Rhode Island Redeemable Tax Deed Sales
Rhode Island sells redeemable deeds carrying a 10% redemption penalty that rises the longer the owner waits under R.I. Gen. Laws 44-9-1. Tax Sale Atlas holds the sale calendar, auction platform and list locations for all 5 Rhode Island counties, each read from the county’s own official pages and checked against the statute on Sep 27, 2026.
Rhode Island sells redeemable tax titles, not lien certificates and not outright deeds. Read more…
Each of the 39 city and town tax collectors runs its own sale; counties play no part. At the sale the collector offers each delinquent parcel for exactly the taxes, interest and charges due, and bidders compete by accepting the smallest undivided share of the land they will take for that price, down to a floor of 1 percent; the whole parcel goes for the amount due only if nobody offers to take a part. The buyer receives a collector's deed that is held as security until the owner redeems. Redemption costs the owner the purchase price plus a penalty of 10 percent if redeemed within six months of the sale and 1 percent more for each month after that, plus any later taxes the buyer paid with 1 percent a month interest. After one year the buyer may petition the Superior Court to foreclose the right of redemption; the owner can still redeem until that petition is filed, and title becomes absolute only on the court's decree.
Rules verified Sep 27, 2026 against Rhode Island Statutes.
- Sale type
- Redeemable deed
- Penalty at 12 months
- 16%
- Redemption
- 1 yr, then to petition
- Over-the-counter
- Available
On this page
Tax deed sales
The deed process can lead to property ownership. Confirm the steps below, the interest conveyed, and the title and possession requirements for the parcel. If the parcels you are bidding on are vacant land rather than houses, see what buying land at a tax sale hands you.
Runs afterUnpaid city or town taxes, assessments, rates and certain municipal liens. More…
No statute sets a minimum delinquency age: once taxes are unpaid, the collector may advertise and sell (44-9-7, 44-9-8). Before the sale the collector must post notice in two or more public places at least three weeks ahead, publish the parcel list in a local newspaper at least three weeks ahead with weekly legal notices after that, mail the taxpayer first class at least 90 days ahead and certified at least 40 days ahead, send copies to Rhode Island Housing at least 40 days ahead (a sale is void as to any parcel where that notice was not given), notify the Office of Healthy Aging for age-based abatement recipients, and notify mortgagees and other recorded parties in interest by registered or certified mail at least 20 days ahead. For owner-occupied homes of three or fewer units, Rhode Island Housing has a right of first refusal to take the tax title at the sale if it notifies the collector in time (44-9-8.3).
Run byThe tax collector of each city or town (39 in all: 8 cities and 31 towns). More…
Rhode Island counties have no government and hold no tax sale, and no state agency runs or schedules the sales. No statewide auction contractor was found: Providence has run its sale online (CivicSource in 2024, GovEase in 2026) while other municipalities, such as East Providence, sell in person at city or town hall. Newspaper legal-notice sections and statewide auction calendars carry several municipalities' notices side by side, so a date read from one belongs only to the municipality named in that notice.
DepositNo statewide deposit rule. Each municipality sets its own. More…
Providence required a $1,500 certified-check bond at registration for its 2024 online sale, returned afterward and forfeited if a winning bid is not paid; East Providence's 2026 notice states terms of cash or bank check only.
Balance due
Not fixed by statute. Municipalities set payment terms; Providence's platform sales call for payment shortly after winning, and East Providence's in-person sale calls for cash or bank check.
Surplus proceedsThe collector's sale itself produces no surplus, because the price is fixed at the amount due. More…
Chapter 44-9 contains no provision returning equity to the former owner when a private tax title holder forecloses the right of redemption and takes the parcel (44-9-24, 44-9-30), and no 2023 to 2026 post-Tyler amendment appears in the chapter as published on 2026-09-27. Surplus rules exist only for two narrower routes: a treasurer's sale of low-value city-held land without foreclosure (44-9-36), whose surplus is held for the person entitled for five years and then goes to the city or town (44-9-37); and parcels whose tax title Rhode Island Housing bought under 44-9-8.3, which RIHousing's Madeline Walker Act rule (825-RICR-40-00-2, effective July 31, 2025) has it sell at public auction after foreclosure and pay any surplus to the former homeowner on a claim filed within 90 days of that sale. A 2026 bill (S 2713, the Property Equity Protection Act) would add equity protections but is not law.
