Sale of surplus county owned real property is governed by Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS chapter 275 ) and county policies.  Counties in Oregon acquire fee title to tax foreclosed properties and do not sell tax liens or tax lien certificates.

Lane County properties are sold on an "as is, where is, with all faults" basis. Property is conveyed with a Quitclaim Deed . No warranties or guarantees are made concerning the condition of title (liens and/or encumbrances may still be on title), the ability to use a property for any particular purpose, the ability to develop a property pursuant to state and local land use law, location of boundary lines, environmental condition or any other matter concerning a property. It is the buyer's responsibility to thoroughly investigate a property prior to purchasing it (obtaining a title report is highly recommended)

Purchasing at a Public Sale/Auction

The first step in disposing of surplus real property with an assessed value of $15,000 or greater is to offer it at a public sale (auction).  Lane County generally holds one such sale annually.  There is no set time of year when a sale occurs. Beginning approximately one month prior to the sale date, notice of the sale will be published once per week for four weeks in the legal ad section of the  Eugene Register Guard newspaper.  The notice will include a list of the properties being offered, minimum bids and other terms and conditions of the sale.  The sale notice should also be posted on the Property Management page of the county's web site. 

Most properties acquired by Lane County through tax foreclosure are unimproved (bare land without buildings, wells, septic systems or other improvements to the property).  Many of the parcels are small or irregularly shaped with little use or value except to an adjoining owner. The county may acquire a few properties each year with houses on them and it is not uncommon for the county to transfer these to other governmental agencies or non-profit entities for affordable housing purposes.

Purchasing at Private Sale.

Properties that do not sell at a public auction may then be sold at private sale - a sale directly between a buyer and the County.  Most properties that remain in inventory are either small strips of land which typically are of value only to an adjoining owner, parcels which cannot be developed due to land use regulations, parcels which do not have legal access to them or parcels which may have environmental/hazardous waste issues.  View a list of properties in inventory.  Please note that some of the properties may have already been sold or are not available as the county may wish to retain them for public purposes (park land, right of way).

Process for Potential Purchase at Private Sale

1.  First contact the County's Property Management Officer to discuss the property you are interested in.  The Property Management Officer is authorized to negotiate sales and sale terms on behalf of the County.

2. If, after consultation with the Property Management Officer or other assigned County representative, you wish to proceed in making an offer, submit your offer to the Property Management Officer on the appropriate County form  which contains terms and conditions for submitting an offer. 

3. Upon receipt of a formal offer it will be presented to the Lane County Board of Commissioners with a recommendation for either acceptance or rejection (only the Board of Commissioners may legally accept an offer on behalf of the County).  The process may take up to 90 days.

4.  If an offer is accepted by the Board of Commissioners a Quitclaim Deed will be executed and delivered to the Purchaser upon payment of the purchase price. The Purchaser will be responsible for recording fees.

5.  If an offer is rejected the Purchaser's deposit will be refunded.

Please contact the county's Property Management Officer for more information.