Imperial County tax-defaulted property

Every California county starts the same statutory clock on July 1, and for most property it runs five years to the county’s power to sell. We cover that clock step by step here. What differs is what each county publishes, what it ends up auctioning, and how it runs the sale.

The two lists Imperial County publishes

Lispend carries both of Imperial’s statutory tax-default notices. The Property Tax Default (Delinquent) List prices each parcel as of September 2026 and covers property that defaulted on July 1, 2023, for unpaid 2022-23 taxes: owners three years behind. The Notice of Impending Power to Sell, printed in The Desert Review in May and June 2026, flags the parcels that fell under the Tax Collector’s power to sell on July 1, 2026. Every parcel on the 2026 notice went into default between 2018 and 2021, five years or more before that date.

What Imperial County actually auctions

Imperial’s February 2026 online auction put 222 parcels up for bidding, every one carrying a separate minimum, and the county’s notice reserved room to change course. The Tax Collector could postpone all or a portion of the sale by up to seven days with no further notice, or by eight to ninety days with notice, and a follow-on session was already set for April 24, 2026 should one be needed. Parcels that failed to sell could return at that sale or the next with a reduced minimum, set in light of their latest assessed value.

The housing behind the list

The Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 American Community Survey counts 58,044 housing units in Imperial County. The median value of an owner-occupied unit is $309,600, the median unit was built in 1988, and 57 percent of occupied units are owner-occupied. Roughly one unit in seven, 8,400 in all, sat vacant, so confirm somebody actually lives at a property before sending anyone to knock.

How Imperial County runs its tax sale

Imperial’s sale runs on Bid4Assets. The Board of Supervisors directed the Tax Collector on October 21, 2025 to hold it, and bidding took place February 20-23, 2026. Registration closed February 17, with a refundable $2,500 deposit. The winner then had 48 hours after the close to pay in certified funds, a cashier’s check, a bank money order or by wire, and to deliver the deed details. California transfer tax, 55 cents per $500 or fraction, is charged on top of the winning figure.

What the owner can still do

Owners could redeem that sale’s parcels until 5 p.m. on February 19, 2026, the day before bidding opened, and the right revives until the next sale for any parcel left unsold. Short of the power to sell, an owner may instead set up an installment plan: a first payment of 20 percent or more of the redemption amount plus the current year’s taxes, a $20 set-up fee, then 20 percent or more each April 10 across five years, with 1.5 percent monthly interest on what remains. The county’s own tax page urges owners to weigh every alternative first because of that rate. After a sale, lienholders of record have first claim on any excess proceeds, ahead of former owners; the county sends notice when the excess reaches $150, and a claim goes on the county’s own form, notarized, with a copy of photo ID. Heirs of an owner who has died can back a claim with a Probate Code affidavit.

What to do differently here

Debts on Imperial’s default list run small: three in five parcels on the 2026 list owed under $1,000 to redeem as of September 2026. Three years into a debt that size, warnings about losing the property rarely move anyone, so ask what the place is costing them to keep. For parcels already under the power to sell, the comparison is simpler: a sale on the owner’s terms now, against an auction whose leftovers go to lienholders first and reach the owner, or the heirs, only through a notarized claim.

Sources

Last verified 2026-09-19. County sale details change from year to year, so check the county’s own notice before you bid. General information, not legal advice.

Keep going

How California’s tax-default clock works How a California foreclosure works California counties we cover Making first contact

See Imperial County tax-defaulted property

Both lists, in the same place as the county’s other distressed property.

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