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Kentucky tax lien & tax deed sales

Kentucky is a tax lien state, and the instrument it sells is called a certificate of delinquency. Read more…

The sheriff collects property taxes, then files every real property tax claim still unpaid on April 15 with the county clerk, which is the moment the claim becomes a certificate of delinquency. Each county clerk holds one sale a year on a date the Department of Revenue assigns, and the certificate earns 12 percent simple interest per year on the amount actually paid. Nothing is bid down and nothing is bid up: certificates sell at the amount due, and the contest is over who gets to buy which ones. Prior year certificate holders take their priority certificates first, and the rest are allocated to registered third-party purchasers in lots by random draw. A purchaser who wants more than three certificates in one county, more than five statewide, or who plans to invest more than 10,000 dollars in a year must hold a Department of Revenue certificate of registration before buying. Title comes only through a circuit court foreclosure, not a county deed auction. The governing law is KRS Chapter 134.

Rules verified Aug 23, 2026 against Kentucky Statutes.

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Sale type: Tax lien
Maximum rate: 12%
Auction method: judicial foreclosure
Over-the-counter: Available

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Tax lien certificates

You pay the overdue taxes and receive a certificate that earns a rate fixed by statute. Nothing is bid: the price is the debt itself, every buyer earns the same rate, and who may buy is decided by statutory priority rather than by competition. Compare bidding methods to see how that changes what you earn.

Bidding method: Fixed rate, no bidding
Maximum rate: 12% per year, fixed by statute (nothing is bid)
Minimum return: No statutory floor; every certificate earns the same statutory rate
Next expected: between mid July and late August, 2026 (window; exact dates post per county)
Certificate life: Expires 11 years after issuance

Sale timingOne sale a year in each county, on a date the Department of Revenue assigns. More…

The department sends each county clerk a proposed date by May 1, settles changes by May 15, and publishes the final statewide schedule after that. Each county's sale must fall at least 90 and not more than 135 days after the sheriff files the unpaid tax claims with the clerk on April 15, which puts the ordinary window between roughly mid July and late August. A clerk who expects certificates on unmined coal, oil, gas, or other separately assessed mineral reserves to arrive too late may ask the department to hold that county's sale up to 195 days after the filing date, which is why the tail of the statewide schedule runs into October.

Zero-bid ruleKentucky runs no auction in the ordinary sense. More…

There is no rate to bid down and no price to bid up, because a certificate of delinquency sells for the amount due on it. What the sale allocates is access. A third-party purchaser who already holds a prior year certificate on a parcel files a priority list with the county clerk as part of registration, fifteen days before the sale, and takes that parcel's current certificate off the table before the sale opens, with the holder of the most recent tax year ranking first. Everything left is sold in lots whose size is set by how many certificates the county has, from lots of five in counties with 500 or fewer certificates up to lots of fifty in the largest counties, and the order in which registered purchasers pick lots is decided by a random drawing on the day of the sale. The clerk may not structure the sale so that one third party can take every certificate while other registered purchasers want them, and related entities and related interests may not register separately to game the draw.

Redemption, delinquency, and over-the-counter at a glance

Redemption

How longKentucky's redemption window is a property of where the parcel is in the process, not a single statewide clock, and it runs in four tracks. More…

Track one, and by far the most common, is an outstanding certificate of delinquency: the delinquent taxpayer or anyone holding a legal or equitable estate in the property may pay the third-party purchaser the total amount due at any time, and the purchaser may accept payment from anyone at any time. No statute closes that window, so it stays open until a court forecloses. Track two is a foreclosure sale that brought less than two thirds of the property's appraised value, where the defendant and the defendant's representatives may redeem within six months of the day of sale. Track three is a foreclosure sale that brought two thirds or more of the appraised value, where no right of redemption exists at all; the purchaser takes the property outright. Track four is land the state, county, and taxing districts acquired through a KRS 134.546 action, which the taxpayer may redeem at any time before the commissioner delivers a deed to a purchaser. A third-party purchaser must also offer a monthly installment plan on written request for certificates bought after June 1, 2012, if the purchaser is one who has to register with the department.

