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Revolutionizing · Modernizing · Simplifying
Revolutionizing · Modernizing · Simplifying
The guy whose signature makes Denver property deeds official? He was on the list of people who had not paid their property taxes.
Paul López, Denver's Clerk and Recorder, owed
Look, I am not here to dunk on the guy. He called it "an oversight," said he figured his mortgage company was going to pay it, and then he paid the whole thing to zero within an hour of sitting down for the interview. Honestly, that is the fastest I have ever seen a government official move. But here is the thing. If the Clerk and Recorder of the City and County of Denver can forget a property tax bill, so can you. And the rules do not care who you are.
So how many people are in this exact situation right now? A lot more than you would think.
BusinessDen reporter Thomas Gounley wrote on October 12, 2026 that unpaid property taxes in Denver are, his word, "skyrocketing," and the city's annual tax-lien auction keeps getting bigger every year. Denver's own tracking system lists more than 8,000 properties where the owner has fallen behind on some or all of the tax bill. One delinquent-list vendor counted 8,368 parcels. That is not a typo. Eight thousand three hundred sixty-eight.
The biggest single unpaid bill in the city, as of September 2026, belonged to the Denver Marriott Tech Center hotel. Makes for a great headline, the giant hotel that stopped paying. But the hotel is not the story. The 8,367 other parcels are the story. Regular owners. Rentals. Condos. Houses like the one López owns.
And the numbers behind all of this are wild when you zoom out. Statewide, Colorado property tax collections were projected to climb from $7.3 billion in 2021 to an estimated
Most people do not realize how fast the clock starts ticking. So let me walk you through it, because the timeline matters.
Your first-half taxes become delinquent March 1. The second half is due June 15. If you just want to be done with it, pay the full amount by April 30 and you dodge the interest entirely. Miss it, and Denver starts charging delinquent interest at 1% per month. Every month. Then in July, you get a delinquency notice in the mail.
And then your name goes in the newspaper. Denver published the full unpaid-tax list in The Denver Post on September 11, 18, and 25 in 2026, alphabetical order by owner name. That is how CBS found López. It is public. Anyone can read it.
Here is where it gets serious. Denver does not just wait around for you to pay.
The city holds a tax-lien auction, and the 2026 one runs online November 2 through 4 at denver.coloradotaxsale.com. Batches sell in one-hour increments starting 8:00 a.m. on November 2. If you wanted to bid, you had to register and put down a deposit of 10% of your anticipated winnings by October 26 at 2:00 p.m.
Now, a lot of folks hear "tax sale" and think someone is buying the house for pennies. Not quite. The winning bidder gets a Certificate of Purchase. That is a lien, not the property, and it is good for 15 years. What the investor is really buying is the right to collect what you owe, plus interest. And that redemption interest in Denver is set at the Federal Reserve discount rate as of September 1, plus 9%. So the lien buyer is making a healthy return while you scramble to pay them back.
But here is the part people miss, and it is the scary part. If that lien is not redeemed within three years of the sale, the tax buyer can apply for a treasurer's deed. And at that point you can actually lose the property. Three years sounds like a long time until you are the one not opening the mail.
I know what some of you are thinking. "Derek, I pay my taxes, this is not my problem." Fair. But this applies to any Front Range owner, not just a tech-center hotel or a west Denver rental.
If you have a mortgage, your escrow usually handles this. That is exactly what López assumed was happening on his place, and it was not. So if you own a rental, a second property, a place you inherited, anything you pay direct, go check. Right now. It takes five minutes and it is a lot cheaper than 1% a month.
Over here at Symbio Homes we watch this list every year, because it tells you something real about the market. When 8,368 parcels in one county fall behind, that is not just a few forgetful owners. That is values and tax bills outrunning what people budgeted for. Worth your attention, whether you own one home or five.