Delinquent Property Taxes in Vermont: Three Gates Before the Sale, Then One Percent a Month on the Bid
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Vermont · Last updated October 21, 2026
Vermont collects at the town level, and three gates stand in front of a tax sale: the collector of delinquent taxes may extend a warrant on your land only once you owe a minimum of 1,500 dollars, have been delinquent longer than one year, and have been given the chance to enter a written reasonable repayment plan (32 V.S.A. 5252(a)). Delinquent property taxes are taxes an owner failed to pay by the date their municipality fixed, after which interest and a collection commission are added and the land itself can be sold to raise the money. What the town sells is narrow. The advertisement offers only so much of the land as is requisite to discharge the taxes with costs and fees (32 V.S.A. 5253), and nothing is conveyed at the auction. The bidder pays cash and waits, because the collector executes a deed only when the time for redemption has passed and the land is not redeemed (32 V.S.A. 5261). That gives the owner one year from the day of sale (32 V.S.A. 5260(a)). Redeeming means handing the collector who ran the sale the sum for which the land was sold plus one percent per month or fraction thereof on that sum, counted from the day of sale to the day of payment, and the town then pays the bidder. A second and different route exists in court, where the clock runs from a judge's decree rather than from an auction (32 V.S.A. 5061(b)). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Vermont
Where are you with the unpaid property taxes?
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How long do I have to redeem after a Vermont tax sale?
One year, measured from the day of the sale itself, not from the levy or the deed (32 V.S.A. 5260(a)). The advertisement the town publishes has to say so on its face, stating a right of redemption for a period of one year from the date of sale (32 V.S.A. 5253).
How much does it cost to redeem property sold at a Vermont tax sale?
The sum for which the land was sold, plus one percent per month or fraction thereof on that sum from the day of sale to the day of payment (32 V.S.A. 5260(a)). The base is the winning bid rather than the tax bill, and a part month is charged as a whole month.
When can a Vermont town hold a tax sale on my house?
Only after three conditions are met. The taxpayer owes at least 1,500 dollars, the delinquency has run longer than one year, and the municipality has offered a written reasonable repayment plan which was refused, ignored for 30 days, or broken by a missed payment (32 V.S.A. 5252(a), 5252(c)(1)).
Who takes my money if I want my Vermont property back?
The town, not the bidder. Payment or tender goes to the collector who made the sale, or to the town clerk if that collector has died or left the town, and the money is then paid over to the purchaser on demand (32 V.S.A. 5260(a)). No deed is made.
Vermont delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Vermont hands this whole process to one town officer, the collector of delinquent taxes. Delinquent property taxes are taxes an owner did not pay by the date the town set, after which charges accrue and the land can be sold to collect them. Here the sale is capped at so much of the land as is requisite to cover the taxes, costs and fees (32 V.S.A. 5253), and an owner acting in writing 24 hours ahead can ask that a certified, subdividable portion be sold instead (32 V.S.A. 5254(b)). The distinctive part is what the auction does not do. It passes no title. The deed waits out a full year (32 V.S.A. 5261), and inside that year the collector must serve a warning naming the last day and the amount due, 90 to 120 days before the period closes (32 V.S.A. 5260(b)).
A Barre two family where the number that matters is the bid, not the tax bill
An owner in Barre lets 2,640 dollars of town tax sit unpaid across two years, so the debt clears both statutory gates in 32 V.S.A. 5252(a), and a written repayment plan offered in February 2026 goes unanswered for more than 30 days. The collector of delinquent taxes extends a warrant, records it, advertises for three weeks, and sells on June 10, 2026. A bidder pays 9,300 dollars, which is what the one percent a month now runs on, not the 2,640 dollars (32 V.S.A. 5260(a)). Redeeming in late October 2026 touches five part months, so roughly 465 dollars of interest sits on top of the 9,300. The right ends June 10, 2027, and the warning naming that day was due between 90 and 120 days earlier (32 V.S.A. 5260(b)). Figures here are illustrative; the collector's own statement controls.