Confirm marketability and insurance requirements with a title professional. Budget any title-clearing work and delays before relying on a resale. See the due diligence guide, or check what survives a tax deed in Rhode Island.
Redemption, delinquency, and over-the-counter at a glance
Redemption
How longAny person entitled to notice of the sale may redeem at any time before a petition to foreclose is filed, and a private buyer cannot file that petition until one year after the sale, so the owner always has at least a year. More…
There is no fixed outer deadline: redemption stays open until the petition is filed, and during the proceeding the court may still allow a party who files a timely answer to redeem on terms it fixes. For the first year the city or town treasurer acts as the buyer's agent to receive redemption money; after that, redemption is paid to the buyer or the buyer's agent. Shorter and longer tracks apply to abandoned or vacant property and to tax titles held by Rhode Island Housing.
What the owner paysthe purchase price, plus a penalty of 10 percent of the purchase price if redeemed within six months after the sale and an additional 1 percent of the purchase price for each succeeding month, plus any later taxes the buyer paid to the municipality with interest at 1 percent a month, plus the buyer's costs and the recorded-deed fee. More…
Where the tax title was assigned by the city or town, the base is the amount stated in the assignment. After a foreclosure petition is filed, the court fixes the amount, including the costs of the proceeding and a reasonable counsel fee.
Delinquency
How it startsCity and town taxes are assessed on valuations as of December 31 at midnight, and the tax is a lien on the real estate from the date of assessment, superior to mortgages and other liens except easements, restrictions and prior tax titles held by Rhode Island Housing. More…
Every city and town must let taxpayers pay in equal quarterly installments on dates it sets in its own tax resolution, so due dates differ by municipality. A missed installment makes the whole remaining tax (or, where the municipality chooses, just that installment) due at once, with a penalty the municipality sets at between 6 and 18 percent a year (Cranston no more than 12). No statute sets a minimum delinquency age before a parcel can be offered: once the taxes are unpaid, the collector may advertise and sell, subject to the notice timeline (first-class mail to the taxpayer at least 90 days before the sale, certified mail at least 40 days before).
Over-the-counter
How to buyThere is no standing over-the-counter list. More…
When no bid equals the tax and charges, the collector buys the parcel for the city or town (44-9-14). The city or town treasurer may later assign a tax title it holds to any person for exactly the amount then needed to redeem, after at least 10 days' mailed notice to the owner of record; the assignee then stands in the shoes of a sale purchaser, with the redemption base being the amount stated in the assignment (44-9-18, 44-9-21). Whether and how a municipality offers its tax titles is its own choice, so ask the treasurer. Separately, after one year a treasurer may auction low-value city-held parcels without foreclosure, with title absolute on recording (44-9-36).
What is available
No statewide list. Each city or town treasurer holds its own tax titles; none of the municipal pages reviewed published an assignment list.
Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Rhode Island calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Governing statutes
All 5 Rhode Island counties
Sales are organized by county. Search your city or county and compare the available sale details. Where deed-sale formats are listed, filter for online or in-person sales. Certificate platforms appear where that sale type is available.
Frequently asked questions
Does Rhode Island sell tax liens or tax deeds?
What do bidders compete on at a Rhode Island tax sale?
What does the buyer earn if the owner redeems?
Learn before you bid
How Rhode Island tax sales work
The statute, the sale, and the deadlines, for Rhode Island specifically.
How to buy tax sales in Rhode Island
The step-by-step process for this state, from registration to redemption.
Redemption periods explained
How long owners have to buy back, and what it means for your yield.
Due diligence before a tax sale
Value a parcel before you bid so you never buy a landlocked write-off.
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.
Start with a Rhode Island county
Open any county for its sale calendar, auction platform, registration rules, and office contacts.