San Francisco County, California

Tax Deed827,526 residents

County research last verified 2026-07. Office holders, platforms, and deposit rules change — re-confirm anything time-sensitive.

Sale typestate default

Tax Deed

Redemption periodstate default

Up until 5pm the last business day before the sale (5-year delinquency threshold)

Investor returnstate default

N/A — outright deed transfer

Governing statutestate default

California Revenue & Taxation Code, Div. 1, Pt. 6

Notes

California tax-deed county (no lien certificates). City and County of San Francisco Treasurer & Tax Collector sells tax-defaulted property after ~5 years delinquency under R&T Code §3691+. Online public auction via Grant Street MyTaxSale (sanfrancisco.mytaxsale.com); 2025 cycle used main + re-offer + sealed-bid tracks. 2026 auction section listed on sftreasurer.org/property/auction (confirm next date). Redemption ends close of business last business day before sale. Sold AS IS; excess proceeds claim window ~1 year after deed recording.

Auction logistics

Format

Online

Frequency

Typically annual public auction with optional re-offer/sealed-bid of unsolds (e.g. 2025 main + re-offer); 2026 schedule confirm on sftreasurer.org

Platform

MyTaxSale (Grant Street) — San Francisco TTC ↗

Deposit rules

Recent MyTaxSale terms: single $5,000 refundable deposit + $35 non-refundable processing fee by ACH (deposit windows published per cycle, e.g. March–April for a spring sale). Balance via wire within 5 business days of close; unused deposit refunded ~10 business days. Confirm current cycle terms of sale before funding.

Title risk

Liens that survive the sale

CA tax deed generally free of most pre-sale encumbrances (R&T §3712), but federal tax liens survive (IRS 120-day post-sale redemption), as do post-sale taxes/assessments, easements, and certain special assessments (e.g. 1915 Act / Mello-Roos not satisfied by sale proceeds).

Quiet title

Not statutory prerequisite, but practically required — most CA title insurers will not insure tax-deed property without quiet title (commonly 3–6 months, $3k–$8k+ legal) and often wait ~1 year after deed recording.

Deal maths for California

Assessment ratio: 1× of market value
Typical quiet title: $3,000–$7,000 · 9 mo
Recording and transfer: $250

Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 401: property is assessed at full cash value, so the statutory ratio is 1.0.

Offices and records

Tax collector

San Francisco Treasurer & Tax Collector — Tax-Defaulted Auction ↗

Clerk of court

SF Assessor-Recorder (records tax deeds) ↗

Property appraiser

SF Assessor-Recorder — Property Search ↗

GIS / parcel map

SF Property Map / Parcel Viewer (Assessor) ↗

Areas trending up

Directional read from dated market analysis — not a guarantee, and not a substitute for your own comps.

Mission Bay / Dogpatch

Life-sciences and waterfront employment corridor with sustained multifamily absorption into 2025–2026

SoMa / South Beach

Core job-adjacent rental demand and transit access despite Bay Area inventory build

Sunset / Outer Richmond edge

Relative value vs. northeast SF cores; steady owner-occupant demand and tighter entry inventory