Relevant Laws
32 V.S.A. 5252 (levy and notice of sale, and the three gates in front of it)
Lets the collector extend a warrant on the land only where the taxpayer owes a minimum of 1,500 dollars and is delinquent for a period longer than one year, and bars any warrant until the taxpayer has been given an opportunity to enter a written reasonable repayment plan. Sets the filing with the town clerk, three successive weeks of publication with the last at least 10 days before the sale, 30 days of certified mail notice to the taxpayer and to any mortgagee or lien holder of record, posting in a public place, and the fallback layers of first-class mail or personal service, email and a notice affixed to the front door. Subsection (c) governs the repayment plan. Subsection (b)(3), effective July 1, 2026, lets a collector proceed below 1,500 dollars where the parcel has no dwelling capable of habitation on a year-round basis and was not declared part of a homestead.
32 V.S.A. 5260 (redemption, the one year clock, and the one percent a month)
Gives the owner, a lien holder or a mortgagee, or their representatives or assigns, one year from the day of sale to pay or tender to the collector who made the sale, or to the town clerk if that collector has died or left the town, the sum for which the land was sold with interest calculated at a rate of one percent per month or fraction thereof from the day of sale to the day of payment, on which no deed is made and the money is paid over to the purchaser on demand. Where a municipality bought contaminated land under section 5259, the cost to redeem also includes all assessment and remediation costs. Subsections (b) and (c) require the collector to serve by certified mail and to post a written warning between 90 and 120 days before the period ends, naming the last day of the redemption period and the dollar amount due.
32 V.S.A. 5253 (the advertisement, which states the redemption right on its face)
Sets the statutory form of advertisement and notice of sale, under which the town notifies resident and nonresident owners, lien holders and mortgagees that taxes remain unpaid and that so much of the described land will be sold at public auction at a public place in the town as shall be requisite to discharge such taxes with costs and fees, unless previously paid. The form carries the sentence advising that the owner or mortgagee, or their representatives or assigns, shall have a right to redemption for a period of one year from the date of sale.
32 V.S.A. 5254 (what is sold, and the owner's right to designate a portion)
Provides that when the tax with costs and fees is not paid before the day of sale, the real property on which the taxes are due shall be sold to pay such taxes, costs and fees. Subsection (b) lets the owner request in writing, not less than 24 hours before the sale, that a portion of the property be sold, where the request clearly identifies the portion and comes with certification from the District Environmental Commission and the town zoning administrative officer that it may be subdivided and meets minimum lot size requirements, with the whole parcel available if the portion will not cover the tax and costs.
32 V.S.A. 5261 and 5262 (the deed waits, then the unredeemed list is filed)
Section 5261 provides that when the time for redemption has passed and the land is not redeemed, the collector or the collector's successor shall execute to the purchaser a deed conveying a title against the person for whose tax it was sold and those claiming under that person. Section 5262 requires the collector, within 30 days from the expiration of the time for redemption, to deposit with the town clerk for record a list of the lands that have not been redeemed, while providing that a failure to do so does not affect the purchaser's title.
32 V.S.A. 5258 (the closed list of fees and costs, and the eight percent)
Itemizes what may be added once the warrant and levy are recorded: ten dollars for levy and extending the warrant, fifteen dollars to record it, actual costs of notices and publication including service costs, the town's reasonable expense of securing the property against illegal activity and fire hazards capped at 20 percent of the uncollected tax, legal assistance for the sale when the selectboard authorizes it capped at 15 percent of the uncollected tax, travel at the State employee contract rate, ten dollars for attending and holding the sale, fifteen dollars per page for the return, and fifteen dollars per page for the collector's deed. Subsection (b) provides that those, together with a collector's fee of up to eight percent, are in lieu of all other fees and costs.
32 V.S.A. 5136 (interest on overdue taxes is a local vote under a ceiling)
Provides that when a municipality votes under an article in the warning to collect interest on overdue taxes, those taxes are due and payable not later than December 1 and bear interest at the rate of not more than one percent per month or fraction thereof for the first three months and thereafter one and one-half percent per month or fraction thereof from the due date, with interest imposed on a fraction of a month as if it were an entire month, and that a municipality having so voted keeps collecting it each year until it votes otherwise at a meeting duly warned for the purpose.
