Ouray County, Colorado

Oct 26, 2026 · in 44 days· 08:00 AM

Tax Lienscheduledvia Zeus Auction

Parcels

Opening bids

—

no parcel list yet

Redemption

1095 days

13% flat penalty

Quiet title

$2K–$5K

typically required

As announced by the county

Published sale details. The parcel list has not been fetched yet.

Venue: Online
Bidding: Bid Up or Premium
Sale runs: Until complete
Total offered: $0
Bidding site: www.zeusauction.com

Collector: Jill Mihelich
Phone: 970.325.4487
Email: jmihelich@ourayco.gov
Fax: 970.325.0452

Tax Lien Sale

Registration and terms

CO caveats

THE LIEN NO LONGER BECOMES THE PROPERTY. Since 1 July 2024 (HB24-1056) the county auctions an option for a treasurer's deed to the highest bidder rather than deeding the parcel to the certificate holder, who takes it only if no one bids above the minimum. Colorado is now an interest-only instrument in the ordinary case. Do not model a Colorado lien on the deed remainder, and discount every pre-2024 Colorado guide accordingly.
THE PREMIUM IS A DEAD LOSS, NOT AN INVESTMENT. Colorado bidders compete by bidding a premium above the taxes owed, and per the El Paso County treasurer that overbid "is credited to the county general fund and is not recovered by the investor". It is never returned and it earns no interest — interest accrues only on the tax amount. The real yield is therefore 13% x taxes / (taxes + premium), and a bidder who pays a 30% premium has turned a 13% instrument into a 10% one while also losing the premium outright. The tier below is the statutory rate on the taxes, not the yield on the money spent.
THE RATE IS RESET EVERY YEAR AND THIS ENTRY IS ONE YEAR'S NUMBER. C.R.S. 39-12-103(3) fixes it at nine points over the federal discount rate on 1 September, so the 13% here belongs to liens sold in 2026. A lien keeps its own sale year's rate, which means a portfolio bought across several years earns several different rates.
An unredeemed certificate expires on the fifteenth anniversary of the sale. A holder who neither redeems nor pursues the deed option loses the lien entirely.

Ouray County rulesstate defaults

Sale type: Tax Lien
Redemption period: 3 years from sale
Investor return: 9 points above federal discount rate, set annually; premium/bid-down format varies by county
Governing statute: Colorado Revised Statutes Title 39, Art. 11
Population: 5,197 residents

Notes

Many counties run online lien auctions in Oct/Nov.

Inherited from Colorado rather than researched for Ouray: type, redemption, returns, statute, notes.

Parcels — ranked by assessed value over opening bid

No parcels published yet

Counties often publish the parcel list only days before the sale. The auction date is confirmed; check back closer to Oct 26, 2026.

Spread is not profit.It compares the opening bid to the county's assessed value, which is not market value — Colorado assesses residential property at two rates since SB24-233. For school district purposes the 2026 residential rate is 7.05% of actual value; for local government purposes 6.95% is applied to actual value less the lesser of 10% of actual value or $70,000 as adjusted for inflation, an effective rate near 6.26% below $700,000. Commercial and agricultural property is 25% for 2026, down from 27% in 2025. This entry uses the school rate, the higher of the two residential figures. Open a parcel to run the full max-bid analysis, which accounts for the assessment ratio, surviving liens, quiet title, and holding costs.