Berkshire County, MA tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Berkshire County, MA tax sale, one of 3,131 counties in 51 states. Massachusetts sells redeemable deeds the owner can buy back with a statutory penalty. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from state rules plus what the county publishes on Sep 28, 2026.
How tax deed sales work in Berkshire County, seat of Pittsfield: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Massachusetts tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- No countywide date.
- Registration
- Registration, deposit and payment terms come from each town's own terms of sale.
- County office
- 413-499-9466
On this page
How Berkshire County sells delinquent taxes
No tax lien certificate sale
as a certificate sale. Massachusetts issues no tax lien certificate. What an investor buys is a tax title: either a collector's deed from a collector's sale (s. 43) or an instrument of assignment from the treasurer's auction of tax titles the town already holds (s. 52). Both are subject to redemption, and both are often called 'tax liens' on municipal pages, which describes how they work (held as security) rather than a separate instrument.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- The treasurer and collector of each of Berkshire County's cities and towns, including Pittsfield and North Adams. Berkshire County holds no tax sale.
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No countywide date.
- Registration
- Registration, deposit and payment terms come from each town's own terms of sale.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Sale format and venue
Berkshire County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Berkshire County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.
Get the advertised list
Berkshire County publishes no tax sale list online. The The treasurer and collector of each of Berkshire County's cities and towns, including Pittsfield and North Adams. Berkshire County holds no tax sale. advertises the parcels ahead of the sale rather than posting them, so the list reaches bidders through the county legal newspaper and the office itself. Call 413-499-9466 to ask for the current advertisement.Register to bid
Sale day
No countywide date. Each city or town picks its own platform or in-person venue. Confirm the date and registration window with that town’s collector before you bid.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use The treasurer and collector of each of Berkshire County's cities and towns, including Pittsfield and North Adams. Berkshire County holds no tax sale. as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Berkshire County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
There is no online list to price against. Berkshire County advertises the parcels before the sale rather than posting them, so get the advertisement from the office on 413-499-9466 and price from the parcel numbers it carries.Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Massachusetts due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in Massachusetts before you price the title work.Set a walk-away number
Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
unsold properties
No standing over-the-counter list. A town's tax titles can be assigned only at a public auction after notice, and its foreclosed land is sold by public auction or broker listing when the town chooses. Ask the city or town treasurer what it holds.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Massachusetts calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County notes
- Berkshire County holds no tax sale. Each of its cities and towns acts through its own treasurer and collector, on its own date, so a date or list from one town never applies to the others.
- Pittsfield: the Finance Department / Treasurer at 70 Allen Street (413-499-9466) maintains and collects the city's tax title accounts and sets payment agreements for delinquent taxes. The Tax Collector is at 413-499-9431. The city posts no tax title auction list online; ask the Treasurer.
- North Adams: the Treasurer/Collector is in City Hall, Room 103, 10 Main Street, North Adams, MA 01247 (413-662-3044). No auction date or list is posted.
- Williamstown: the Treasurer is responsible for tax titles, discharges of tax titles and the legal process for foreclosure sales. No auction date or list is posted.
- Great Barrington: the Treasurer/Collector at 334 Main Street (413-528-1619) is custodian of all tax title accounts and prepares foreclosure documents with the town's tax title attorney. No auction date or list is posted.
- Dalton: the Treasurer at 462 Main Street (413-684-6111 ext. 213) maintains and collects tax title accounts. No auction date or list is posted.
- Adams (8 Park Street, 413-743-8300 ext. 177), Lee (32 Main Street, 413-243-5515), Cheshire (413-743-1690) and Richmond (1751 State Road, 413-553-7059) each run a combined Treasurer/Collector office; none posts a tax title auction date or list.
- The remaining towns publish no tax title auction information online. Contact each town treasurer and watch the Berkshire legal notices for a published list.
- Sullivan & Sullivan Auctioneers lists Adams, Becket, Great Barrington, New Marlborough and Stockbridge among its municipal clients. A date on an auctioneer's calendar belongs only to the town named beside it, and many listings there are private mortgage foreclosures, not town sales.
- A notice of tax taking lists parcels the town is taking for itself and is not an auction. Redemption stays open until a Land Court foreclosure, and after foreclosure the former owner may claim excess equity.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Does Berkshire County, Massachusetts sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Berkshire County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Verified Sep 28, 2026 against official county and state 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.
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