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Tax Sale Atlas

Daviess County, KY tax sales

How tax lien sales work in Daviess County, seat of Owensboro: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how Kentucky tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next sale
The clerk holds one delinquent property tax sale a year, in August.
Format
In person
County office
270-685-8434 (Recording Department, ext. 3)
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 23, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Daviess County sells delinquent taxes

From lien to deed

Kentucky holds no county tax deed auction. Title moves only through a lawsuit. The owner of a certificate of delinquency may sue to collect the debt, to enforce the KRS 134.420 lien, or both, at any time after one year has passed from the date the taxes became delinquent, and the action must be brought within eleven years of that date. A third-party purchaser has extra duties first: a notice to the delinquent taxpayer within 50 days of receiving the certificate, that notice repeated every six months, and a further notice to the taxpayer and every mortgagee at least 45 days before filing suit.

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
Daviess County Clerk
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
The clerk holds one delinquent property tax sale a year, in August.
Next expected
between mid July and late August, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Sale list
Delinquent tax bill list, registration forms and sale updates
When it runs
The clerk holds one delinquent property tax sale a year, in August. The 2026 sale is set for Thursday, August 20, 2026 beginning at 9:00 a.m. CST in the Daviess County Fiscal Courtroom at 212 Saint Ann Street, Owensboro. The Kentucky Department of Revenue lists the county's 2026 date as 8/20/26.
Registration and deposit

Register with the Daviess County Clerk at least ten days before the sale, and no later than 4:00 p.m. CST on August 10, 2026 for the 2026 sale. The clerk charges a nonrefundable registration fee of $5 for each certificate on a purchaser's priority list and $10 for each certificate on its current list, capped at $250, and that fee must be paid separately from any list deposits. Purchase lists are due on the same deadline: holders of a prior year certificate file a separate priority list showing the current bill number, the prior claim's bill number and tax year, and the book and page of any recorded lien, with full payment in certified funds; a current year list must run in bill number order with the bill number, taxpayer name, property address, amount due and a list total, and 25 percent of the amount due paid in certified funds. A purchaser who plans to buy three or more certificates in any county, five or more statewide, or to invest more than $10,000 statewide in a calendar year must also register with the Kentucky Department of Revenue, which charges a $250 state fee and makes an applicant eligible to buy 60 days after the application is received. Registration forms are posted on the clerk's tax sale page, and the Recording Department answers questions at 270-685-8434 ext. 3.

Sale format and venue
The sale is conducted in person in the Fiscal Courtroom, with no online bidding. The clerk allows one representative per company in the room and lets several companies share a single representative. Selection order comes from a random drawing held August 14, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. CST and broadcast on the clerk's Facebook page; purchasers need not attend, and the drawn order is posted to the tax sale page right afterward. Before the general sale opens, the clerk sells each certificate to the third party holding the most recent prior year claim on that property. Everything left goes into a pool sold in rounds like a sports draft: purchasers take turns from the lowest drawn position to the highest, one certificate at a time, buying only from their own submitted list until every other purchaser has withdrawn, after which remaining certificates may go to any willing buyer. A purchaser may withdraw at any point and nobody replaces them. The clerk works to keep related entities, including family members and companies sharing owners, managers, investors, directors or clients, to one participant per group. Sold bills become a lien on the property rather than a transfer of title, and carry 12 percent interest a year from the date of issuance. Pay at the sale in cash, certified check, or credit or debit card, with a vendor convenience fee on card payments, and expect a separate $30 recording fee for the assignment of each certificate bought. All certified funds are payable to the Daviess County Clerk.
Source: Tax Sale Information and Procedure, Daviess County Clerk· Verified Aug 23, 2026

Daviess County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Daviess 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.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Delinquent tax bill list, registration forms and sale updates for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.

