Benton County, MN tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Christine Scherbing is the elected Benton County Auditor-Treasurer, and conducting tax forfeiture land sales is one of the office's listed statutory duties. The office sits in the Benton County Government Center at 531 Dewey Street, Foley, MN 56329, mailing address P.O. Box 129, Foley, MN 56329, phone (320) 968-5006, fax (320) 968-5337, email [email protected].
• •Watch two places for a sale. The county posts the notice on its Tax Forfeited Properties page at https://www.bentoncountymn.gov/187/Tax-Forfeited-Properties, and it publishes the same notice in the Benton County Herald 30 days before the sale. Between sales the page carries no parcel list, so the 30-day notice is the practical lead time a bidder gets.
• •Benton County keeps no standing over-the-counter or repurchase list of previously unsold tax-forfeited parcels, and none is published between auctions. Ask the Auditor-Treasurer at (320) 968-5006 whether any parcel remains available before assuming inventory exists.
• •Minnesota law lets a former owner repurchase a forfeited parcel under Minn. Stat. 282.241, which can unwind a sale after the fact. The county's own page points buyers to Minn. Stat. Chapters 279, 280, 281 and 282 and advises researching any parcel thoroughly before purchase, so treat a winning bid as settled only once the state deed issues.
• •Benton County parcels can carry hard zoning limits that transfer to the buyer. The June 2026 offering combined two Little Rock Lake parcels at 10294 and 10298 West Lake Rd NW, Rice, MN, that had to be sold together because neither met the one-acre minimum lot size in the R-2 Residential District, with a minimum bid of $134,000 and multiple zoning issues the notice said the purchaser must resolve at their own expense. The county publishes no conservation or wetland restriction beyond the standard conditions covering leases, easements, building restrictions of record and local ordinances, so read the zoning detail in each Public Surplus listing.
• •After a sale, proceeds above the delinquent taxes, special assessments, penalties, interest and costs do not stay with the county. Former owners and other interested parties may claim the surplus under Minn. Stat. 282.005, subdivision 6, using the Statement of Claim form the Auditor-Treasurer provides, and claims are due within six months of the date the notice is first mailed. The county posts a surplus list after each auction.

Minnesota rules

Redemption

Redemption in Minnesota runs BEFORE forfeiture and there is no redemption after a tax-forfeited land sale. The clock starts on the second Monday in May, when the county auditor bids the parcel in for the state, and it runs three years for most property. Once the parcel is unredeemed 120 days before that period ends, the county auditor gives notice of expiration of redemption, which is posted in the auditor's office, published for two successive weeks in the official county newspaper, mailed by certified mail to taxpayers, fee owners, and anyone who filed an address under Minn. Stat. 276.041, and personally served on anyone in possession of an occupied parcel. Redemption ends on the later of the end of the statutory period and 60 days after that notice is given and proof of it is filed with the auditor, and the Department of Revenue's manual states the exact forfeiture date the same way. On that date absolute title vests in the state of Minnesota. A district court can cut the period to five weeks on a city or county petition for abandoned or certain vacant property, so a parcel can reach forfeiture far sooner than three years. Forfeiture extinguishes redemption rights along with almost everything else, with one carve-out that Minn. Stat. 282.005, subd. 10 preserves in terms: rights of redemption provided under federal law, which is where an unreleased federal tax lien can still reach a parcel after the sale. The right to REPURCHASE after forfeiture, under Minn. Stat. 282.241, is a separate remedy and not a redemption right.Minnesota Statutes 281.17 - the three-year redemption period and the one-year exceptions for targeted-community and qualified solid waste facility landMinn. Stat. 281.17Verified Aug 24, 2026

Deed deposit

Minnesota fixes no statutory bidder deposit and no statutory registration deadline. Terms are set locally, and the Department of Revenue's manual treats a cash-only initial sale as best practice because everything above the minimum bid has to stay available for surplus claims. On a Chapter 282.01 sale, parcels are sold for cash only unless the county board has adopted a resolution allowing terms. Where terms are allowed, at least 10 percent of the purchase price is due at the time of purchase and the balance runs in no more than ten equal annual installments, or under a county board policy of no more than 12 installments a year over a term of no more than ten years. Confirm the county's published terms before registering.Minnesota Statutes 282.005 - the required initial public auction of tax-forfeited land, the estimated-market-value initial price, the minimum bid, the six-month deadline, surplus claims, and what forfeiture extinguishesMinn. Stat. 282.005Verified Aug 24, 2026

Surplus proceeds

Minnesota built a surplus claim process in response to Tyler v. Hennepin County, and the Revisor's note under Minn. Stat. 282.08 records that decision. It applies to forfeitures occurring after December 31, 2023. The minimum bid goes into the county's forfeited tax sale fund and everything above it is available to interested parties, meaning any party with an interest in the real estate, including the owner, a lienholder, and anyone who filed their name under Minn. Stat. 276.041. Within 60 days of the sale the county auditor must send notice and a claim form by certified mail to every interested party of record, mail a second notice by first class mail between 90 and 120 days if no claim has been filed, mail notice to the occupants unless the land is vacant, and publish a list of sales with unexpired claim periods on the county website. A claim must be filed within six months of the date the first notice is mailed. Multiple claims are divided in proportion to each claimant's interest, and a disputed claim can be deposited with the district court. Unclaimed surplus returns to the county's forfeited tax sale fund. A separate claim process covers iron-bearing stockpiles, minerals, and mineral interests, which are sold to the state for $50 at forfeiture and valued by the commissioner of natural resources if a claim is filed.Minnesota Statutes 282.005 - the required initial public auction of tax-forfeited land, the estimated-market-value initial price, the minimum bid, the six-month deadline, surplus claims, and what forfeiture extinguishesMinn. Stat. 282.005Verified Aug 24, 2026

Governing statute

Minn. Stat. Chapter 279Minnesota Statutes 279.05 - the county auditor files the delinquent list with the district court by February 15 and the filing acts as a complaint against each parcelMinn. Stat. 279.05Verified Aug 24, 2026

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.

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