Barnstable County, MA tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Barnstable County holds no tax sale. Each of its 15 towns acts through its own treasurer and collector, and no town currently posts a tax title auction date, so confirm the date, list and terms with the town where the parcel sits.
• •Barnstable: the Town Treasurer/Collector at Town Hall, 367 Main Street, Hyannis, collects real estate liens and posts its Tax Title Advertisements, the list of parcels taken for taxes, on its web page; the most recent posted list is the FY22 advertisement. Tax Collections: 508-862-4054.
• •Yarmouth: the Collector/Treasurer posts a Current Tax Title List on its Tax Title page and a Foreclosed Property List, a map and a list of foreclosures in progress on its Foreclosed Properties page. The town says it holds many foreclosed parcels not yet auctioned. Town Hall, 1146 Route 28, South Yarmouth, 508-398-2231 ext. 1233.
• •Yarmouth: to acquire a town-owned foreclosed parcel, send a Land Acquisition Request Form to Community Development; staff and the Land Disposition Committee review it before a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen. The town does not determine whether a lot is buildable.
• •Falmouth: the Treasurer/Collector posts its 2024 and 2025 Real Estate Notices of Tax Taking list under Tax Title Real Estate Notices. These are takings by the town, not auctions. Town Hall, 59 Town Hall Square, Falmouth; town switchboard 508-548-7611.
• •Dennis: the Treasurer/Collector posts its FY25 tax title notices list, residential and commercial, for a taking on May 22, 2026. 685 Route 134, South Dennis, 508-760-6117.
• •Bourne: the Collector/Treasurer posts its FY23 tax taking notices list for a taking on May 29, 2026. Town Hall, Room 105, 24 Perry Avenue, Buzzards Bay, 508-759-0600 ext. 1507.
• •Eastham: the Treasurer/Collector's Tax Title Information page lists its tax taking advertisements from April 2023, January 2024 and October 2024. 2500 State Highway, Eastham, 508-240-5900.
• •Provincetown: the Treasurer, the town's tax title custodian, posts a Tax Title Report list of delinquent taxes. The page still quotes 16 percent interest; the statute set 8 percent for tax titles from November 1, 2024. 260 Commercial Street, 508-487-7000.
• •Wellfleet: real estate taxes from 2022 are in tax title with the Town Treasurer, 300 Main Street, 508-349-0346; the town posts no tax title list.
• •Mashpee (508-539-1419), Orleans (508-240-3700 ext. 2420), Brewster (508-896-3701 ext. 1112) and Sandwich (508-833-8012) state that their treasurer offices manage tax title accounts but post no list or auction.
• •Chatham (508-945-5108), Harwich (508-430-7501) and Truro post no tax title list or auction; call the treasurer and collector and watch the Cape Cod newspaper legal notices.

Massachusetts rules

Redemption

Anyone with an interest in the land may redeem at any time before a foreclosure petition is filed, and a holder generally cannot petition until 12 months after the sale or taking, so the owner usually has at least a year and there is no fixed outer deadline. After a petition is filed, a party may still redeem through the Land Court by filing an answer and paying on the terms the court fixes, until a judgment forever bars redemption. The treasurer may extend the no-foreclosure period by up to 2 years when accepting a partial payment, and a town may by bylaw or ordinance offer payment agreements of up to 10 years during which it may not foreclose. Shorter routes apply where buildings on town-held land are found abandoned or the redemption amount exceeds the assessed value.M.G.L. c. 60, s. 62, redemption at 8 percent interest on the original sum, before a foreclosure petition is filedM.G.L. c. 60, s. 62Verified Sep 28, 2026

Deed deposit

At a collector's sale, the purchaser must make an immediate deposit of whatever sum the collector considers necessary to show good faith, or the sale is void (s. 43). No statute sets a deposit for a treasurer's tax title auction or a custodian's auction; each municipality sets it in its terms of sale.M.G.L. c. 60, s. 52, treasurer's public auction assigning tax titles, individually or bundled, to the highest bidder for not less than the redemption amountM.G.L. c. 60, s. 52Verified Sep 28, 2026

Surplus proceeds

Since November 1, 2024 (St. 2024, c. 140), the owner at the time of a Land Court foreclosure keeps a right to any excess equity, and that applies to a municipality AND to a private purchaser of tax receivables (s. 64). Within 30 days after the judgment becomes final, the judgment holder must elect to retain or sell. If it retains, it must obtain an independent appraisal within 120 days and pay out the appraised value above the tax title balance and costs. If it sells, it must list with a licensed broker within 180 days, then auction at not less than two-thirds of appraised value if unsold after 12 months. Excess equity is held in a segregated interest-bearing escrow; claims may be made for 18 months after notice where owners are unknown, unclaimed funds go to the state's abandoned property process after 19 months, and disputes go to the Superior Court with a jury trial right (s. 64A). Owners foreclosed on or after May 25, 2021 had 12 months from the act to sue for excess equity (St. 2024, c. 140, s. 212). Surplus from a s. 79 sale without foreclosure is held for the person entitled for five years, then goes to the town.M.G.L. c. 60, s. 64A, post-foreclosure election to retain or sell, appraisal, broker listing, auction at not less than two-thirds of appraised value, excess equity claimsM.G.L. c. 60, s. 64AVerified Sep 28, 2026

Governing statute

M.G.L. c. 60, s. 1M.G.L. c. 60, s. 1, definitions, including excess equity (inserted by St. 2024, c. 140, s. 80)M.G.L. c. 60, s. 1Verified Sep 28, 2026

A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.

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