Over-the-Counter Tax Lien Sale: how it works
Over-the-Counter (OTC) tax lien sale of District bid-off liens
Liens that were offered at the annual sale but not sold to a third party are bid off to the District. The Mayor may later sell them, issuing or assigning a certificate of sale on payment of the bid-off amount plus interest to the date of issue or assignment. OTR runs this as an Over-the-Counter sale: registered OTC purchasers select available liens online through MyTax.DC.gov, Monday through Friday from 8 am to 3 pm, and must pay the bid-off lien amount in full the same day, at OTR's Cashier's Office or by wire, or the selection is forfeited. OTR blocks OTC purchases around the annual, first-come-first-serve and discount sale events. The Mayor may also sell District-held liens below the redemption amount at a published Discount Tax Sale, sold to the highest bidder.
Does District of Columbia publish a lands-available list?
The District publishes no lands-available list of the Florida type. The available OTC liens are shown inside the MyTax.DC.gov OTC purchaser portal, and OTR posts a bid-back report after each annual and discount sale on its tax sale page. A District certificate that is never sold or assigned is perpetual, and the District is not required to foreclose it.
This route skips the live auction, which means these are the parcels nobody bid on, so the due diligence matters even more. Every state names this inventory differently, and the state-held and struck-off land table maps each local name to the same mechanism. The over-the-counter guide has the cross-state playbook.
Verified Sep 27, 2026 against District of Columbia sources.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.