Two different clocks: foreclosure and tax delinquency in Idaho

Two different things can take an Idaho property from an owner who has fallen behind, and they run on clocks that are nothing like each other. Applying the timeline of one to the other is the most expensive mistake available to a distressed owner.

This page sets out what the statutes say. It is not legal advice.

A mortgage problem: 120 days' notice before a trustee's sale

Most Idaho residential mortgage debt is secured by a deed of trust, foreclosed non-judicially. Idaho Code 45-1506 requires that "at least one hundred twenty (120) days before the day fixed by the trustee for the trustee's sale, notice of such sale shall be given" to the grantor, to anyone who has recorded a request for notice, to successors in interest and to junior lienholders.

The same section requires publication "in a newspaper of general circulation in each of the counties in which the property is situated once a week for four (4) successive weeks," with the last publication at least 30 days before the sale. Affidavits of mailing and posting must be recorded at least 20 days before. And at least three good-faith attempts at personal service must be made on different days over a period of not less than seven days, each at least 30 days before the sale.

That 120 days is a statutory minimum within a longer process, not "the foreclosure timeline". It begins from the date fixed for the sale and works backwards.

One detail matters in Star and anywhere else straddling a county line: notice must be published in each county where the property sits.

A tax problem: three years before a deed can even issue

Property tax delinquency runs on an entirely different scale. Idaho Code 63-1005: "If real property on which there is a delinquency is not redeemed within three (3) years from the date of delinquency, the county tax collector … must make, in favor of said county, a tax deed for such property."

Even then the county is not entitled to the deed until a notice of pending issue has been given and an affidavit of compliance recorded. Service is by certified mail with return receipt, no more than five months and no less than two months before the deed is set to issue. If that comes back undelivered, notice is published once a week for four consecutive weeks. The statute calls this the exclusive manner of service, and the owner is liable for the costs of it.

So an owner behind on property taxes has years, where an owner behind on a mortgage may have months. Both are serious. They are not the same emergency.

Redemption after a tax deed is double-gated

After a tax deed issues to the county, redemption remains possible — but on two conditions, and most summaries give only one.

Idaho Code 63-1007 permits the record owner or a party in interest to redeem "up to the time the county commissioners have entered into a contract of sale or the property has been transferred by county deed." Separately, "such right of redemption shall expire fourteen (14) months from the date of issuance of a tax deed to the county, in the event the county commissioners have not extinguished the right of redemption by contract of sale or transfer by county deed during said redemption period."

Read those together: fourteen months is a ceiling, not a guarantee. The right can die considerably earlier if the county contracts to sell. Anyone told "you have fourteen months" without the earlier cut-off has been given time they may not have.

Redeeming means paying the delinquency plus late charges, accrued interest and costs — including title search and other professional fees.

A pre-foreclosure sale is not exempt from disclosure

Idaho's disclosure exemptions include several foreclosure-related transfers: a deed in lieu, a transfer to a deed-of-trust beneficiary by a trustor in default, a transfer by foreclosure sale, and a sale under a power of sale following default within one year of foreclosure on the default.

Every one of those describes a transfer into or out of the foreclosure process. None of them describes an owner who is behind on payments, still holds title, and sells to a buyer before any trustee's sale. That owner is not exempt, and this is the easiest disclosure error to make on a distressed sale.

What equity is protected

Idaho's homestead exemption protects equity from creditors up to a cap: "A homestead may consist of lands … regardless of area, but the homestead exemption amount shall not exceed the sum of one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars ($175,000)."

This is a different instrument from the property tax homeowner's exemption, which reduces assessed value. Ada County's own website refers to both as a "Homestead Exemption", so it is worth being explicit about which one is meant in any given sentence.

Where this comes from

Every factual statement above is traced to a published source, quoted below in the source's own words. Statutes and county practice change; each entry carries the date we last checked it.

Idaho Code § 45-1506 — Manner of foreclosure — Notice — Sale

Idaho State Legislature

Amendment history

[45-1506, added 1957, ch. 181, sec. 6, p. 345; am. 1967, ch. 74, sec. 1, p. 170; am. 1983, ch. 190, sec. 3, p. 516; am. 1990, ch. 401, sec. 2, p. 1123; am. 2011, ch. 323, sec. 1, p. 939; am. 2012, ch. 326, sec. 1, p. 905; am. 2016, ch. 364, sec. 1, p. 1071.]

