Providence County, RI tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Providence County, RI tax sale, one of 3,105 counties in 49 states. Rhode Island sells redeemable deeds carrying a 10% redemption penalty that rises the longer the owner waits. 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 Providence County, seat of Providence: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Rhode Island tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- No single county date.
- Registration
- Set by each city or town.
- County office
- 401-331-5252
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Sep 28, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
How Providence County sells delinquent taxes
No tax lien certificate sale
as a certificate sale. Rhode Island issues no tax lien certificate: the city or town tax collector sells a tax title by collector's deed, subject to redemption. Some municipal pages and platform listings call what the buyer receives a 'tax sale lien', which describes how the title works (it is held as security for repayment) rather than a separate instrument.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- The tax collector (or treasurer) of each of the county's 16 cities and towns: Burrillville, Central Falls, Cranston, Cumberland, East Providence, Foster, Glocester, Johnston, Lincoln, North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Providence, Scituate, Smithfield and Woonsocket. The county itself runs no sale.
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No single county date.
- Registration
- Set by each city or town.
When it runs
No single county date. Each city or town sets its own sale, most in the spring or summer: East Providence sells in the spring (April 15, 2026), North Providence sold on May 1, 2026, Providence on May 21, 2026, Pawtucket on June 11, 2026, Glocester usually in August (August 6, 2026), Foster on September 24, 2026, and Cumberland in January each year.
Registration and deposit
Set by each city or town. Providence registers bidders online through GovEase in the weeks before its sale; most other municipalities sell in person and take cash or bank check, and several post bidder registration forms (North Providence requires notarized forms). A bidder who owes delinquent taxes in the same municipality is barred from bidding.
Sale format and venue
The collector sells a tax title (collector's deed subject to redemption); bidders compete by taking the smallest undivided share of the parcel, not less than 1 percent. Venue and platform differ by municipality: Providence sells online on GovEase, while East Providence, North Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Glocester and Foster sell in person at their city or town hall. Each municipality publishes its own sale list in local newspaper legal notices, and several also post it online. Check the municipality that holds the parcel for its date, list and terms.
Source: R.I. Gen. Laws 44-9-8, sale of undivided part or whole of land· Verified Sep 28, 2026
Providence County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Providence 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
Providence County publishes no tax sale list online. The The tax collector (or treasurer) of each of the county's 16 cities and towns: Burrillville, Central Falls, Cranston, Cumberland, East Providence, Foster, Glocester, Johnston, Lincoln, North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Providence, Scituate, Smithfield and Woonsocket. The county itself runs no 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 401-331-5252 to ask for the current advertisement.Register to bid
Sale day
No single county 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 tax collector (or treasurer) of each of the county's 16 cities and towns: Burrillville, Central Falls, Cranston, Cumberland, East Providence, Foster, Glocester, Johnston, Lincoln, North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Providence, Scituate, Smithfield and Woonsocket. The county itself runs no sale. as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Providence County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
There is no online list to price against. Providence County advertises the parcels before the sale rather than posting them, so get the advertisement from the office on 401-331-5252 and price from the parcel numbers it carries.Confirm registration and deposit
Set by each city or town. Providence registers bidders online through GovEase in the weeks before its sale; most other municipalities sell in person and take cash or bank check, and several post bidder registration forms (North Providence requires notarized forms). A bidder who owes delinquent taxes in the same municipality is barred from bidding.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island 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. Parcels with no bidder are bought by the city or town, and its treasurer may, at its discretion, assign a tax title it holds to a private buyer for the amount then needed to redeem. Whether a municipality does so is its own choice; ask the treasurer of the city or town.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Rhode Island calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
County notes
- Providence County holds no tax sale. Each of its 16 cities and towns runs its own collector's sale on its own date, so confirm the date, list, venue and terms with the municipality where the parcel sits.
- Providence: the City Collector held its most recent sale online on GovEase on May 21, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Eastern. Registration ran April 30 to May 14, 2026 through a GovEase bidder account, and GovEase handled payments and bidder approvals. The city posts its sale advertisement with the parcel list and its sold-property results on the Tax Collector page. Tax Collector, 25 Dorrance Street, Room 203, Providence, RI 02903, 401-331-5252.
- East Providence: the Tax Collector held its 2026 sale in person on April 15, 2026 at 10:00 AM in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 145 Taunton Avenue. Terms are cash or bank check only. The city sells each spring for delinquent taxes and water and sewer bills, posts its sale advertisement with the parcel list on the Tax Collection page, and also publishes the list in the newspaper and at City Hall and the library. Tax Collection, City Hall Room 104, 401-435-7544.
