Pine County, MN tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Pine County, seat of Pine City: 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
- Tax sale scheduled for October 22, 2026.Thursday · 2026
- Format
- County site
- County office
- (320) 216-4225
On this page
How Pine 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
- Pine County Land Department
- Frequency
- annual
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Register for the online sale at mnbid.mn.gov/registration and bid tract by tract at mnbid.mn.gov. Winning online bids must be paid in full within 10 business days by money order or cashier's check payable to Surplus Services, mailed to 5420 Old Highway 8, Arden Hills, MN 55112, or hand delivered to the Pine County Auditor's Office. The courthouse auction takes bids in person and requires payment in full immediately after the sale. Every purchase also carries closing costs collected by the Auditor's Office at (320) 591-1666: a 3 percent state assurance fee, a $25 state deed fee, a $46 recording fee, deed tax of $1.65 on sales up to $3,000 or 0.33 percent of the price above that, and a $54 well certificate fee where one applies.
Sale format and venue
Pine County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Pine 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 Tax-forfeited auction tract list and packets for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
Tax sale scheduled for October 22, 2026. Bidding runs on County site; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Pine County Land Department as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Pine County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Tax-forfeited auction tract list and packets. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Register for the online sale at mnbid.mn.gov/registration and bid tract by tract at mnbid.mn.gov. Winning online bids must be paid in full within 10 business days by money order or cashier's check payable to Surplus Services, mailed to 5420 Old Highway 8, Arden Hills, MN 55112, or hand delivered to the Pine County Auditor's Office. The courthouse auction takes bids in person and requires payment in full immediately after the sale. Every purchase also carries closing costs collected by the Auditor's Office at (320) 591-1666: a 3 percent state assurance fee, a $25 state deed fee, a $46 recording fee, deed tax of $1.65 on sales up to $3,000 or 0.33 percent of the price above that, and a $54 well certificate fee where one applies.
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.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.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax sale office
County notes
- Minnesota sells no tax lien certificates. Delinquent Pine County parcels go to judgment and then through a statutory redemption period under Minn. Stat. 281.17, and if nobody redeems, absolute title forfeits to the State of Minnesota under Minn. Stat. 281.18. Only then does the county offer the land for sale under Minn. Stat. Chapter 282.
- Unsold tracts stay available over the counter at the Pine County Auditor's Office in the courthouse at 635 Northridge Drive NW, Suite 240, Pine City. Parcels that do not sell at the first auction can be bought at the appraised or estimated market value until midday October 19, 2026, and after the second auction most remaining tracts stay available at the reduced minimum bid until the County Board withdraws or reappraises them. Tracts 9 through 23 come off the list on November 12, 2026.
- Former owners and their associates cannot buy back their own forfeited parcel for less than the delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties, interest and costs owed on it, under Minn. Stat. 282.016 and 282.01, subdivision 7. County employees involved in the sales cannot bid at all.
- Except for land in platted subdivisions and conveyances correcting legal descriptions, every deed carries the statement that the property is not eligible for enrollment in a state funded program providing compensation for conservation of marginal land or wetlands. Buyers planning to alter wetlands or build should clear it with county and local zoning first.
- The Land Department in Sandstone at (320) 216-4226 answers auction questions, and the county keeps the auction page at PineCountyMN.gov/LandSale.
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 Pine County, Minnesota sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Pine County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Pine County tax sale list?
Verified Aug 25, 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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