Hickory County, MO tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •The sale is not held at the courthouse. It runs at 22126 Hwy 54 in Hermitage, the old Dollar General building, at 10:00 a.m. on the fourth Monday in August, and bidding happens in the room, so plan to attend in person or send your Hickory County agent.
• •Registration closes the Friday before the sale and there is no sale-day sign-up, so file the bidder affidavit and a copy of your driver's license with the Collector's Office at 417-745-6713 the week before you travel.
• •This is a very small sale. The current posting carries three sub-acre lots in lake-area subdivisions near Urbana, Hermitage and Wheatland, with opening totals from about $221 to about $364. Owners pay parcels off right up to sale day and the Collector reposts a shortened list, so confirm what is still standing before you make the trip.
• •Out-of-state buyers need an agent who lives in Hickory County itself, and the certificate of purchase is issued in the agent's name, leaving the agent to convey the property onward. Arrange that before the registration deadline, not at the sale.
• •The list runs in The Index, the local newspaper, for three consecutive weeks with the last publication at least 15 days before the sale, and it goes up on the Collector page in late July. The file carries the year in its name, so pull the current year's posting each summer rather than reusing an older link. The Index can be reached at 417-745-6404.
• •Screen the tracts on the county parcel viewer by owner name before you bid. The Collector gives no guarantee on title, liens or encumbrances, and these are platted lake-area lots rather than open rural acreage, so check access, setbacks and utilities yourself.
• •Any premium above taxes and costs is held in trust for the former owner or a lienholder for 18 months and is paid out through the Collector's Office, with undisputed claims payable by the Hickory County Treasurer and disputed ones heard by the County Commission. Funds still unclaimed after three years go to the county school fund. The Collector keeps no unclaimed-surplus list and turns away third-party surplus recovery firms, so overbidding is pure cost to you and earns no interest.
• •Hickory County runs the standard Chapter 140 collector's sale and issues certificates of purchase, so the Chapter 141 land trust process used in St. Louis city and Jackson County does not apply here.

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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