What the owner paysOn an outstanding certificate a third-party purchaser may collect only the amount actually paid for the certificate, 12 percent simple interest on that amount from the purchase date, and capped prelitigation attorney fees. More…

Those fees are tiered by the size of the certificate: up to 100 percent of a certificate between 5 and 350 dollars capped at 350 dollars, up to 80 percent of a certificate between 351 and 700 dollars capped at 560 dollars, and up to 70 percent of a certificate above 701 dollars capped at 700 dollars. Fees across several certificates against the same taxpayer are capped at one and one half times the cap for the largest bill, no more than 175 dollars may accrue per notice, and fees may accrue no more often than every 90 days. The purchaser may add up to 115 dollars in administrative fees for preparing, recording, and releasing the assignment, an installment plan processing fee of up to 8 dollars a month, and, once suit is filed, actual reasonable litigation fees, presumptively reasonable up to 2,000 dollars and above that only if the court allows them. The county clerk's own compensation of 10 percent of the amount due each taxing unit is added to the claim and paid by whoever pays it off. After a judicial sale that fell short of two thirds of appraised value, the redeemer instead pays the original purchase money, 10 percent per annum on it, and the purchaser's reasonable post-sale costs for maintenance or repair, including utilities, insurance, association fees, taxes, and nuisance code compliance.

Delinquency

How it startsKentucky property taxes are due on or before December 31 of the assessment year. More…

Paying in full by November 1 earns a 2 percent discount, payment between November 2 and December 31 is at face, payment during January carries a 5 percent penalty, and payment after January 31 carries a 10 percent penalty. Any real property tax claim still unpaid on April 15, or three months and fifteen days from the due date under an alternative collection schedule, is filed by the sheriff with the county clerk and becomes a certificate of delinquency. The state and every county, city, and taxing district hold a lien on the assessed property for eleven years following the date the taxes became delinquent, and that lien takes priority over any other obligation the property is liable for.

Over-the-counter

How to buyAny certificate of delinquency that goes unpaid at the annual sale may be paid to the county clerk at any time afterward by any person, provided it is not under a payment plan with the department or the county attorney and is not known to be in litigation. More…

The buyer must hold a current Department of Revenue certificate of registration if KRS 134.129 requires one, and must register with the county clerk and pay that county's registration fee, up to the 250 dollar annual maximum, if not already registered there for the calendar year. There is a separate and earlier route into certificates the taxing jurisdictions still own: ninety days after the sheriff files the tax claims with the clerk, any person may pay the total amount due on such a certificate. Certificates that reach the clerk too late to make the annual sale are held until the next year's sale, and in the meantime only the KRS 134.127(1)(a) insiders may pay them.

What is availableKentucky maintains no lands available list. More…

Where an action on a certificate of delinquency leaves the state, county, and taxing districts owning the land, the commissioner's designated agent may advertise and sell it at public sale, with notice posted at the courthouse door for fifteen days and published under KRS Chapter 424, and the taxpayer may redeem right up until the deed is delivered.

Governing statutes

KRS Chapter 134 KRS 134.015 KRS 134.122 KRS 134.125 KRS 134.126 KRS 134.127 KRS 134.128 KRS 134.129 KRS 134.420 KRS 134.452 KRS 134.490 KRS 134.546 KRS 134.549 KRS 426.520 KRS 426.530 103 KAR 5:180 103 KAR 5:190

All 120 Kentucky counties

Sales are organized by county. Search your city or county, or filter by whether the tax deed sale runs online or in person. Each row shows the certificate-sale platform for quick comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Does Kentucky sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Kentucky sells tax liens, in the form of certificates of delinquency. The sheriff collects property taxes and files every real property claim still unpaid on April 15 with the county clerk, at which point it becomes a certificate of delinquency. The county clerk, not the sheriff, sells those certificates. Kentucky holds no county tax deed auction; a certificate holder reaches title only by suing in circuit court.

What interest rate does a Kentucky certificate of delinquency pay?

Twelve percent per year, simple, never compounded. For a third-party purchaser the interest runs on the amount actually paid to the county clerk, from the purchase date until the certificate is paid off. A fraction of a month counts as a whole month, so even a very fast payoff earns one month of interest. There is no bidding that could lower that rate and no premium that could dilute it.

How does the Kentucky county clerk sale actually work if there is no bidding?

Certificates sell at the amount due, so purchasers compete for access rather than on price. A purchaser who already holds a prior year certificate on a parcel files a priority list with the clerk fifteen days before the sale and takes that parcel's current certificate before the sale opens, with the most recent tax year ranking first. What remains is sold in lots sized by the county's volume, from five in the smallest counties to fifty in the largest, and a random drawing on the day of the sale sets the order in which registered purchasers choose lots. Purchasers who are not present for the drawing go to the bottom of the order. Registering with the county clerk costs 5 dollars per priority certificate and 10 dollars per current certificate on your lists, capped at 250 dollars a year for that county.

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