An Idaho trust deed foreclosure requires notice of the trustee's sale to be given at least 120 days before the day fixed for the sale.
“at least one hundred twenty (120) days before the day fixed by the trustee for the trustee's sale, notice of such sale shall be given”
Checked 2026-09-09
Notice of an Idaho trustee's sale must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in each county where the property sits, once a week for four successive weeks, with the last publication at least 30 days before the sale.
“published in a newspaper of general circulation in each of the counties in which the property is situated once a week for four (4) successive weeks...with the last publication to be at least thirty (30) days prior to the day of sale”
Checked 2026-09-09
At least three good-faith attempts at personal service must be made on different days over a period of not less than seven days, each at least 30 days before an Idaho trustee's sale.
“At least three (3) good faith attempts shall be made on different days over a period of not less than seven (7) days, each of which attempts must be made at least thirty (30) days prior to the day of the sale”
Checked 2026-09-09

Idaho Code § 63-1005 — Pending issue of tax deed — General provisions — Notice

Idaho State Legislature

If Idaho real property with a delinquency is not redeemed within three years from the date of delinquency, the county tax collector must issue a tax deed in favour of the county — but only after a notice of pending issue of tax deed has been given and an affidavit of compliance recorded.
“If real property on which there is a delinquency is not redeemed within three (3) years from the date of delinquency, the county tax collector of the county wherein such property is situated must make, in favor of said county, a tax deed for such property. However, the county shall not be entitled to a tax deed for such real property until: (a) A notice of pending issue of tax deed has been given; and (b) An affidavit of compliance has been recorded.”
Checked 2026-09-09
Notice of a pending Idaho tax deed must be served on record owners and parties in interest by certified mail with return receipt, no more than five months and no less than two months before the tax deed is set to issue; if returned undelivered, by publication once a week for four consecutive weeks, the last no more than two months and no less than fourteen days before issuance.
“By serving or causing to be served a copy of such notice by certified mail with return receipt demanded upon the record owner or owners and parties in interest of record at their last known address, such service of notice to be made no more than five (5) months nor less than two (2) months before the time set for the tax deed to issue;”
Checked 2026-09-09

Idaho Code § 63-1007 — Redemption — Expiration of right

Idaho State Legislature

After an Idaho tax deed issues to the county, the record owner or a party in interest may still redeem — but only until the county commissioners enter a contract of sale or transfer the property by county deed, and in any event the right expires fourteen months from the date the tax deed issued.
“such right of redemption shall expire fourteen (14) months from the date of issuance of a tax deed to the county, in the event the county commissioners have not extinguished the right of redemption by contract of sale or transfer by county deed during said redemption period.”
Checked 2026-09-09

Idaho Code § 55-2505 — Exemptions

Idaho State Legislature

Idaho's property condition disclosure requirement does not apply to a deed in lieu of foreclosure, a transfer to a deed-of-trust beneficiary by a trustor in default, a foreclosure sale, or a sale under a power of sale following default occurring within one year of foreclosure on the default.
“(2) A transfer to a mortgagee by a mortgagor by deed in lieu of foreclosure or in satisfaction of the mortgage debt; (3) A transfer to a beneficiary of a deed of trust by a trustor in default; (4) A transfer by a foreclosure sale that follows a default in the satisfaction of an obligation secured by a mortgage; (5) A transfer by a sale under a power of sale following a default in the satisfaction of an obligation that is secured by a deed of trust or another instrument containing a power of sale occurring within one (1) year of foreclosure on the default;”
Checked 2026-09-09

Idaho Code § 55-1003 — Homestead exemption limited

Idaho State Legislature

Amendment history

[55-1003, added 1989, ch. 371, sec. 2, p. 934; am. 1992, ch. 14, sec. 1, p. 38; am. 2006, ch. 262, sec. 1, p. 814; am. 2020, ch. 232, sec. 2, p. 685.]

Idaho's homestead exemption protecting home equity from creditors is capped at $175,000, regardless of the area of land.
“A homestead may consist of lands, as described in section 55-1001, Idaho Code, regardless of area, but the homestead exemption amount shall not exceed the sum of one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars ($175,000).”
Checked 2026-09-09

Start with the address.

One field. We will look at the parcel and the comparable sales, then come back with a number and the working behind it. No obligation, and no pressure if the answer is that you should list it instead.

Serving Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Kuna, Star, Garden City and unincorporated Ada County.