Herkimer County tax auction properties are sold online through Auctions International after the county forecloses on parcels whose owners fell at least two years behind on property taxes. The county conveys these parcels by quitclaim deed with no warranties about condition or title, usually without a minimum bid. Prices can come in well below market, but the real cost includes a 12.77% buyer’s premium, New York transfer and recording fees, and often a quiet title action before you can insure, mortgage, or resell the property.
Where the Auction Happens and How to Register
Herkimer County runs its tax-foreclosure sales entirely online through Auctions International.1Auctions International. Herkimer County Tax Foreclosed Real Estate Each parcel is posted as its own listing with parcel numbers, descriptions, and sometimes photos, and bidding happens in real time against other registered users. The Herkimer County Treasurer’s office also publishes notices about upcoming sales.
To bid, you register on the Auctions International platform. Registration typically calls for a government-issued photo ID and a taxpayer identification number for IRS reporting. Bidders also place a deposit that confirms they can follow through on a winning bid. The deposit amount and accepted payment methods are set for each sale event, so read the terms of sale on the specific auction page before you commit.
One disqualifier catches people off guard: the terms of sale generally bar anyone who owes delinquent taxes on other property in the county from bidding at all. Clear any back taxes first, or your bid will be rejected regardless of how much you offer.
Separate Track: The Land Bank
Not every tax-foreclosed property in Herkimer County goes through the auction. The Herkimer County Land Bank acquires some tax-foreclosed and abandoned parcels and sells them through its own application process, targeting properties it intends to rehabilitate.2Herkimer County Land Bank. Our Process If a specific address you want isn’t on the Auctions International list, it may have been routed to the Land Bank, which has a different inventory and buying process.
What You Actually Pay When You Win
The winning bid is only part of your cost. On top of the bid, Herkimer County auctions have carried a buyer’s premium of 12.77% in recent sales.1Auctions International. Herkimer County Tax Foreclosed Real Estate A $10,000 winning bid actually costs $11,277 before any other fees. Build the premium into your maximum bid rather than treating it as an add-on.
You then have a limited window, typically 30 days, to pay the balance and cover the rest of the closing costs:
- RP-5217 filing fee. New York requires a Real Property Transfer Report with every deed recording. The fee is $125 for residential and farm properties and $250 for all others.3New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Filing Fees for Form RP-5217-PDF, Real Property Transfer Report
- Real estate transfer tax. New York charges $2 for each $500 of consideration, which works out to $4 per $1,000 of sale price.4New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Real Estate Transfer Tax
- Recording fees. New York counties charge a statutory base of $45 plus $5 per page, along with potential county-specific surcharges.
- Deed preparation fee. The county or auction company may charge a separate amount, set per sale.
The county records the quitclaim deed with the Herkimer County Clerk’s Office once you pay. From that point you are the owner of record and responsible for future tax assessments.
What a Quitclaim Deed Really Gives You
This is where auction buyers most often misjudge the deal. A quitclaim deed transfers whatever interest the county holds, and nothing else. The county is not warranting clean title. It is handing you what it took through foreclosure and letting you sort out the rest.
On paper, the foreclosure judgment under Section 1136 extinguishes prior liens and interests and gives the county fee simple absolute, which then passes to you.5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Tax Law 1136 – Final Judgment In practice, procedural defects in the underlying foreclosure can unravel that. If a prior owner or mortgage holder proves they never received proper notice, a court can reinstate their interest after you have already bought the property.
Because of that risk, most title insurance companies will not insure a tax-sale property without additional steps. The usual step is a quiet title action, a court proceeding where a judge formally confirms your ownership and cuts off lingering claims. That takes months and generally costs several thousand dollars in legal fees. Until you have that order, financing the purchase, refinancing it, or selling to a buyer who needs a mortgage will be very difficult. Treat the cost of a quiet title action as part of your real acquisition budget.
The Federal Tax Lien Problem
Federal tax liens do not behave like other liens in a tax sale. Even though the state foreclosure judgment wipes out most prior interests, an IRS lien survives the sale unless the IRS received proper written notice at least 25 days before the auction.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7425 – Discharge of Liens If notice was not sent, or was sent to the wrong office, the lien stays attached to the property after you own it.
Even when notice was correctly given and the lien is discharged, the IRS has 120 days from the date of sale to redeem the property by paying you back the purchase price.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7425 – Discharge of Liens During that window the IRS can essentially undo the sale: you get your money back, but you lose the property. Starting renovations or putting significant money into a parcel inside those four months is a real gamble.
Before bidding, search the Herkimer County Clerk’s records for federal tax liens against the former owner. If one exists, you are either buying under an IRS cloud or trusting that the county’s notice procedures were handled without error.
Occupied Properties
Some parcels still have people living in them at the time of sale, either the former owner or tenants. Winning the auction does not give you the right to change locks or shut off utilities. You have to go through a formal eviction in court, which in New York can take weeks or months.
If the property has tenants, federal law may require at least 90 days’ notice before eviction and may require you to honor the remaining term of an existing lease. The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act imposes those requirements on successors in interest after foreclosure on a federally related mortgage.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 5220 Note – Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act Whether the PTFA reaches every tax foreclosure is not settled, since the statute references federally related mortgage loans. Assume it applies and plan accordingly. New York state and local tenant protections may also apply, and an attorney should review your situation before you take any steps.
Former owners who refuse to leave are treated as holdover occupants. Serve proper notice and file an eviction proceeding. Physically removing someone or their belongings without a court order is illegal in New York and creates personal liability.
Due Diligence Before You Bid
Because the county sells as-is and you generally cannot inspect the interior, all of your protection comes from the work you do before bidding opens.
- Drive by the property. Look at the roof, foundation, and access from the road. Check whether the parcel is landlocked.
- Pull the tax map and assessment through the county’s parcel viewer. Confirm boundaries, acreage, and assessed value.
- Verify zoning supports your intended use, whether residential, commercial, or agricultural.
- Search the County Clerk’s records for federal tax liens, utility liens, and code violation judgments against the parcel or the former owner.
- Check the property’s history for gas station, dry cleaning, or manufacturing use. Buyers of tax-foreclosed property can inherit environmental cleanup liability.
- Confirm water, sewer or septic approval, and electric service. Rural parcels in Herkimer County may lack one or more.
- Determine whether anyone lives on the property, and budget for eviction time and cost if they do.
- Add the buyer’s premium, transfer tax, RP-5217 fee, recording fees, deed preparation fee, and likely quiet title action cost to your maximum bid. That sum is your real acquisition cost.
The auction moves fast. Skipping any of these checks is how buyers end up owning a contaminated lot with an IRS lien and no road access.
A Note for Former Owners: Surplus Funds
If you are the former owner rather than a bidder, the county cannot keep sale proceeds that exceed your tax debt. The U.S. Supreme Court held in Tyler v. Hennepin County that retaining surplus equity from a tax foreclosure sale violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.8Supreme Court of the United States. Tyler v. Hennepin County, Minnesota (2023) New York’s Real Property Tax Law includes provisions for distributing surplus from these sales.9New York State Senate. New York Real Property Tax Law RPT 1166 – Real Property Acquired by Tax District; Right of Sale For bidders, one practical effect is that sale prices at New York tax auctions have trended upward since Tyler, because counties are more motivated to get market-rate results than to accept lowball bids. Parcels that once sold for a few hundred dollars in back taxes now attract more competitive bidding.