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9610-9616 Notice of Sealed Bid Sale: Publishing Criteria

9610. TIME OF PUBLICATION
The publication shall begin not less than 21 days prior to the date of the sale (Rev. & Tax. Code §3702). The publishing schedule shall be once a week for three successive weeks with at least five days intervening between respective publication dates. The period of notice commences on the first day of publication and terminates on the twenty-first day (Gov. Code §6063).

9611. MANNER AND PERIOD OF PUBLICATION
The tax collector shall publish, pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 3702, a notice of intended sale once a week for three successive weeks in both:

1) A newspaper of general circulation published in the county seat, and

2) A newspaper of general circulation published within the judicial district in which the property is situated.

COMMENT: Under (1) above, the complete list of properties being offered for sale throughout the entire county shall appear in the newspaper published within the county seat; under (2) above, a list of only those properties lying within, or within the proximity of, the judicial district need be published in the newspaper lying within that district or area (Attorney General Letter 12-22-65).

The law intends that "adequate notice of the sale" be provided. Logically, this means advertising the sale where it will attract maximum attention within the requirements imposed by Revenue and Taxation Code section 3702.

9612. PUBLICATION IN MORE THAN ONE EDITION
If more than one edition is printed on the days of publication, the notice must appear in each edition (Attorney General Opinion 1-12-55).

9613. ERRORS IN PUBLICATION
If there is an error in the first publication, a correction in the remaining publications will not validate the notice, because the law requires three correct publications (Rev. & Tax. Code §3702; Gov. Code §6063). The error may be corrected without changing the sale date if time permits republication of the notice prior to the 21-day statutory deadline (M-9610). If the sale date needs to be changed, see Revenue and Taxation Code section 3706.1 and M-8155 for instructions. In an effort to eliminate errors in publication, it is suggested that proof sheets from the newspapers be obtained prior to publication.

9614. POSTING OF NOTICE IF NO PUBLICATION
If a newspaper of general circulation as defined in Government Code section 6000 et seq. does not exist within the county, the notification process shall be accomplished by posting the notice in three public places within the county seat or in the judicial district in which the property is located (Rev. & Tax. Code §3702). The requirements for the content of the posted notice are the same as for the content of the published notice.

Posting of the notice in three public places in the county seat and in the judicial district is permissible instead of publishing if the board of supervisors determines that the amount that could be received on the property to be sold by sealed bid may be less than the cost of publishing in the newspapers (Rev. & Tax. Code §3703). See form SCO 9-02 for the contents of the affidavit for posting.

9615. MINIMUM PRICE REQUIREMENT 
Revenue and Taxation Code section 3698.5 provides that mineral rights or unusable parcels to be sold by sealed bid are not subject to a minimum price. Therefore, it is possible that the board of supervisors could authorize posting rather than publication for a sealed bid sale, because the cost of publication could exceed the minimum bid (Rev. & Tax. Code §3703).

9616. COST OF ADVERTISING
The cost of advertising the sale shall be deducted from the proceeds of the sale (Rev. & Tax. Code §§3719, 4673). See M-8501 for distribution of proceeds after the sale.