Former owners, heirs and lienholders of 28 Modoc County, California, parcels sold for unpaid taxes in May have until June 2, 2027, to claim the $76,332.19 left over from the sales. The county’s Tax Collector’s Office recorded the deed to the buyers June 2, and its notice says claims filed more than one year after that date cannot be considered. The notice ran in the Modoc County Record on June 25, July 2 and July 9.
The auction was held May 15 to 18, 2026. When a tax-defaulted parcel sells for more than the back taxes, penalties and costs, the surplus is called excess proceeds, and it belongs to the people with a legal interest in the property rather than to the county. The county’s list shows 25 separate amounts covering the 28 parcel numbers, because parcels 002-073-001 and 002-073-008 share $1,570.41 and the three 024-033 parcels share $2,173.70.
Most of the amounts are modest. Nine of the 25 are under $1,000, the middle amount is $2,040.67, and the largest is $14,205.39, attached to parcel 021-260-020. The next largest, $12,797.28 on parcel 002-075-006, lists an estate and five named individuals among its parties of interest.
Anyone who owned one of the 28 parcels before the June 2 deed, and the heirs of an owner who has since died, has one concrete job: find the parcel number or the family name on the county’s list, then ask the Tax Collector’s Office for a claim form well before June 2, 2027. Relatives who live far from Alturas may never have seen a notice printed in the Modoc County Record, so a family member with ties to the county could be the only one who knows.
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Who gets paid first from the Modoc sales
California’s Revenue and Taxation Code Section 4675 sets the order. Lienholders of record before the deed was recorded come first, and people who held title of record come next, with claimants of equal rank sharing in proportion to their stake. The amount printed beside a parcel is the whole pot, not a promise that any one claimant receives all of it.
Several parcels list creditors next to owners. One lists a regional child support agency, and another lists a company named The Cadle Company beside an estate and the Modoc County Public Administrator. Where an owner has died, state law lets an heir support a claim with an affidavit under Probate Code Chapter 3, which begins at Section 13100.
Three parcels name estates among the parties of interest: 002-075-006, 025-190-010 for $6,979.76, and 039-032-006 for $342.45. Families in that position are the ones for whom the heir affidavit matters, since the person who held title is no longer alive to sign a claim.
State law also covers anyone who offers to file for a fee. A person filing on someone’s behalf must submit proof that the amount and source of the money were disclosed to that party, and that the party was told a claim can be filed directly with the county at no cost. A right to the money can be assigned only in a dated written instrument that says so, and an assignment that skips the required disclosures has no effect.
Filing at the Alturas counter or by mail
Claims go to the Modoc County Tax Collector’s Office at 204 South Court Street, Alturas, CA 96101, where claim forms and filing information are available. The number is (530) 233-6223. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., except holidays.
A claim has to be in writing and carry enough information and proof to establish the claimant’s right to all or part of the money. The notice does not list specific documents, so a call to the office settles what it wants. Heirs would likely start with the owner’s death certificate and a copy of the recorded deed.
State law counts a mailed claim as timely if it is postmarked by the one-year date, and a claim sent by an approved delivery service is dated from its shipping date. The county’s notice words it differently, saying claims filed more than a year after recording cannot be considered. June 2, 2027, is a Wednesday, and mailing weeks ahead removes any argument over the date.
Filing early does not speed the payment. The county board of supervisors orders distribution no sooner than one year after the deed is recorded, so approved claimants would be paid after June 2, 2027. What an early filing does buy is time to supply a missing document or answer a question from the office before the cutoff.
A year-long window that is shorter than it looks
The notice’s third printing came July 9, 2026, which left fewer than 11 months before the filing cutoff. The clock started when the deed was recorded, not when the notice ran, so a relative who learns of the list in the spring of 2027 has only weeks.
Amounts under $1,000 still require proof, and nine of the 25 fall there, including $239.85 and $239.92 on two separate parcels. Filing carries no fee under state law, so the question for those claimants is the effort of assembling documents rather than the cost.
For a family that lost land in Modoc County to back taxes, the sale ended ownership but not every right to value. Whatever the buyers paid above the debt stays available to the people who held an interest until June 2, 2027, and after that date the county says a late claim will not be considered.
Is a Modoc parcel number or family name on the county’s list?
A claim that arrives after June 2, 2027, cannot be considered, and some of the amounts on the Modoc list are under $1,000, the kind of money families put off chasing. Small, scattered amounts are easy to postpone, and a date that passes cannot be reopened.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
