Bristol County, MA tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Bristol County holds no tax sale. Each of its 20 cities and towns, including Attleboro, Fall River, New Bedford and Taunton, acts through its own treasurer and collector on its own dates.
• •Taunton: the Treasurer Collector's Office at 15 Summer Street (508-821-1057) keeps its list of tax title properties for review in the office, not online. Once the city forecloses in Land Court, the page says the former owner's remaining options are to vacate the judgment or buy the property at a public auction.
• •Fall River: the Treasurer's Office at One Government Center, Room 215 (508-324-2260) manages tax title accounts and petitions Land Court to foreclose. The Collector posts its FY2025 tax taking list on its Legal Notices page.
• •Attleboro: the elected City Treasurer at 77 Park Street (508-223-2222 ext. 3214) keeps tax title accounts, conducts sales of land of low value and petitions Land Court. The Collector's taking list appears as an advertisement in the city's newspaper.
• •North Attleborough: the Treasurer / Collector at 43 South Washington Street (508-699-0100) posts its October 2024 tax taking list and a 2026 delinquent taxpayer list, which flags tax title accounts, on its page.
• •Freetown: the Treasurer and Collector of Taxes (508-644-2201 ext. 4) posts a list of current tax title properties with balances as of December 2023.
• •Swansea: the Treasurer/Collector (508-678-2981 option 3) posts its FY2024 tax title list, a notice of taking for October 2024, on its page.
• •Mansfield: the Treasurer/Collector at 6 Park Row (508-261-7340) posts individual notices of taking, such as one for an Eastman Street parcel, on its page rather than a full list.
• •Norton: the Treasurer/Tax Collector at 72 East Main Street (508-285-0226) advertises its taking list in the local newspaper and records takings at the Bristol County Registry of Deeds. Payment plans pause foreclosure.
• •Dartmouth keeps tax title accounts with the Treasurer at 400 Slocum Road, Room 206 (508-910-1802). Dighton (979 Somerset Avenue, 508-669-5411) and Acushnet (122 Main Street, 508-998-0200) treasurer/collectors handle takings and foreclosures directly.
• •Westport (816 Main Road, 508-636-1007), Seekonk (100 Peck Street, 508-336-2970), Somerset (140 Wood Street, 508-646-2822) and Easton (136 Elm Street) post no tax title list or auction; ask the treasurer.
• •New Bedford, Fairhaven, Raynham, Rehoboth and Berkley publish no tax title auction or list online. Call the treasurer at city or town hall and watch the local 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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