- Pawtucket: the City Treasurer held its 2026 sale in person on June 11, 2026 at 10:00 AM at the Pawtucket Municipal Annex, 100 Freight Street, 2nd Floor Temporary Council Chambers (parking lot entrance at 75 Sabin Street). Terms are cash, certified check or money order, and bidders must comply with R.I. Gen. Laws 44-9-13 and 44-9-13.1. The 2026 sale list and bidder registration forms are posted on the Tax Collector's Office page. City Hall, 137 Roosevelt Avenue, Room 110, 401-728-0500 ext. 344.
- North Providence: the Tax Collector held its 2026 sale in person on May 1, 2026 at 10:00 AM at Town Hall, 2000 Smith Street. The next sale date has not been set; the town says it will be held at 10:00 AM in the Town Council Chambers. Terms are cash or bank check only. The 2026 sale list, a W-9 and an auction registration form (to be signed before a notary) are posted on the Tax Collector page. 401-232-0900 ext. 1295.
- Central Falls: the city held its 2025 tax sale on June 5, 2025 at 10:00 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 580 Broad Street, and posts its sale advertisement on the Finance page, along with a notice that it bought the tax title where no adequate bid was made. A 2026 date was not posted; call the Finance Department at 401-727-7400.
- Cumberland: the town holds its tax sale in January each year. The parcel list is published in The Times and The Valley Breeze and posted at Town Hall, the Police Department and the Public Library, not as an online list on the Tax Collections page. Tax Collections, Town Hall, 45 Broad Street, 1st Floor, Cumberland, RI 02864, 401-728-2400 ext. 170.
- Glocester: the Tax Collector held its sale on Thursday, August 6, 2026 at 11:00 AM in the Council Chambers at Town Hall, 1145 Putnam Pike, Chepachet. The town says August is the month the sale is usually held. No sale list is posted online; ask the Tax Collector at 401-568-6206 ext. 4 and watch the newspaper legal notices.
- Foster: the Tax Collector's most recent sale was set for September 24, 2026 at 10:00 AM at the Town House on Howard Hill Road. Sales are advertised in the Observer and the Valley Breeze, which is where the list appears; the town posts no online list. Tax Collector, 181 Howard Hill Road, Foster, RI 02825, 401-392-9206.
- Johnston: the Tax Collection page posts a tax sale registration form that opens November 10 at 6:00 AM, but gives no sale date, venue or list. Confirm the sale year, date and terms with Tax Collection at 1385 Hartford Avenue, Johnston, RI 02919, 401-351-6618.
- Cranston: the City of Cranston's Tax Collections page posts no sale date or sale list. Ask Tax Collections at City Hall, 869 Park Avenue, Cranston, RI 02910, 401-461-1000, and watch the newspaper legal notices.
- Woonsocket: the Treasury and Tax Collections page links an explainer on how a tax sale works but posts no sale date or sale list. Contact the City Treasurer's office at 169 Main Street, Woonsocket, RI 02895, 401-767-9274, and watch the newspaper legal notices.
- Lincoln: the Tax Collector page posts no sale date or sale list. Call the Tax Collector at 401-333-1100 ext. 8001 (Town Hall, 100 Old River Road) and watch the newspaper legal notices.
- North Smithfield: the town's tax page posts no sale date or sale list. Contact the tax office at Town Hall, 83 Greene Street, North Smithfield, RI 02896, 401-767-2200 ext. 511, and watch the newspaper legal notices.
- Scituate: the Tax Collector page posts no sale date or sale list. Contact the Tax Collector at 401-647-5526 ext. 128; mail to P.O. Box 328, North Scituate, RI 02857-0328 (office at 195 Danielson Pike).
- Burrillville: the Tax Collector page posts no sale date or sale list. Contact the Tax Collector's office at Town Hall, 105 Harrisville Main Street, Harrisville, RI 02830, 401-568-4300.
- Smithfield: the Tax Collector page posts no sale date or sale list. Contact the Tax Collector at Town Hall, 64 Farnum Pike, Smithfield, RI 02917, 401-233-1005, and watch the newspaper legal notices.
Rhode Island rules
- Redemption
- Any 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. 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.
- Deed deposit
- No statewide deposit rule. Each municipality sets its own. 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.
- Surplus proceeds
- The collector's sale itself produces no surplus, because the price is fixed at the amount due. 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.
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 Providence County, Rhode Island sell tax liens or tax deeds?
Tax deeds. Rhode Island sells no tax lien certificates to investors; the tax collector of each city or town sells the property itself at a public tax sale.
How often does Providence County hold tax deed sales?
Providence County holds tax deed sales once a year. No single county date. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Rhode Island's redemption rule: At least 1 year from the sale, then until the buyer files a Superior Court petition to foreclose. Call the The tax collector (or treasurer) of each of the county's 16 cities and towns: Burrillville, Central Falls, Cranston, Cumberland, East Providence, Foster, Glocester, Johnston, Lincoln, North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Providence, Scituate, Smithfield and Woonsocket. The county itself runs no sale. as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.
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.
More Rhode Island counties
Browse all 5 Rhode Island counties
Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.