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8270-8273 Sealed Bid: Pre-Sale Considerations

8270. RECEIPTS FOR PROPERTY PURCHASED AT TAX SALE
Receipts should be prepared in duplicate for each parcel (form SCO 8-06 is recommended). All items for which information is available should be completed prior to the sale (M-8282).

8271. BIDDERS - PRESENCE NOT REQUIRED
No oral bids may be received at a sealed bid sale. Therefore, the presence of bidders is not required. For a discussion of who is eligible to bid at a sealed bid sale, see M-8210 - M-8211, M-8253 and M-8260.

8272. REDEMPTIONS
The tax collector should make arrangements to accept all redemptions tendered before the close of business on the last business day prior to the date the sale begins. Time permitting, the tax collector should verify that personal checks used for payment will be honored by the bank. The tax collector may require that, within a certain time before the sale, redemption payments be made in cash or by money order or cashier's check (Rev. & Tax. Code §3707(c)).

8273. RECEIPT OF REDEMPTION PAYMENT
Any remittance sent by U.S. mail or a personal delivery service must be received in the tax collector's office prior to the close of business on the last business day prior to the date the sale begins. If the payment is not received by then, the right of redemption terminates (Rev. & Tax. Code §3707). Any redemption payment received after this period for property that is subsequently sold should be returned to the sender.

This expression of the law should not be confused with the timeliness presumed when a postmark shows that a tax installment was deposited in the mail or when an air bill or packing slip shows that it was deposited with a personal delivery service before the delinquency deadline, even though it is not received by the county until sometime later (Rev. & Tax. Code §2512). 

A payment, that is in the tax collector's office before the time prescribed by law, overturns a subsequent sale unless the redemption check is not honored upon presentment. Therefore, it is important to screen all incoming mail and deliveries promptly just before the sale. If time permits, the tax collector should establish whether a redemption check will be honored by a financial institution before withdrawing the property from the sale. If the redemption check is not honored, the redemptioner is liable to the county for (in addition to the amount owed) damages of three times the amount of the check, but in no case less than $100 nor more than $1,500 (M-1244).