People who lost a Butte County, California, property at the county’s Aug. 7-10, 2026 tax sale have until Aug. 26, 2027, to file for whatever the buyer paid beyond the tax debt. The county treasurer-tax collector says claims that arrive after that date will not be accepted. Documents that arrive late are sent back.
When a tax-defaulted property sells for more than the taxes, penalties and costs owed, the extra is called excess proceeds. It does not go to the county automatically. A party with a legal interest in the property has to ask for it, in writing, on a notarized form.
Who can claim and in what order
The county’s claim instructions set a priority list. Lienholders of record come first, in the order of their liens, as long as the lien was recorded before the tax deed. Title holders of record come next. If a title holder has died, heirs can claim in that person’s place.
That order matters for a former owner with a mortgage. A lender holding a deed of trust on the property stands ahead of the owner, so the money may be spoken for before it reaches the person who lost the house. California law, Revenue and Taxation Code section 4675, sets the same order, and it says a title holder is paid in proportion to the interest held.
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A former owner with no loan still has to prove title, and the county sets a firm rule on paperwork. It wants the original recorded documents, and it does not accept lost-document affidavits. Owners who cannot find their original deed or other records have a problem to solve before anything else, and the one-year clock is already running.
The county does not notify claimants of missing attachments, so a packet with a gap can lapse past the deadline without a warning. Supporting documents that arrive after the final date are returned, unless the tax collector asked for them by letter.
Why Aug. 26, 2027 is the date
The sale ran Aug. 7-10, 2026, and the tax deed was recorded Aug. 26, 2026. The state law says a claim is timely if it is filed before one year after the deed is recorded to the buyer, which puts the cutoff on Aug. 26, 2027. The statute also requires a claim to be postmarked by then.
The county adds a second rule: claims are processed only after a full year has passed from the recording date, and a completed claim must arrive before that year ends to reach the Board of Supervisors. In practice, that means filing early does not mean being paid early. It does mean there is no gap for lost mail or a missing paper to hide in.
The Board approves or denies each claim, and the tax collector tells the claimant the result. If the claim is approved, the county auditor-controller issues a warrant after 90 days, according to the county’s instructions. A claimant who disagrees with a denial has 90 days to ask a court to review it under the state statute.
What the claim packet has to include
The county’s excess proceeds claim instructions say the Excess Proceeds Claim Form must be signed in front of a notary and carry a penalty-of-perjury statement. Originals of the supporting documents are attached. Lost-document affidavits are not accepted.
A title holder sends the original recorded paperwork, such as a deed, a death certificate or a court order. The packet also holds a notarized statement that the claimant is the person named, a photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport, and records tied to the property like utility payments or repair receipts. Heirs add a probate affidavit and a notarized identity verification.
Lienholders send the original promissory note and trust deed, plus a statement of the original lien, the payments received and the balance due on the sale date. Someone who bought the right to claim must supply a sworn affidavit signed by every party to the assignment, showing the amount was disclosed first.
California law also says anyone acting for a party of interest must prove the party was told the amount and source of the money and of the right to file directly at no cost. A person is never required to pay a middleman to file.
Where to send it
The packet is mailed to the Butte County Treasurer-Tax Collector, Attn: Kiley Patterson, 25 County Center Drive, Suite 125, Oroville, CA 95965-3367. The office takes questions at 530-552-3720 or [email protected]. The form can be downloaded from the county website, or a former owner can use a different form if it carries at least the same information.
The county’s instructions do not list a fee, and they do not say how much the August sale left over. They apply only to this sale. A property that sold at an earlier Butte County tax sale runs on its own date, which is one year after that sale’s deed was recorded.
Lost a Butte County property at the August tax sale?
A former owner who misses Aug. 26, 2027 loses the claim, and the county will send back any paper that arrives after that date. The county also does not tell claimants when an attachment is missing, so a notarized form with a gap in the supporting records can fail without anyone saying so.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes a step-by-step filing walkthrough and a claim log and payment tracker, so the notary date, the mailing date and the one-year processing wait each have a line. It also has the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice, which applies the same way to a county deadline.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
