Hot Spring County, AR tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Hot Spring County, seat of Malvern: 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.
- Announcements
- Hot Spring County's own website publishes no tax sale calendar and no delinquent parcel list.
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- Registration opens one hour before the auction at the sale site and costs nothing.
- County office
- (501) 332-5857
On this page
How Hot Spring County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands
- Frequency
- annual
- Registration
- Registration opens one hour before the auction at the sale site and costs nothing.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Registration opens one hour before the auction at the sale site and costs nothing. Fill out a numbered bidder registration card, hand it to a Commissioner of State Lands employee, and keep the opposite half as your bidder number. Parcels are called in sale number order as printed in the catalog. The minimum bid is the taxes, interest, penalty and costs due as of the sale date, and the total purchase price is that minimum plus any competitive bidding. Cash is not accepted. Winning bidders pay in full immediately after the auction by personal or business check, cashier's check, money order, or credit or debit card, with a 4% non-refundable processing fee on card transactions. Payment must be for the exact amount owed, and bidders are not given extra time to leave and retrieve funds.
Sale format and venue
Hot Spring County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Hot Spring 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 Public Auction Catalog, Hot Spring County parcels and minimum bids for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
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 as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Hot Spring County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Public Auction Catalog, Hot Spring County parcels and minimum bids. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Registration opens one hour before the auction at the sale site and costs nothing. Fill out a numbered bidder registration card, hand it to a Commissioner of State Lands employee, and keep the opposite half as your bidder number. Parcels are called in sale number order as printed in the catalog. The minimum bid is the taxes, interest, penalty and costs due as of the sale date, and the total purchase price is that minimum plus any competitive bidding. Cash is not accepted. Winning bidders pay in full immediately after the auction by personal or business check, cashier's check, money order, or credit or debit card, with a 4% non-refundable processing fee on card transactions. Payment must be for the exact amount owed, and bidders are not given extra time to leave and retrieve funds.
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
- Hot Spring County parcels are not auctioned in Malvern. The Commissioner of State Lands groups Hot Spring with Saline, Perry and Grant counties into one regional sitting at the River Center gym, 1800 Citizens Drive, Benton, in neighbouring Saline County. Only the Public Auction Catalog is authoritative for which room a Hot Spring parcel is sold in, so check it rather than assuming a courthouse sale at the county seat.
- Hot Spring County's own website publishes no tax sale calendar and no delinquent parcel list. Watch for the Collector's delinquent notice in a local newspaper of general circulation ahead of certification, and take the auction date, venue, parcel list and minimum bids from the Commissioner of State Lands catalog at cosl.org. The Collector's office at 210 Locust Street in Malvern handles tax payments and payoff figures, and a call to (501) 332-5857 will confirm what is owed on a parcel before you bid.
- The Commissioner of State Lands answers auction questions directly at 501-324-9422 or [email protected], and the office is in the State Capitol Building, 500 Woodlane Street, Suite 109, Little Rock, AR 72201. Certified funds for online post-auction purchases go to a different address, 7003 Valley Ranch Drive, Little Rock, AR 72223-4696, so do not mail payment to the Capitol.
- Research before the sale is on you. The catalog links the assessor's property card for each parcel by parcel number, and the State Land Surveyor's plat search at plat.arkansas.gov helps place a rural tract, but recorded liens and encumbrances sit with the Hot Spring County Circuit Clerk at 210 Locust Street, Malvern, (501) 332-2281. Money spent on a title search is not recoverable if you are outbid, and the Commissioner warrants nothing about access or condition.
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 Hot Spring County, Arkansas sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Hot Spring County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Hot Spring 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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