Madison County, KY tax sales
How tax lien sales work in Madison County, seat of Richmond: 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
- Tax sale scheduled for August 27, 2026.Thursday · 2026
- Registration
- Third party purchasers register directly with the Madison County Clerk.
- County office
- (859) 624-4703 ext. 2
On this page
How Madison 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)
- Run by
- Madison County Clerk
- Frequency
- annual
- Registration
- Third party purchasers register directly with the Madison County Clerk.
- Next expected
- between mid July and late August, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Third party purchasers register directly with the Madison County Clerk. The office set the 2026 registration deadline at Monday, August 17, ten calendar days before the sale. The packet asks for Department of Revenue form 62A374, Certificate of Delinquency Sale Registration, a copy of the state Certificate of Registration issued by the Department of Revenue, a separate list labeled Priority Certificates of Delinquency for prior year bills the buyer already holds, a separate list of current year certificates the buyer wants, and a notarized sworn statement that the buyer is not bidding in concert with a related person or entity to gain an advantage. Registration fees are $5.00 per priority certificate plus $10.00 per current certificate, capped at $250.00 and paid by separate payment. The deposit is the full amount due on the priority certificates plus 25 percent of the amount due on the current certificates, submitted with the lists at least ten calendar days before the sale. Certified funds only, and each entity needs its own check.
Sale format and venue
Madison County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Madison 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 2025 Delinquent Real Property Tax Bill List (PDF) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
Tax sale scheduled for August 27, 2026. The auction platform is still being verified. Confirm the next sale date and registration window with the county before you bid.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Madison County Clerk as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Madison County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from 2025 Delinquent Real Property Tax Bill List (PDF). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Third party purchasers register directly with the Madison County Clerk. The office set the 2026 registration deadline at Monday, August 17, ten calendar days before the sale. The packet asks for Department of Revenue form 62A374, Certificate of Delinquency Sale Registration, a copy of the state Certificate of Registration issued by the Department of Revenue, a separate list labeled Priority Certificates of Delinquency for prior year bills the buyer already holds, a separate list of current year certificates the buyer wants, and a notarized sworn statement that the buyer is not bidding in concert with a related person or entity to gain an advantage. Registration fees are $5.00 per priority certificate plus $10.00 per current certificate, capped at $250.00 and paid by separate payment. The deposit is the full amount due on the priority certificates plus 25 percent of the amount due on the current certificates, submitted with the lists at least ten calendar days before the sale. Certified funds only, and each entity needs its own check.
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.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 certificates
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)
P.O. Box 1270, Richmond, KY 40476 (office at 321 N. Madison Ave., Richmond, KY 40475)
Official websiteCounty notes
- County property tax bills go delinquent on April 16, when the Madison County Sheriff turns the uncollected bills over to the Clerk and they become certificates of delinquency available to third party purchasers.
- The Clerk keeps two delinquent lists, one for real property bills and a much shorter one for tangible personal property bills, both posted on the office home page. The 2025 real property list carried 386 bills.
- Owners can keep a bill out of the sale by arranging a payment plan with the Madison County Attorney, which the Clerk gives as a July 31 deadline, so expect the advertised list to shrink between the newspaper publication and sale day.
- Registration and the full deposit are due ten days ahead of the sale, so an investor who first sees the August advertisement has already missed the county cutoff for that year. The separate Department of Revenue registration takes 60 days from the date the application is received, and the state asks for applications by mid-May to cover every county sale that season.
- The Clerk's office has two branches, Richmond and Berea, but tax sale registration and the sale itself are handled at Richmond.
Kentucky rules
- 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.
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 Madison County, Kentucky sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Madison County tax certificate sale?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Madison County tax sale list?
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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