  3. Sale day

    The clerk holds one delinquent property tax sale a year, in August. 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.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Daviess County Clerk as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Daviess County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Delinquent tax bill list, registration forms and sale updates. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Register with the Daviess County Clerk at least ten days before the sale, and no later than 4:00 p.m. CST on August 10, 2026 for the 2026 sale. The clerk charges a nonrefundable registration fee of $5 for each certificate on a purchaser's priority list and $10 for each certificate on its current list, capped at $250, and that fee must be paid separately from any list deposits. Purchase lists are due on the same deadline: holders of a prior year certificate file a separate priority list showing the current bill number, the prior claim's bill number and tax year, and the book and page of any recorded lien, with full payment in certified funds; a current year list must run in bill number order with the bill number, taxpayer name, property address, amount due and a list total, and 25 percent of the amount due paid in certified funds. A purchaser who plans to buy three or more certificates in any county, five or more statewide, or to invest more than $10,000 statewide in a calendar year must also register with the Kentucky Department of Revenue, which charges a $250 state fee and makes an applicant eligible to buy 60 days after the application is received. Registration forms are posted on the clerk's tax sale page, and the Recording Department answers questions at 270-685-8434 ext. 3.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Kentucky due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.

  4. 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

A certificate that goes unpaid at the annual sale may be paid to the county clerk at any time afterward by any person, unless it is under a payment plan with the Department of Revenue or the county attorney or is known to be in litigation. You need a current Department of Revenue certificate of registration if you will hold more than three certificates in this county, more than five statewide, or invest more than 10,000 dollars statewide in the calendar year, and you register with the county clerk and pay the county fee if you have not already done so that year. Separately, 90 days after the sheriff files the tax claims, any person may pay a certificate the taxing jurisdictions still own. Certificates that arrive too late for one year's sale are held for the next one.

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)

Daviess County Clerk's Office

270-685-8434 (Recording Department, ext. 3)

212 Saint Ann Street, Owensboro, KY 42301; mailing address P.O. Box 609, Owensboro, KY 42302-0609

Official website

County notes

  • Daviess County, seat Owensboro, sells certificates of delinquency on the prior year's unpaid real estate bills after the sheriff turns them over to the clerk in April. The 2026 sale covers 2025 tax bills.
  • The list shrinks in the final week. Taxpayers can keep a bill out of the sale by paying it in full or arranging terms with the County Attorney's Office at 270-685-8442 by August 14, 2026, so bidders should work from the last posted update rather than the first advertisement.
  • After the sale the clerk posts the drawing order, the bills that sold and the third party purchasers who bought them, which is a useful read on who competes in this county before you register.
  • The clerk's office is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Delinquent bill payments and tax sale business are handled in Room 104 of the courthouse.

Kentucky rules

Max interest rate
12% per year, fixed by statute (nothing is bid)
Minimum return
No statutory floor; every certificate earns the same statutory rate
Redemption
Kentucky'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. 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.
Surplus proceeds
If nobody bids at the foreclosure sale, the master commissioner deeds the property to the person or persons the record shows own the certificate or certificates of delinquency, each taking a pro rata interest matching the size of their certificate. Where the state, county, or a taxing district ends up owning the land, the commissioner's designated agent may advertise and sell it at public sale after posting notice at the courthouse door for fifteen days and publishing under KRS Chapter 424, the department keeps an administration fee of 15 percent of the sale price, and the balance is paid to the county and taxing districts within thirty days.
Governing statute
KRS Chapter 134

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.

See the full Kentuckyrules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Daviess County, Kentucky sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax lien certificates. In Kentucky investors buy the lien, not the property; the County Clerk runs the sale.

When is the Daviess County tax certificate sale?

The clerk holds one delinquent property tax sale a year, in August. The 2026 sale is set for Thursday, August 20, 2026 beginning at 9:00 a.m. CST in the Daviess County Fiscal Courtroom at 212 Saint Ann Street, Owensboro. The Kentucky Department of Revenue lists the county's 2026 date as 8/20/26. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Clerk before the sale.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Kentucky's redemption rule: No fixed deadline while the certificate is outstanding. Six months after a judicial sale that brings less than two thirds of the appraised value, and none at all when it brings two thirds or more. Call the Daviess County Clerk as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the Daviess County tax sale list?

Daviess County posts its tax sale list at daviessky.org. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

Verified Aug 23, 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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