The Local Government Act requires the City to sell at tax sale all properties whose taxes have not been paid for three years. The Local Government Act gives the Collector (the City) authority to sell a property for the upset price, which equals all outstanding taxes + penalties + interest + 5% tax sale costs + Land Title Office fees. All property sales are "as is" without warrant or guarantee by the City of Kamloops.

The Local Government Act requires municipalities to advertise in a local paper twice, with the last ad published 10 to 3 days before to the tax sale. Legal descriptions and street addresses must be published.

Property owners wishing to avoid having their address listed in a newspaper ad must pay delinquent taxes and interest prior to the press deadline of the first advertisement, which could be up to 4 weeks prior to the tax sale date.

A public auction will be held at 10:00 am on the last Monday in September each year in Council Chambers, City Hall. Bidding is accepted on all properties. 

Prospective bidders are advised that it is their responsibility to search the title of the property in advance to determine if there are any charges registered against the property. 

The minimum bid is the amount of the upset price. 

If no bidding takes place within three calls by the Collector (auctioneer), the City is declared the purchaser at the upset price.

Upon purchasing, full payment must be remitted immediately. If payment is not remitted, the Collector (the City) will offer the property for sale again.

The Collector (the City) is required, by law, to search all property titles and, within 90 days after the tax sale, notify all registered charge holders shown on each property.

The original owner has one year after the property is sold at tax sale to pay the taxes and buy back their property. This is called redemption. All registered charge holders have full right to redeem the property. 

To redeem the property, the charge holder must remit the full upset price, plus interest on the purchase price at a rate set by the Province, within one year of the tax sale. 

If the property has been sold at tax sale and the City has been declared the purchaser, 50% of the upset price, plus interest, may be paid as an instalment, thus extending the redemption period by 11 months and 21 days. This applies only to property having improvements. 

Once the property is redeemed, the City will refund to the tax sale purchaser the purchase price, plus interest, to the date of redemption. Please note, it may take two to three weeks before a refund cheque is issued to the tax sale purchaser. Interest on the purchase price is only paid up to the date of redemption.

Section 421 of the Local Government Act provides that when real property is sold at tax sale, all rights held by the person who, at the time of the sale was the owner, immediately cease to exist, except for the right of redemption, the right to bring an action to set aside the tax sale, and the right to possession.

The registered owner's right of possession is subject to the purchaser's right to bring action against the original property owner for waste (i.e. damage or destruction to the premises) and the right of the purchaser to enter onto the property to maintain it in the proper condition and to prevent waste. Damage, destruction, or loss of property during the redemption period are at the risk of the purchaser. The purchaser is advised to insure his interest in the property.

If the property is not redeemed during the one-year period, the Collector registers the new owner at the Kamloops Land Title and Survey Authority, thus cancelling all previous registered charges, except for those matters set out in Section 276(1)(c) to (g) of the Land Title Act and any lien of the Crown, an improvement district, or a local district.

The new owners are required to pay the property sales tax to the Provincial Sales Tax Administrator after application has been made to register in the Land Titles Office.