If you want to check the Cattaraugus County delinquent tax list, the County Treasurer’s Office keeps the official record at 303 Court Street in Little Valley, and a searchable version is posted on the county’s Delinquent Taxes page.1Cattaraugus County Website. Delinquent Taxes Every unpaid town, village, city, and school district tax bill in the county ends up there once local collectors turn it over.2Cattaraugus County Website. Treasurer’s Office The list is public, so title searchers, buyers, and owners checking their own status can all pull it up.
Finding Your Parcel and Getting a Payoff
Every parcel has a Tax Map Number, also called a Section, Block, and Lot (SBL) number. You need it to locate your property on the list or to ask the Treasurer’s Office for a payoff. Without it, staff cannot pull the specific debt tied to your parcel.
Once you have the SBL, call or visit the Treasurer’s Office and request an exact redemption amount. That figure combines the original unpaid tax, accrued interest, late penalties, and administrative fees. It is only good through a stated date. Wait a few weeks and the number climbs.
How Fast the Balance Grows
New York charges one percent per month on unpaid property taxes under Real Property Tax Law Section 924-a.3New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Interest Rates on Late Payment of Property Taxes In Cattaraugus County that interest starts in February at one percent and rises to two percent by March.
April 1 is the sharp turn. On that date, unpaid taxes are returned to the County Treasurer, a five percent fee is added to the original tax, and going forward interest is calculated on the combined total of the tax plus that fee.4Cattaraugus County Website. Taxpayer’s Guide On a $3,000 bill, the penalty adds $150 immediately, and every later month of one percent interest runs on $3,150 instead of $3,000. Two years of that pushes the total well past the original tax.
If you owe for more than one year, you cannot pick which year to clear first. County rules require the oldest returned taxes to be paid before newer ones.1Cattaraugus County Website. Delinquent Taxes
How to Pay
You can pay in person at 303 Court Street, Little Valley, NY 14755.2Cattaraugus County Website. Treasurer’s Office For delinquent accounts the county may require certified funds, such as a cashier’s check or money order, because the payment has to clear immediately. Call ahead to confirm what will be accepted for your balance.
Online payments run through the county’s X-Press Pay portal, linked from the Delinquent Taxes page.1Cattaraugus County Website. Delinquent Taxes You will need your SBL number to find your account. The processor adds a convenience fee on top of the tax balance.5Cattaraugus County Website. Pay Your Returned and Delinquent Taxes
After a payment posts, the Treasurer’s Office issues a receipt confirming the lien is satisfied, and the property drops off the delinquent list.
What Happens If You Don’t Pay
New York Real Property Tax Law Article 11 lets the county take the property itself through in rem foreclosure, a lawsuit filed against the parcel rather than against the owner personally.6New York State Senate. Real Property Tax Law Article 11 – Procedures For Enforcement of Collection of Delinquent Taxes Two things stand between you and that outcome: the redemption period and the notice period after the county files.
The Two-Year Redemption Period
The county cannot foreclose immediately. A statutory redemption period of two years from the lien date must expire first.7New York State Senate. Real Property Tax Law 1110 During those two years, paying the full amount owed stops the process. This is the window that matters most, and the smartest move is to use it well before it closes.
Notice and a Final Redemption Date
Once the redemption period ends, the county files a petition of foreclosure with the County Clerk and publishes notice. Anyone with a recorded interest in the property must also be personally served.8New York State Senate. New York Real Property Tax Law 1124 – Public Notice of Foreclosure The notice sets a final redemption date at least six months after the first newspaper publication. Pay the full balance by then and you keep the property.
Default and Loss of Title
If you do not pay and do not file a formal legal answer by the deadline, the court enters a default judgment of foreclosure and title transfers to the county.9New York State Senate. New York Real Property Tax Law 1131 – Default Judgment You can move to reopen the default, but only within one month after the judgment is entered. After that, ownership is gone. Cattaraugus County then sells foreclosed parcels through an annual online property tax auction.10Cattaraugus County Website. Property Tax Auction
Surplus Proceeds if the Property Is Sold
If the county sells your foreclosed property for more than the taxes, penalties, and fees you owed, you may be entitled to the difference. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Tyler v. Hennepin County that a government cannot keep surplus proceeds beyond the debt owed, finding this violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.11Supreme Court of the United States. Tyler v. Hennepin County, Minnesota (2023)
New York amended Article 11 in 2024 in response. The enforcing officer now has 45 days after a tax sale to determine whether surplus proceeds exist. If they do, the county must notify the former owner that the money is on deposit and that the court will administer claims. For residential property, if no former homeowner files a claim by the time the sale report is confirmed, the proceeding stays open for at least three more years so they can come forward.12New York State Senate. Real Property Tax Law 1136
To claim surplus, file a written claim with the court clerk where the sale report was filed, stating the nature and amount of your claim and including a current mailing address. Unclaimed funds eventually revert to the county to reduce its tax levy, so filing promptly matters.
If You Can’t Pay in Full
Losing an $80,000 property over a $4,000 tax bill is a real outcome, and the pain does not end at the auction. The IRS treats a foreclosure as a disposition of property, which can trigger a reportable capital gain on your federal return.13Internal Revenue Service. Foreclosures and Capital Gain or Loss If any debt is canceled in the process, the canceled amount may count as taxable income unless an exception such as insolvency or bankruptcy applies.14Internal Revenue Service.