32 V.S.A. 1674 (the collector's delinquent tax commission)
Provides that on all taxes collected after the expiration of the time established in the notice required by section 4772 or 4792, the collector may charge and collect from the taxpayer a commission of eight percent on the amount of the tax, unless the municipality votes otherwise, and lets voters adopt by majority vote a commission percentage not exceeding eight percent, or a grace period or graduated commission schedule for taxes paid within a defined time frame after the established time of payment. It also bars any commission or fee on taxes paid within the time set in the section 4772 notice.
32 V.S.A. 4772 and 4773 (the town sets the due date, with 30 days of notice)
Section 4773 lets a municipality fix by majority vote at a regular or special town meeting a date or dates, time of acceptance and method of delivery, including acceptance of postmarked mail, for payment of the tax, and a prepayment discount of up to four percent. Section 4772 requires the collector, at least 30 days before that date, to mail each taxpayer a notice of the grand list amount, the tax rate, the amount of taxes due and when they are payable, and provides that where no date was voted or no notice went out 30 days ahead, the date for payment is 30 days from the mailing.
32 V.S.A. 5061 (the first lien, and the separate court route with its own clock)
Makes taxes lawfully assessed upon real estate a first lien on it from the filing of the grand list in the town clerk's office, underlying all mortgages, attachments, liens and other encumbrances, remaining in force for 15 years and enforceable separately against each parcel. Subsection (b) provides that when the taxes secured by the lien remain unpaid more than two years after its creation the lien may be foreclosed in the same manner as a mortgage on real estate, with a commissioner appointed in the final decree to sell after a redemption period that shall run for one full year from the date of the decree, and the residue of the proceeds, if any, disposed of with the approval of the judge.
32 V.S.A. 5263 (one year to attack a recorded collector's deed)
Provides that an action for the recovery of lands, or the possession of them, shall not be maintained against the grantee of those lands in a tax collector's deed duly recorded, or the grantee's heirs or assigns, where the grantee or those heirs or assigns have been in continuous and open possession of the land conveyed in the deed and have paid the taxes on it, unless the action is commenced within one year after the cause of action first accrues to the plaintiff or those under whom the plaintiff claims.
24 V.S.A. 1535 (abatement of the tax, the interest and the collection fees)
Lets the municipal board of abatement abate in whole or part taxes, water charges, sewer charges, interest, collection fees or other municipal charges, on listed grounds that include taxes or charges of persons who are unable to pay their taxes or charges, interest and collection fees. Abatement of an amount automatically abates any uncollected interest and fees relating to it, the board must state its reasons in writing whether it grants or denies, and subsection (f) requires a municipality to give clear notice of the ability to request abatement, and how to request it, at the same time as it attempts to collect a fee or interest for delinquent taxes.
Town of Stowe, Collector of Delinquent Taxes and delinquent tax sales
A municipal page showing how the statutory scheme is administered in one Vermont town, including that the Collector of Delinquent Taxes notifies taxpayers when taxes are overdue, makes arrangements for late payments and conducts tax sales, that all delinquent taxes must be remitted to the Collector of Delinquent Taxes in the Town Treasurer's office, that under Section 902 of that town's charter an additional charge of two percent of the unpaid tax is imposed per month or fraction of a month, and that partial payments are applied first to penalties and interest. The charter figure is that town's own, not a statewide rate, and the page's dollar threshold for starting a sale predates the current statutory minimum.
Regional Variances
Vermont delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Sale mechanism
A municipal tax sale run by the town's collector of delinquent taxes, at which only so much of the land as is requisite to discharge the taxes with costs and fees is offered (32 V.S.A. 5253, 5254(a)). Nothing is conveyed at the auction. The purchaser pays cash and receives a deed only once the redemption year has run unredeemed (32 V.S.A. 5261).
Second route, not the default
Taxes are a first lien on the real estate from the filing of the grand list, and once the taxes it secures have been unpaid more than two years the lien may be foreclosed like a mortgage, with a commissioner appointed in the decree selling after a redemption period of one full year from the date of the decree (32 V.S.A. 5061). That clock runs from the decree, not from any sale.
