Delinquent tax lists · Massachusetts
Suffolk County delinquent tax list
Short answer: Suffolk County has two delinquent tax lists. The official one is published by each town or city municipal collector of taxes before a 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 451 (estimated) owners near Boston currently carry a distress signal. Massachusetts is a lien state, so a winning bid at the sale takes a certificate rather than the house.
Distressed owners near Boston
451
Within 25 miles of the county seat, refreshed daily. Suffolk County is a major metro county.
Top-deal discount target
~42% under market
Average start bid across the 20 strongest Suffolk leads right now.
Avg. spread per top deal
$230,000
On a typical $555,000 estimated value.
Coverage centers on Boston, the Suffolk County seat, and reaches 25 miles out, widening to 50 when the market runs thin.
Suffolk 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 Massachusetts rules, timelines and deficiency detail sit on the state page, since they apply to every county here.
| County | Suffolk County, Massachusetts. County seat: Boston. |
|---|---|
| Who publishes the list | Tax enforcement in Massachusetts is run by each town or city rather than the county, so the delinquent roll for a Suffolk County property comes from that municipality's Municipal Collector of Taxes. |
| What the sale transfers | Massachusetts is a lien state. A winning bidder gets a tax lien certificate, which pays interest if the owner redeems and can be foreclosed into ownership if they do not. |
| Rate and cadence | Municipal tax takings accrue 16%, and the town forecloses the redemption right in Land Court. |
| Owner redemption | None after the foreclosure sale. |
The Massachusetts delinquency clock
Where a Suffolk owner sits on this line is what decides whether they will take a low cash offer today.
The Suffolk list, ranked hardest-first
Representative profiles from our ranking model for the Boston 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 | Notice of defaultTax delinquent 1 yr80% equity | $610,000 | $262,000 | ~45% |
| #2 | Notice of defaultTax delinquent 2 yr94% equity | $578,000 | $249,000 | ~45% |
| #3 | Auction setTax delinquent 2 yr47% equity | $596,000 | $327,000 | ~42% |
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What the Suffolk list is made of
Most distressed owners carry more than one signal, so these bands overlap. Stacked signals rank highest.
How Suffolk compares across Massachusetts
Suffolk County is the 4th largest of the 8 Massachusetts counties covered here, and it runs denser in distressed owners than the Massachusetts average, at 5.7 flagged properties per 10,000 residents against a state figure of 3.9. It accounts for about 18.2% of every flagged property across the Massachusetts counties on this site.
| County | Seat | Flagged owners | Per 10k residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hampden County | Springfield | 810 | 17.4 |
| Suffolk County (this page) | Boston | 451 | 5.7 |
| Middlesex County | Cambridge | 396 | 2.4 |
| Bristol County | Taunton | 274 | 4.7 |
| Norfolk County | Dedham | 154 | 2.1 |
| Worcester County | Worcester | 147 | 1.7 |
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 Suffolk list vs. this one
Both are worth having. They answer different questions.
| Suffolk official sale list | The LowBaller list | |
|---|---|---|
| Who publishes it | The town or city 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 Suffolk list
What actually matters in a county this size, at this level of distress, under Massachusetts timelines.
Off the main road
Suffolk County ranks 4 of 8 covered Massachusetts counties and holds about 18.2% of the state's flagged properties. Most buyers never scroll this far down the state, which is the entire argument for working it.
One of the densest counties in the state
At 5.7 flagged properties per 10,000 residents against a Massachusetts figure of 3.9, Suffolk is in the top quarter for distress density. Stacked-signal owners are common here, and those are where the deepest discounts sit.
Boston sets the price
Suffolk is anchored on Boston, so comps move with the metro and buyer competition tracks the city rather than the county line. Values swing hard between ZIPs here, which makes the estimated value on each row worth more than the discount percentage.
The Massachusetts clock
Foreclosure here typically runs 3 to 6 months from filing to sale. Tax enforcement is municipal in Massachusetts, so the tax deadline and the mortgage deadline are two separate clocks on the same house, and an owner can be early on one and late on the other.
Why Suffolk 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. Lien auctions in Massachusetts 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.
Suffolk County delinquent tax list FAQ
How do I get the Suffolk County delinquent tax list?
Two lists exist and they are not the same. The official one comes from the town or city 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 451 properties around Boston currently carry at least one distress signal, ranked by how much pressure the owner is under.
Is there a free Suffolk delinquent property tax list PDF?
Yes. The town or city 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 Suffolk County tax sale?
Suffolk County publishes its own schedule, and it moves. The Massachusetts pattern is the thing that holds steady: Municipal tax takings accrue 16%, and the town forecloses the redemption right in Land Court. Check the county's pre-sale notice close to the date, because the list shrinks daily as owners redeem.
Can I buy Suffolk 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 Massachusetts?
Massachusetts is a lien state, so a winning bidder takes a tax lien certificate, which pays interest if the owner redeems and can be foreclosed into ownership if they do not. None after the foreclosure 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 Suffolk deals close?
The strongest current leads near Boston support start bids around 42% under estimated value. Across the whole list, hard distress such as a scheduled auction or a stacked tax lien closes 20 to 40% under market, while softer signals like long-distance ownership land closer to 15 to 30% under. Suffolk runs denser in distress than the Massachusetts 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 Suffolk?
About 451 properties within 25 miles of Boston currently show at least one motivation signal in public records, and tax delinquency is among the most common. That works out to 5.7 flagged properties per 10,000 residents, against 3.9 across Massachusetts as a whole, and makes Suffolk the number 4 of the 8 Massachusetts counties covered here by population. That figure moves daily as owners pay, redeem or fall further behind.
Do I need a Suffolk address to search, or can I search the whole county?
Either. Run the scan on any Suffolk 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.
More for the Boston area
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Informational summary, not legal or investment advice. Rates, redemption periods and sale formats are summarized at the Massachusetts state level and can be changed by statute or applied differently by Suffolk County. The municipal tax collector and the county's own pre-sale notices control every schedule, deposit and bidding rule. Verify before you bid.