Crawford County, AR tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Crawford County, seat of Van Buren: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Arkansas tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Format
- In person
- County office
- 479-474-1111
On this page
How Crawford County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands (Commissioner Tommy Land). Crawford County does not conduct the sale; the county collector certifies unredeemed parcels and the Commissioner advertises, auctions and deeds them.
- Frequency
- annual
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Register at the sale site before bidding opens, within the window stated in the published notice. No bid is accepted until you have registered and been handed a pre-numbered bid card, and registration requires photo identification plus a valid driver's license number, expiration date and issuing state. Minimum bids are printed on the auction list and equal the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, fees and costs; each parcel goes to the highest bidder at or above that figure, and the Commissioner may reject any or all bids. An oral bid is a binding contract. Winners pay the full price at the sale by personal check, business check, certified funds, or credit or debit card carrying a non-refundable processing fee, made payable to the Commissioner of State Lands. Cash is not accepted and there is no time-payment plan. The Commissioner's staff, the county collector and deputies, bidders whose home of record is outside the United States, and former owners or interested parties may not bid. For the post-auction online sale, register first at auction.cosl.org, clear the identity verification and keep a credit or debit card on file; a successful bid is charged $100 earnest money immediately and the balance is due in certified funds within 10 business days.
Sale format and venue
Crawford County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Crawford County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid.
Get the advertised list
Use Commissioner of State Lands auction results and unsold parcels for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands (Commissioner Tommy Land). Crawford County does not conduct the sale; the county collector certifies unredeemed parcels and the Commissioner advertises, auctions and deeds them. as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Crawford County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Commissioner of State Lands auction results and unsold parcels. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Register at the sale site before bidding opens, within the window stated in the published notice. No bid is accepted until you have registered and been handed a pre-numbered bid card, and registration requires photo identification plus a valid driver's license number, expiration date and issuing state. Minimum bids are printed on the auction list and equal the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, fees and costs; each parcel goes to the highest bidder at or above that figure, and the Commissioner may reject any or all bids. An oral bid is a binding contract. Winners pay the full price at the sale by personal check, business check, certified funds, or credit or debit card carrying a non-refundable processing fee, made payable to the Commissioner of State Lands. Cash is not accepted and there is no time-payment plan. The Commissioner's staff, the county collector and deputies, bidders whose home of record is outside the United States, and former owners or interested parties may not bid. For the post-auction online sale, register first at auction.cosl.org, clear the identity verification and keep a credit or debit card on file; a successful bid is charged $100 earnest money immediately and the balance is due in certified funds within 10 business days.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Arkansas due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.Set a walk-away number
Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
unsold properties
Thirty calendar days after the live auction, every parcel that drew no qualifying bid moves to the Commissioner's online unsold-property auction and stays there until it sells, is redeemed, or is withdrawn. Nothing is priced over a counter: the first online bid starts a 30-calendar-day auction period that closes at 8:00 p.m. Central on the thirtieth day, other registered bidders may outbid during it, and the Commissioner mails the owner and interested parties notice when the first bid arrives. Within two years of the live auction the reserve stays at the taxes, penalty, interest, fees and costs; two years or more after it, the Commissioner may negotiate a price he determines is in the best interest of the state and the local taxing units. Online bidders must pass an identity check as a United States resident and keep a card on file; the winner's card is charged $100 in earnest money immediately and the balance is due in certified funds within 10 business days.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax sale office
County notes
- Arkansas is state administered. The Crawford County collector never holds a tax sale of its own; it bills the tax, penalises anything unpaid after October 15, and certifies the parcel to the Commissioner of State Lands, which advertises and auctions the deed.
- Crawford County shares its auction date and bidding room with Sebastian, Scott, Logan and Franklin counties at the Fort Smith Convention Center. Budget for the drive from Van Buren and confirm the current date in the Commissioner's Public Auction Catalog at cosl.org, since the statewide calendar is rebuilt every year.
- Call the Crawford County Tax Collector at 479-474-1111 to confirm what is owed on a parcel or whether it has already been certified to the state. The collector's office is at 300 Main Street, Room 2, in the courthouse at Van Buren, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For auction questions the Commissioner of State Lands takes calls at 501-324-9422.
- Deed research is on you. The limited warranty deed carries no guarantee of access or clear title, and city liens, improvement district assessments and property owners' association dues commonly survive the sale, so price those in before bidding.
Arkansas rules
- Redemption
- The clock is long even though the deadline is hard. The county collector holds the delinquent land for one year after the October 15 delinquency date, certification to the Commissioner of State Lands follows no later than July 1 of the next year, and the sale date must be no earlier than one year after certification, so an owner normally has more than two years from the missed payment. What the owner does not get is any post-sale window. The Commissioner's office states that, effective July 1, 2023, parcels sold through its office cannot be redeemed and all sales are final, at live auctions and through the online unsold-property auction alike. Payment has to be received by the 4:00 p.m. deadline; postmarks are not accepted. A quoted redemption figure holds for 30 days unless the parcel sells, the county amends its records, or further costs accrue.
- Deed deposit
- There is no statutory bidder deposit at the live auction and no registration fee. Registration opens one hour before the sale at the sale site against a photo ID and a driver's license number, and the successful bidder tenders the full purchase price at the time of the sale. The online unsold-property auction works differently: registration requires identity verification and a card on file, and the winning bidder's card is charged $100 in earnest money immediately on notification.
- Surplus proceeds
- Money above the taxes, fees, penalties, interest and costs due at the time of sale is excess proceeds. Within one year of receipt the Commissioner pays penalties, collection fees and sale costs to his own office and the delinquent taxes, interest and costs to the county. The remainder is held for one year from the date of the limited warranty deed, then applied on application to delinquent personal property taxes, state tax certificates of indebtedness and delinquent solid waste assessments. Of whatever is left, 10 percent up to a maximum of $500 goes to the Commissioner for administering the distribution and the rest is payable to the former owner on a complete claim packet. Excess proceeds are held two years and then escheat by operation of law to the county. A former owner, part owner or interested party who buys the parcel at the tax sale is not entitled to any distribution, and a third-party recovery agent's fee may not exceed 10 percent.
A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Crawford County, Arkansas sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Crawford County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Crawford County tax sale list?
Verified Aug 22, 2026 against official county and state sources.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.
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