Delinquent tax lists · California
Contra Costa County delinquent tax list
Short answer: Contra Costa County has two delinquent tax lists. The official one is published by the County Treasurer-Tax Collector before each scheduled sale, free to download, and it lists parcel numbers and amounts owed with no owner contact. The year-round one is the delinquency record underneath it, where 555 (estimated) owners near Martinez currently carry a distress signal. California is a deed state, so a winning bid at the sale takes the property itself.
Distressed owners near Martinez
555
Within 25 miles of the county seat, refreshed daily. Contra Costa County is a major metro county.
Top-deal discount target
~41% under market
Average start bid across the 20 strongest Contra Costa leads right now.
Avg. spread per top deal
$225,000
On a typical $547,000 estimated value.
Coverage centers on Martinez, the Contra Costa County seat, and reaches 25 miles out, widening to 50 when the market runs thin.
Contra Costa County tax sale rules at a glance
The mechanics that decide what you are actually buying, and how long the owner keeps a way out. The full California rules, timelines and deficiency detail sit on the state page, since they apply to every county here.
| County | Contra Costa County, California. County seat: Martinez. |
|---|---|
| Who publishes the list | The County Treasurer-Tax Collector for Contra Costa County. |
| What the sale transfers | California is a deed state. A winning bidder gets the deed itself, so a winning bid transfers ownership of the property. |
| Rate and cadence | County tax-defaulted land auctions after five years of delinquency, often online. |
| Owner redemption | None after a trustee sale. |
The California delinquency clock
Where a Contra Costa owner sits on this line is what decides whether they will take a low cash offer today.
The Contra Costa list, ranked hardest-first
Representative profiles from our ranking model for the Martinez area. The live list, with exact locations, photos and owner details, is one free scan away.
| Rank | Why they would sell | Est. value | Start bid | Under market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Tax delinquent 3 yrVacant 21 mo52% equity | $631,000 | $316,000 | ~44% |
| #2 | Notice of defaultTax delinquent 3 yr50% equity | $608,000 | $316,000 | ~45% |
| #3 | Notice of defaultTax delinquent 2 yr82% equity | $599,000 | $258,000 | ~45% |
7 more ranked Martinez deals behind the scan
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What the Contra Costa list is made of
Most distressed owners carry more than one signal, so these bands overlap. Stacked signals rank highest.
How Contra Costa compares across California
Contra Costa County is the 9th largest of the 17 California counties covered here, and it runs denser in distressed owners than the California average, at 4.8 flagged properties per 10,000 residents against a state figure of 2.1. It accounts for about 7.9% of every flagged property across the California counties on this site.
| County | Seat | Flagged owners | Per 10k residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino County | San Bernardino | 974 | 4.5 |
| Fresno County | Fresno | 687 | 6.8 |
| Ventura County | Ventura | 640 | 7.7 |
| Riverside County | Riverside | 604 | 2.4 |
| San Francisco County | San Francisco | 558 | 6.9 |
| Contra Costa County (this page) | Martinez | 555 | 4.8 |
Density matters more than the raw count when you are choosing where to work. A smaller county with a high per-capita figure often has less competition per lead than the metro next door.
How far under market these close
The official Contra Costa list vs. this one
Both are worth having. They answer different questions.
| Contra Costa official sale list | The LowBaller list | |
|---|---|---|
| Who publishes it | The County Treasurer-Tax Collector | LowBaller, from county and public records |
| When it exists | Only in the run-up to each scheduled sale | Year round, refreshed daily |
| Format | A PDF or spreadsheet of parcel numbers and amounts owed | A ranked table with a map pin, photo and estimated value on every row |
| Owner contact | Not included | Phone and email on unlock, and no credit is spent when nothing verifies |
| Ranking | Alphabetical or by parcel number | Hardest situation first, by foreclosure stage, years behind and equity |
| Timing advantage | Everyone bidding sees the same list on the same day | Owners appear months before any auction, while a private sale still solves their problem |
Working the Contra Costa list
What actually matters in a county this size, at this level of distress, under California timelines.
Off the main road
Contra Costa County ranks 9 of 17 covered California counties and holds about 7.9% of the state's flagged properties. Most buyers never scroll this far down the state, which is the entire argument for working it.
