Tax Sales

Purchasing a tax sale property

To bid on a tax sale property, complete the following 5 steps:

1. Determine your bid amount, which must be greater than the minimum tender amount
2. Complete Form 7 – Tender to Purchase
3. Obtain a money order, bank draft, or certified cheque of at least 20% of your bid amount
4. Insert your completed Form 7 and bid deposit in a sealed envelope labelled with the required information
5. Submit your tender in person at, or by courier or mail to, 3-5 Pineridge Gate, Gravenhurst, Ontario, P1P 1Z3, making sure that it gets to us before the tax sale closing date and time

Please review the full instructions for submitting a tender and the tenderer's checklist before bidding on a property.

Tax sale process

A tax sale happens when we sell a property for unpaid taxes, as per the Ontario Municipal Act.

Before we put the property up for tax sale, the property owner receives a Final Demand letter letting he or she know that his or her property is up for tax sale. The letter provides a deadline by which the owner must contact us.

If the property owner does not contact us by the deadline, we register the property for tax sale. Notification of the registration is sent to:

• Property owner
• Mortgage holder
• Anyone with a registered court judgment against the taxpayer

After registration occurs, the property owner has 1 year to pay the outstanding taxes in full. If the taxes are not paid in full within the year, the property is put up for tax sale.

More information

For more information on tax sales please see the Ontario Tax Sales website or contact the Tax Department.