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Plumas County
Plumas County
Plumas County is a remote northern Sierra county anchored by Quincy. Timber, ranching, and Sierra recreation drive the economy. Lake Almanor, Bucks Lake, and small mountain towns dominate residential markets. The 2021 Dixie Fire devastated parts of the county including Greenville and continues to shape distressed activity.
Property in Plumas
What every owner, heir, and investor should know.
Owning a home in Plumas.
Plumas homeowners face California's standard rules with severe wildfire and disaster overlays.
- Property taxes are paid in two installments due November 1 and February 1; delinquencies run after December 10 and April 10.
- Proposition 13 caps annual assessed-value growth at 2% absent a change of ownership or new construction.
- The Homeowners' Exemption reduces assessed value by $7,000 for an owner-occupied principal residence; file with the Plumas County Assessor.
- Disaster relief reassessment under R&TC §170 applies after declared events; rebuilt structures may keep their pre-disaster Prop 13 base year if rebuilt similar in size and use.
- FEMA, SBA, and PG&E settlement-related instruments may appear on title due to the Dixie Fire and Camp/Wildfire Trust matters.
- Wildfire risk is severe; FAIR Plan use is common.
- Power to Sell triggers after five years of delinquency.
- Excess proceeds claims must be filed under R&TC §4675 within one year of the tax deed recording.
Investing in Plumas.
Plumas presents a thin but disaster-impacted opportunity set, with rebuild and burn-zone parcels common.
- Tax-defaulted auctions are conducted by the Plumas County Treasurer-Tax Collector, typically online via Bid4Assets when scheduled.
- The Plumas County Recorder is the source for deeds, deeds of trust, liens, releases, and tax deeds.
- The Plumas County Assessor handles parcel data and assessed values.
- Trustee sale notices appear in Plumas News and the Indian Valley Record.
- Diligence focus: wildfire history, debris removal status, FEMA/PG&E settlement liens, septic/well, defensible space, federal land adjacency (Plumas National Forest), and HOA CC&Rs in lake subdivisions.
After a Plumas foreclosure or tax deed sale.
In Plumas, distressed property resolves through California's nonjudicial trustee sale process or the county tax-defaulted property sale program, with a heavy disaster overlay.
- Tax-defaulted property sales are conducted by the Plumas County Tax Collector under R&TC Part 6.
- Owners may redeem before the sale by paying all defaulted taxes, penalties, fees, and costs.
- Excess proceeds claims must be filed within one year of the tax deed recording.
- Trustee sale surplus is distributed under Civil Code §2924k.
- Fire-cleanup liens, FEMA recoupment, and PG&E settlement-related encumbrances have appeared on parcels.
- Bankruptcy filings stay sales; check PACER and the Recorder before any auction.
Courts and records in Plumas.
- Superior Court of California, County of Plumas — Quincy Courthouse, 520 Main St, Quincy, CA 95971. Civil, criminal, family, probate, juvenile, traffic, and small claims.
- Superior Court of California, County of Plumas — Portola Branch, 600 Gulling St, Portola, CA 96122. Limited civil and traffic for the eastern county.
- Court of Appeal — Third Appellate District (Sacramento) hears Plumas appeals.
- Plumas County Clerk-Recorder — 520 Main St, Room 102, Quincy, CA 95971.
- Plumas County Assessor — 1 Crescent St, Quincy, CA 95971.
- Plumas County Treasurer-Tax Collector — 1 Crescent St, Quincy, CA 95971.