Delinquency date
No statewide date. The municipality fixes the date or dates, the time of acceptance and the method of delivery by town meeting vote (32 V.S.A. 4773(a)), with notice mailed at least 30 days ahead (32 V.S.A. 4772, 4792). A town that voted to collect interest has its taxes due and payable not later than December 1 (32 V.S.A. 5136(a)). Up to four installments may be voted (32 V.S.A. 4872).
Charges before any sale
Both are local figures under statutory ceilings. Interest, if the town voted it, runs at not more than one percent a month for the first three months and one and one-half percent a month thereafter, with a part month charged as a whole month (32 V.S.A. 5136(a), 4873). The collector may also take a commission of eight percent of the tax, or whatever lower percent or graduated schedule the voters adopted (32 V.S.A. 1674). A chartered town can sit outside the 5136 ceiling.
Time before sale
Three gates, all of which must be cleared: at least 1,500 dollars owed, delinquency running longer than one year, and a written reasonable repayment plan offered and then refused, ignored for 30 days or broken (32 V.S.A. 5252(a), 5252(c)(1)). Since July 1, 2026 a collector may go below 1,500 dollars where the parcel has no dwelling capable of habitation on a year-round basis and was not declared part of a homestead (32 V.S.A. 5252(b)(3)).
Redemption period and clock
One year, running from the day of the sale (32 V.S.A. 5260(a)). Not from the levy, not from the recording of the warrant, and not from a deed, because no deed exists during the year. The owner, a lien holder or a mortgagee, or their representatives or assigns, may redeem. The statutory advertisement form states the one year right on its face (32 V.S.A. 5253).
Redeemer's charge
Monthly simple interest fixed by statute, on the amount bid. One percent per month or fraction thereof on the sum for which the land was sold, from the day of sale to the day of payment (32 V.S.A. 5260(a)). It is not an annual rate, it is not bid down at the auction, there is no minimum return and there is no second year step up. A part month costs a full month.
Other redemption costs
The bid already carries the tax, the costs and the fees, and the list of what may be loaded in is closed: the itemized fees in 32 V.S.A. 5258(a), including the 20 percent cap on property securing costs and the 15 percent cap on tax sale legal assistance, together with a collector's fee of up to eight percent, in lieu of all other fees and costs (32 V.S.A. 5258(b)). Contaminated land bought by the town under 5259 adds all assessment and remediation costs (32 V.S.A. 5260(a)).
Notice to the owner
Before the sale: three successive weeks of publication with the last at least 10 days out, 30 days of certified mail with return receipt to the taxpayer and to any mortgagee or lien holder of record, a posted notice, and on unclaimed mail a first-class or personally served copy, an email where obtainable with reasonable effort, and a notice affixed to the front door (32 V.S.A. 5252(a)). Inside the year: a served and posted warning 90 to 120 days before the period ends (32 V.S.A. 5260(b), 5260(c)).
Where to redeem
The collector who made the sale, or the town clerk of the town where the land lies if that collector has died or moved away, and the town then pays the money over to the purchaser on demand (32 V.S.A. 5260(a)). Before a sale, 32 V.S.A. 5142 also requires the treasurer or the collector of current taxes to accept full payment of overdue taxes for the delinquent collector at defined points, with the fee and interest.
Surplus proceeds
32 V.S.A. chapter 133 sets up no excess proceeds claim procedure for the collector's tax sale. It caps the sale instead, offering only so much land as is requisite (32 V.S.A. 5253, 5254) and having the collector account in the statutory return for fees, legal costs and the money turned over to the town treasurer (32 V.S.A. 5255). The chapter's only residue rule sits in the court route at 32 V.S.A. 5061(b). An owner whose land sold for more than the debt should get advice on this point.
Payment plan and abatement
The written reasonable repayment plan is a precondition to any sale, and in setting it the municipality shall consider the taxpayer's income and schedule if offered, payment history, amount owed, length of delinquency and stated reason (32 V.S.A. 5252(c)(1)). Only one plan need be offered, and one late payment lets the collector void it (32 V.S.A. 5252(c)(2), (3)). Separately, the board of abatement may abate the tax, the interest and the collection fees (24 V.S.A. 1535).
Frequently Asked Questions
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