DeKalb County, MO tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •The Collector and Treasurer is Jessica Lee, elected in 2016. The office is in the DeKalb County Courthouse at 109 W Main St in Maysville, open Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 12:00 and 12:30 to 4:30, closed on county holidays.
• •DeKalb County is small enough that a sale is not guaranteed. Two of the last five years drew no auction at all because every delinquent parcel was paid first. Call the Collector at 816-449-5810 ext. 3 in July to learn whether the coming fourth Monday in August has a docket.
• •Every parcel is called aloud with its parcel number, the owner's name, the legal description and the total due, and the offering number tells you which redemption clock applies.
• •Bidding happens in person at the courthouse. Treat any third party site advertising an online DeKalb County Missouri tax sale as a listing service rather than a place to bid or register.
• •Winning bids are payable to the Collector once the sale closes, and the sale continues day to day until every tract has been offered, so bring funds for the whole docket rather than for one parcel.
• •The published notice disclaims any representation about property condition, environmental hazards or quality of title. Parcels reaching a second or third offering here tend to be small town lots in places such as Weatherby, Clarksdale, Osborn, Stewartsville and Union Star, or rural tracts described by metes and bounds across the county's nine townships.
• •The Collector links a map of the current year's tax sale parcels from the office home page, which is the quickest way to see where a tract actually sits before you bid.
• •Buying the certificate gives you no possession and no ownership. Until a Collector's Deed issues you cannot improve, demolish, rent or lease the property, and any rent collected counts as income owed to the owner and can be used as a claim to redeem.

Missouri rules

Max interest rate

10% per year, set by statute (bidding is on price)Missouri Revised Statutes 140.290 - Certificate of purchase, contents, fee, nonresidentsMo. Rev. Stat. 140.290Verified Aug 18, 2026

Minimum return

No statutory minimum return; what you earn is set by the price at the saleMissouri Revised Statutes 140.340 - Redemption, when, mannerMo. Rev. Stat. 140.340Verified Aug 18, 2026

Redemption

After a first or second offering sale, the owner and other interested parties hold an absolute right to redeem for one year, then a defeasible right that lasts until the purchaser actually acquires the deed. A purchaser must serve the 90 day notice of the right to redeem before the date on which the deed can be acquired, so the practical window usually runs past the one year mark. After a third offering sale, redemption runs 90 days, and the purchaser must give notice to recorded claimants within 45 days of the sale. After a post third offering sale, there is no redemption period and the deed issues immediately. Minors and incapacitated or disabled persons have a longer right, running five years from the last payment of taxes by that person or a predecessor. The right also ends if the certificate lapses because the purchaser failed to record the deed within 18 months.Missouri Revised Statutes 140.340 - Redemption, when, mannerMo. Rev. Stat. 140.340Verified Aug 18, 2026

Deed deposit

The winning bidder must pay the full amount of the bid to the collector immediately at the sale. Chapter 140 sets no advance bidder deposit and no balance due window. A bidder who fails to pay forfeits a penalty of 25 percent of the bid to the county school fund and the parcel is offered again at once as though no sale had been made. Counties running an online or registered sale may impose their own deposit and registration terms on top of the statute, so confirm them with the collector.Missouri Revised Statutes 140.250 - Third offering of delinquent lands and lots, redemption, subsequent sale, collector's deedMo. Rev. Stat. 140.250Verified Aug 18, 2026

Surplus proceeds

Any amount above the taxes and costs is surplus. The collector pays it into the county treasury, where the treasurer holds it in trust for the lesser of three years or 90 days after the redemption period expires. It is distributed first to the former lienholders of record in the priority their liens held on the date of the sale, then to the former owner. No distribution other than through the redemption process may occur until 90 days after the redemption period ends, and a claimant must file a written claim with the county commission within those 90 days, referencing the recorded lien it rests on. The county pays no interest on the fund. Anything still unclaimed at three years becomes the permanent school fund of the county.Missouri Revised Statutes 140.230 - Foreclosure sale surplus, deposited in treasury, escheats, proof of claimsMo. Rev. Stat. 140.230Verified Aug 18, 2026

Governing statute

Mo. Rev. Stat. Chapter 140Missouri Revised Statutes 140.150 - Lands, lots, mineral rights, and royalty interests subject to sale, whenMo. Rev. Stat. 140.150Verified Aug 18, 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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