Ramsey County, MN tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Unsold parcels go over the counter. Anything that draws no bid at the public sale may be offered the next business day through the Productive Properties office on a first-come, first-served basis at the established appraised price plus taxes and fees, and the county publishes an Over-the-Counter Property List of what is available right now. The price cannot be reduced unless the parcel is reappraised, advertised and offered again at public sale.
• •A prior owner can undo a sale. A former owner may apply to repurchase forfeited land, and in Ramsey County that means a written application plus a $250 fee to the tax-forfeited land section, a recommendation from the municipality where the parcel sits, and a decision by the county board, which must find that repurchase corrects an undue hardship or injustice or best serves the public interest. Repurchase is a privilege, not a right, and there is no appeal if the board denies it.
• •Restrictive covenants are required for marginal lands and wetlands, including lands in auditor's subdivisions, so check what runs with the deed before you bid.
• •Sliver and splinter parcels that cannot be built on under local minimum area, shape, frontage or access rules are sold only to adjoining owners at a separate adjacent owner sale. They never reach the open auction.
• •A former owner may bid at the public sale, but must pay the minimum sale price or the amount of the delinquency, whichever is greater.
• •The full sale list is published in the county's official newspaper and some local papers and posted in the office of the Ramsey County Auditor. The county also offers free email notifications of upcoming auctions.
• •Ramsey County is the state's most urban county, so the inventory is mostly Saint Paul city lots and houses rather than rural acreage. The March 13, 2026 list carried appraised values from $2,700 for a vacant Saint Paul lot to $463,100 for an improved home in Shoreview.
• •Property taxes on a purchased parcel become due and payable the year after the sale. A parcel bought in 2026 generates its first tax bill payable in 2027.

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.

See the full Minnesotarules and every county →