of the sale. The most common method is the Premium Bid. The starting bid will include the back taxes, penalties, interest and any administrative costs. The property will go to the highest bidder. The second type of bidding is is the “Bid Down % of Ownership” method. The opening bid will include the back taxes, penalties, interest, and any administrative costs. The investors will bid down the ownership of the property starting at 100% of the property value. This then becomes a partnership with the previous property owner. The person willing to take the lowest percentage of ownership on that particular tax deed will be the winning bidder. http://www.utahlegalnotices.com/ is a great website to find listings of Utah tax deed properties. However, all of the sales will be announced at least three weeks prior to the sale in the local newspaper and on the county website. All Utah lists can be found on noriskinvestor.com in the Download Center at the start of May. The county Auditor conducts the sale. You can have someone bid in your stead with a notarized statement authorizing that person to bid for you.