Tax deeded land sales are conducted on an infrequent basis by Maricopa County acting as the agent for the State of Arizona. These parcels have been deeded to the State of Arizona as a result of a property owner's failure to pay property taxes on the parcel. Many of these parcels are small or unusually shaped pieces of property that may not have been deeded to a property owner during the course of development of a community. In order for the State to return these parcels to the tax rolls through a tax-deeded land sale, Maricopa County must first offer the parcels at a public auction in which anyone may bid on parcels. After advertisement and a public auction where bids are received, the Board of Supervisors will convene a public meeting and may vote to sell the parcels to the highest bidder for cash. Supervisors may also vote to not accept any offers.

Any parcel that does not receive a bid during the public auction may then be offered "over the counter" to the general public through the Treasurer's Office. Although a list of these parcels is maintained by the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and may be viewed in both [Excel] and [Adobe] formats, interested parties may begin the process of placing an offer on a parcel by contacting the Treasurer's Office at (602) 506-5517. In addition, interested parties must complete a Parcel Offer Form and submit this form and payment in the form of a money order or cashier's check to the Treasurer's Office.

Once an offer is made and received by the Treasurer's Office, the Treasurer's Office will request that the offer be scheduled as an agenda item on an upcoming Board of Supervisors' meeting. (This may take several weeks.) Once the meeting occurs, Supervisors will consider the offer but may also entertain higher offers from anyone else present at the meeting. At the public meeting, the Board of Supervisors may vote to accept and approve the offer of the highest bidder for cash, or they may choose not to accept any of the current offers.

If an offer is approved, the Board will direct the Clerk of the Board to convey a quit claim deed to the party whose offer was approved. The Clerk of the Board will prepare a quit claim deed, record that deed with the County Recorder and then issue the deed to the new parcel owner. This process takes approximately two weeks from Board approval.

Buyers must be aware that all parcels are sold as is. No warranties are made concerning the parcel or its suitability for use.

For additional information on Tax Deeded Land Sales you may contact the Clerk of the Board or Treasurer's Office at (602) 372-1505.

Arizona Revised Statutes, 42-18301, 18302, 18303 and 18304 also provide information on the sale of tax deeded land in Arizona.

Click here for a link to other Arizona counties.