Fillmore County, MN tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Fillmore County, MN tax sale, one of 3,131 counties in 51 states. Minnesota sells the property itself, so no statutory investor interest rate applies. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Oct 6, 2026.
How tax deed sales work in Fillmore County, seat of Preston: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Minnesota tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- Annual, in late fall.
- Format
- Public Surplus
- County office
- 507-765-3811
On this page
How Fillmore County sells delinquent taxes
No tax lien certificate sale
Minnesota counties sell no tax lien certificates and no certificates of purchase to investors. Chapter 280 abolished the public tax judgment sale to bidders: the county auditor bids every unsatisfied parcel in for the state itself, and Minn. Stat. 280.43 states that no actual public sale takes place under that chapter. The only buyer at that step is the state of Minnesota, which then holds title in trust for the local taxing districts.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Fillmore County Auditor-Treasurer
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual, in late fall.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Bid through Public Surplus, the online auction partner named in the county's 2026 Terms of Sale. The winning online bidder pays a 5 percent buyer's premium to Public Surplus. Purchases of $10,000 or less must be paid in full at the time of purchase; above $10,000, at least 10 percent down is due at purchase and the balance within 10 business days. Payment is accepted as cash, cashier's check, money order or credit card (cards carry a 3 percent processing fee). Fees added to the price include a 3 percent State Tax Forfeited Land Assurance surcharge, state deed tax, a $25 state deed fee, a $46 recording fee and a $50 well disclosure certificate where applicable. The buyer must show a valid driver's license, state ID or passport and sign the purchase documents; entities need an officer with signing authority, and agents need a power of attorney or notarized letter filed before the sale. To get mailed notice of a parcel, ask the Auditor-Treasurer at 507-765-3811 or auditor@fillmorecountymn.gov to add you to the Interested Party list.
Sale format and venue
Fillmore County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Fillmore 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. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.
Confirm the advertised parcel list
Use 2026 list of forfeited parcels with EMV and minimum bid prices as a starting reference. Check which sale or list it covers; a Lands Available or office information page is separate from an auction parcel list. Ask the sale office for the advertised parcels for the auction you plan to attend.Register to bid
Ask the Fillmore County Auditor-Treasurer how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
Annual, in late fall. Bidding runs on Public Surplus; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use the Fillmore County Auditor-Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Fillmore County
4 checks
Confirm the parcel list before pricing
Open 2026 list of forfeited parcels with EMV and minimum bid prices. Confirm whether this reference contains the auction parcels or covers a different list. Get the advertised parcel list from the county before you price a bid, and recheck it before the sale.Confirm registration and deposit
Bid through Public Surplus, the online auction partner named in the county's 2026 Terms of Sale. The winning online bidder pays a 5 percent buyer's premium to Public Surplus. Purchases of $10,000 or less must be paid in full at the time of purchase; above $10,000, at least 10 percent down is due at purchase and the balance within 10 business days. Payment is accepted as cash, cashier's check, money order or credit card (cards carry a 3 percent processing fee). Fees added to the price include a 3 percent State Tax Forfeited Land Assurance surcharge, state deed tax, a $25 state deed fee, a $46 recording fee and a $50 well disclosure certificate where applicable. The buyer must show a valid driver's license, state ID or passport and sign the purchase documents; entities need an officer with signing authority, and agents need a power of attorney or notarized letter filed before the sale. To get mailed notice of a parcel, ask the Auditor-Treasurer at 507-765-3811 or auditor@fillmorecountymn.gov to add you to the Interested Party list.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Minnesota due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in Minnesota before you price the title work.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
Minnesota's over-the-counter route opens only after a parcel has been offered at public auction and failed to sell. Once every parcel on the county's list has been offered, the county auditor must sell any remaining parcel to anyone willing to pay the appraised value, which the Department of Revenue's forfeiture manual describes as a private or over-the-counter sale made from the auditor's office. A parcel stays available at that price until the county board reappraises it or withdraws it from the sale list, and after either it has to be re-offered at a published public auction before it can be sold privately again. Anyone who could have repurchased the parcel as the former owner may not buy it this way for less than all taxes, assessments, penalties, interest, and costs due at forfeiture plus certified special assessments. Whether this county currently holds any unsold inventory, and how it takes an offer, has to be confirmed with the county auditor or land department.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Minnesota calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax sale office
County notes
- The Auditor-Treasurer runs every stage of tax forfeiture in Fillmore County, from the redemption notices through the sale of forfeited parcels.
- The 2026 forfeiture sale is online only through Public Surplus: an estimated market value sale from November 2 to December 1, then a minimum-bid sale from December 2 to December 11.
- Budget for a 5 percent Public Surplus buyer's premium and a 3 percent state assurance surcharge on top of the winning bid, plus deed and recording fees.
- Ask the Auditor-Treasurer to add you to the Interested Party list to get mailed notice when a parcel you follow is confirmed for sale.
- A former owner's repurchase right runs six months from forfeiture, so treat any listed parcel as able to come off the list.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
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 Fillmore County, Minnesota sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Fillmore County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Fillmore County tax sale list?
Verified Oct 6, 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 office that runs the sale before you bid.
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