New York City tax sale, 2026 season

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New York City is its own tax district, the structural exception to county enforcement in this state, and its lien sale is unlike any other page in this hub: the city does not sell property, and it does not auction liens to the public. Under Administrative Code section 11-319, the Commissioner of Finance sells the lien itself, the debt for unpaid property taxes, water and sewer charges and other property related charges, including Emergency Repair Program and Alternative Enforcement Program charges, to a single authorized buyer. The Department of Finance states it plainly: the City only sells liens to a single authorized buyer, and not to the general public.

The most recent sale ran Tuesday, June 3, 2025, the first lien sale since 2021. There is no next sale to calendar: the Mayor suspended the lien sale on March 11, 2026 to conduct a six month review, following the Local Law 82 of 2024 reform of the sale, and no post review sale is announced in the city sources read. This page therefore documents a suspended program: the mechanism, the owner side terms the city publishes, and the suspension, with no date invented for a sale that is not scheduled.

Dates and deadlines

Most recent sale	Tuesday, June 3, 2025 (the first lien sale since 2021, per the NYC Independent Budget Office)
Next sale	Not announced. The Mayor suspended the lien sale on March 11, 2026 for a six month review; no post review sale is scheduled in the sources read
Format	No public auction. Liens are sold to a single authorized buyer; members of the public cannot buy liens
What is sold	The lien: unpaid property taxes, water and sewer charges, and other property related charges, including Emergency Repair Program and Alternative Enforcement Program charges
Selling office	New York City Department of Finance (Commissioner of Finance)

Sources: NYC Department of Finance, NYC Property Tax Lien Sale (nyc.gov). Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and parcels are pulled up to sale day.

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How the New York City tax lien sale works

What is sold is the debt, not the property. The lien covers unpaid property taxes, water and sewer charges, and other property related charges. The owner keeps the property; the buyer holds the city's claim.
There is one buyer, chosen by the city. Under Administrative Code section 11-319 the Commissioner of Finance sells to a single authorized buyer. There is no public bidding, no registration, no deposit and no premium, and the Department of Finance asks the public not to contact it about purchasing liens.
The owner's bill grows on published terms. Once a lien is sold, the owner owes the taxes and charges with accrued interest, a 5 percent surcharge on the entire lien amount, and administrative costs the city estimates at $300 for advertisements and notices. A surcharge waiver exists for qualifying owner occupants.
Interest runs on assessed value tiers. Interest compounds daily at 6 percent per annum for properties assessed at $250,000 or less, 9 percent from $250,000 to $450,000, and 16 percent above $450,000.
Foreclosure is the lienholder's remedy. The lienholder may begin foreclosure in court within one year after the sale if the lien is not paid in full or a payment agreement is not reached, and may begin earlier if a semi-annual interest payment is more than 30 days late or current taxes and charges remain unpaid for six months.

How registration works

There is nothing to register for. The lien sale has no public bidding of any kind: no bidder registration, no proof of funds, no deposit. Anyone offering to sell you access to New York City tax liens as a member of the public is not describing the city's program. Owners, by contrast, act before the sale: eligibility thresholds for inclusion are published by property type (a one family owner occupied home enters the sale at $5,000 or more of property tax debt, three or more years overdue), and the city notifies owners within 90 days after a sale of the lienholder's name and authorized representative.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

No buyer side money terms exist for this sale, because there are no public buyers. The money terms the city publishes run to the property owner, and they are the terms that decide what a sold lien costs to clear:

What is sold	The lien itself, not the property: the debt for the unpaid taxes and charges named in the dates table
Who can buy	A single authorized buyer selected by the city. Not the general public, at any price
Surcharge	5 percent on the entire lien amount, added once the lien is sold (a waiver exists for qualifying owner occupants: primary residence for the past 12 months, no other New York City property, combined owner and spouse income of $110,750 or less)
Interest after sale	Compounded daily: 6 percent per annum at assessed values of $250,000 or less, 9 percent from $250,000 to $450,000, 16 percent above $450,000
Administrative costs	An estimated $300 for advertisements and notices, per the Department of Finance
Deposit, premium, deed	Not applicable. There is no public auction, so there is no deposit, no buyer premium and no deed; the lienholder's path to the property runs through a court foreclosure

Before you bid

For owners, the work is eligibility and timing: the published thresholds decide whose liens can be sold, and payment or a payment agreement before the sale keeps a lien out of it. For everyone else, the honest content of this page is a warning label: New York City tax liens are not an investable public product, whatever third party marketing suggests. The sale is also suspended, since March 11, 2026, so even the city's single buyer channel is paused pending the review.

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