Above the state norm
Contra Costa runs 4.8 flagged properties per 10,000 residents against 2.1 statewide. More pressure per capita than the typical California county, and more owners carrying two or three signals at once.
Martinez and everything around it
Contra Costa works off Martinez as its seat, and the scan reaches 25 miles out from there, widening to 50 when the list runs thin. In a county this shape that usually means several towns, each with its own price level.
The California clock
Foreclosure here typically runs 4 to 6 months from filing to sale. The tax clock and the mortgage clock run independently, so check both before you decide how hard a deadline an owner is actually facing.
Why Contra Costa investors work it before auction day
No bidding war
At the sale you are one of a room full of bidders on the same parcel. Months earlier you are the only person who called.
You can see the house
A private sale means an inspection and a clean title search. Deed auctions in California rarely give you either.
The owner keeps something
An owner with equity who sells early clears the tax debt and walks away with money. At the sale, they usually walk away with nothing.
Contra Costa County delinquent tax list FAQ
How do I get the Contra Costa County delinquent tax list?
Two lists exist and they are not the same. The official one comes from the County Treasurer-Tax Collector, is published as a PDF or spreadsheet before each scheduled sale, and disappears between sales. The year-round one is the delinquency record itself, which is what LowBaller compiles: roughly 555 properties around Martinez currently carry at least one distress signal, ranked by how much pressure the owner is under.
Is there a free Contra Costa delinquent property tax list PDF?
Yes. The County Treasurer-Tax Collector publishes the pre-sale list free of charge, usually as a PDF or a downloadable spreadsheet tied to a specific sale date. It gives you parcel numbers and amounts owed. It does not give you owner contact details, an estimated value, or any indication of which owners would actually take a low cash offer.
When is the Contra Costa County tax sale?
Contra Costa County publishes its own schedule, and it moves. The California pattern is the thing that holds steady: County tax-defaulted land auctions after five years of delinquency, often online. Check the county's pre-sale notice close to the date, because the list shrinks daily as owners redeem.
Can I buy Contra Costa tax-delinquent property before the auction?
Yes, and it is usually the better trade. There is no bidding war, the owner clears the debt with a clean sale instead of a forced one, and you are not buying blind. The window is the months between the delinquency appearing in the record and the sale being scheduled, which is exactly the period this list covers.
What does a winning bid actually get you in California?
California is a deed state, so a winning bidder takes the deed itself, so a winning bid transfers ownership of the property. None after a trustee sale. That difference matters more than the discount: in a lien state you are buying a debt with a yield, and in a deed state you are buying a house.
How far below market do Contra Costa deals close?
The strongest current leads near Martinez support start bids around 41% under estimated value. Across the whole list, hard distress such as a scheduled auction or a stacked tax lien closes 25 to 45% under market, while softer signals like long-distance ownership land closer to 15 to 30% under. Contra Costa runs denser in distress than the California average, so stacked-signal owners, the ones who accept the widest discounts, turn up more often here than in a typical county in this state. Equity sets the ceiling, because an offer cannot go below what clears the owner's mortgage.
How many tax-delinquent properties are there in Contra Costa?
About 555 properties within 25 miles of Martinez currently show at least one motivation signal in public records, and tax delinquency is among the most common. That works out to 4.8 flagged properties per 10,000 residents, against 2.1 across California as a whole, and makes Contra Costa the number 9 of the 17 California counties covered here by population. That figure moves daily as owners pay, redeem or fall further behind.
Do I need a Contra Costa address to search, or can I search the whole county?
Either. Run the scan on any Contra Costa ZIP and you get the full ranked list for the surrounding area, or check one specific address to see whether that owner carries a distress signal. Browsing is free and unlimited, and credits are only spent when an owner's verified phone or email comes back.
Delinquent tax lists nearby
Keep going
The Contra Costa owners who will sell cheap are on this list today.
Not in 2026 sale season. Now, months before the auction, while a quiet private sale still solves their problem. Scan free and browse every one.
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Informational summary, not legal or investment advice. Rates, redemption periods and sale formats are summarized at the California state level and can be changed by statute or applied differently by Contra Costa County. The County Treasurer-Tax Collector and the county's own pre-sale notices control every schedule, deposit and bidding rule. Verify before you bid.