How to buy tax-sale property in Vermont (2026)

1. 1.Wait for the collector of taxes to lawfully extend a warrant on the land; this may happen only when the taxpayer owes a minimum of $1,500.00 and is delinquent for longer than one year, and only after the taxpayer was offered a written reasonable repayment plan (32 V.S.A. § 5252(a), (c))
2. 2.The collector records a copy of the warrant and levy in the town clerk's office and advertises the land for sale at public auction in the town where it lies three weeks successively in a newspaper circulating in the vicinity, with the last publication at least 10 days before the sale (32 V.S.A. § 5252(a)(1)-(2))
3. 3.Read the published advertisement and notice of sale and attend the public auction at the time and place stated; the notice states that so much of the lands as shall be requisite to discharge the taxes with costs and fees will be sold at public auction unless previously paid (32 V.S.A. § 5252(a)(2))
4. 4.Bid to buy the property: when the tax with costs and fees is not paid before the day of sale, the real property on which the taxes are due is sold to pay such taxes, costs, and fees, and the collector's return records the sale to the highest bidder (32 V.S.A. § 5254(a), § 5255)
5. 5.Consider the owner's right to limit the sale: the owner may request in writing not less than 24 hours before the tax sale that only a certified subdividable portion of the property be sold (32 V.S.A. § 5254(b))
6. 6.Pay for your purchase at the sale; the collector's return of sale, filed with the town clerk within 30 days, records that the land was sold to the highest bidder 'for cash' (32 V.S.A. § 5255)
7. 7.Wait out the one-year redemption period: the owner, lien holder, or mortgagee may, within one year from the day of sale, redeem by paying the collector the sum for which the land was sold plus interest at one percent per month or fraction of a month from the day of sale (32 V.S.A. § 5260(a))
8. 8.If the land is not redeemed, the collector or his or her successor executes a deed to the purchaser after the time for redemption has passed (32 V.S.A. § 5261)

Registration

Required: UnknownUnknown

Not verified from a source yet.

Deposit

Required: UnknownUnknown

Not verified from a source yet.

Forms

Bidder ID card: UnknownW-9: Unknown

Eligibility

Residency required: UnknownNo delinquent taxes: Unknown

Payment

Cash

at the public auction on the day of sale; the collector's statutory return records the sale to the highest bidder 'for cash' (32 V.S.A. § 5255)

Sources

• 32 V.S.A. § 5252(a)
• 32 V.S.A. § 5252(a)(2)
• 32 V.S.A. § 5252(c)(1)
• 32 V.S.A. § 5254(a)
• 32 V.S.A. § 5254(b)
• 32 V.S.A. § 5255
• 32 V.S.A. § 5260(a)
• 32 V.S.A. § 5261

Vermont runs a town-level, in-person tax deed sale: the municipal collector of taxes levies on land only when the taxpayer owes at least $1,500.00 and is more than one year delinquent and was offered a reasonable repayment plan, advertises the sale three weeks successively in a local newspaper, and then sells the property at public auction to the highest bidder to pay the taxes, costs, and fees (32 V.S.A. §§ 5252, 5254). The winning bidder pays for the land 'for cash' at the sale (32 V.S.A. § 5255), the owner then has one year to redeem by repaying the sale price plus one percent per month interest (32 V.S.A. § 5260(a)), and only if the land is not redeemed does the collector deed it to the purchaser (32 V.S.A. § 5261). The statute sets no bidder registration requirement, no deposit, no bidder-ID or W-9 requirement, and no residency or no-delinquent-taxes eligibility rule, and does not name accepted payment instruments beyond the return form's recital of a sale 'for cash'; those fields are left unknown and are set in practice by each city or town.