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Tax Sale Atlas

Madison County, MO tax sales

How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Madison County, seat of Fredericktown: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how Missouri tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next sale
There is no separate deed auction.
Format
In person
County office
(573) 783-6544
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 22, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Madison County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
Madison County Collector
Frequency
annual
Sale list
Missouri public notice search, filter to Madison County and Tax Sale
When it runs
The annual delinquent land tax sale opens at 10 a.m. on the fourth Monday in August and continues from day to day until every parcel has been offered, which places the 2026 sale on August 24. Bidding happens in or next to the Madison County Courthouse on Courthouse Square in Fredericktown. No sale calendar is posted online, so confirm the date and the room with the Collector at (573) 783-6544 before you travel.
Registration and deposit

Registration is with the Collector on sale day rather than through an online bidder account. Plan to be at the Collector's office on the first floor of the courthouse before the 10 a.m. start. Missouri requires every bidder to sign an affidavit that they are not delinquent on tax payments for any other property, and failing to sign it or signing a false one can invalidate the purchase. A bidder who lives outside Missouri, and any out-of-state company, must also file written consent to the jurisdiction of the Madison County circuit court and appoint a Madison County resident as agent, with the certificate of purchase then issued to that agent. The Collector may keep a bidder out of the sale for not meeting those conditions. Call (573) 783-6544 ahead of the sale to confirm what the office wants in hand and which forms of payment it takes.

Sale format and venue
Madison County runs the Chapter 140 Jones-Munger sale itself as a live auction at the courthouse in Fredericktown, so there is no bidding site and no bidder account to open in advance. No online bidding option is published for this county, so plan on attending in person. The delinquent land list is not carried on a county web page. It runs in a newspaper of general circulation in the county for three consecutive weeks before the sale, one insertion a week, with the last insertion at least fifteen days before the fourth Monday in August, and the Collector's office holds the working list. A parcel can be at its first, second or third offering at this one August sale, so the redemption period and the route to a collector's deed turn on which one it has reached. Nothing the county publishes points to the Chapter 141 land tax collection process, so expect the standard certificate sale rather than a court-supervised sale or a land trust.
Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. 140.170, County Collector to Publish Delinquent Land List and Site of Sale· Verified Aug 22, 2026

Tax deed sale

Run by
County Collector
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
There is no separate deed auction.
When it runs
There is no separate deed auction. Deeds come out of the same August sale once a parcel has cycled past the third offering, and unsold post third offering parcels are re-offered at least once every 30 days. A purchaser at a post third offering sale takes an immediate collector's deed with no redemption period.
Sale format and venue
A first or second offering buyer holds a certificate and must wait out the one year redemption period, obtain a title search, serve the 90 day notice of the right to redeem on the owner and every recorded claimant by both first class and certified mail, file the affidavit with the collector, pay all subsequent taxes and the recording fee, and get the deed executed and recorded within 18 months of the sale. Miss the 18 months and the amount due the purchaser stops being a lien. A third offering buyer follows a shorter version, with a 90 day redemption period and notice to recorded claimants within 45 days of the sale. Counties that have elected the Land Tax Collection Law in Chapter 141 pull those parcels out of the collector's offering lists entirely and foreclose in court, and the sheriff sells them there, so confirm which chapter this county runs.
Source: Missouri Revised Statutes 140.405 - Purchaser of property at delinquent land tax auction, deed issued to, when, notice of right of redemptionMo. Rev. Stat. 140.405· Verified Aug 18, 2026

Madison County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Madison 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.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Missouri public notice search, filter to Madison County and Tax Sale for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.

  3. Sale day

    There is no separate deed auction. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use County Collector as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Madison County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Missouri public notice search, filter to Madison County and Tax Sale. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Registration is with the Collector on sale day rather than through an online bidder account. Plan to be at the Collector's office on the first floor of the courthouse before the 10 a.m. start. Missouri requires every bidder to sign an affidavit that they are not delinquent on tax payments for any other property, and failing to sign it or signing a false one can invalidate the purchase. A bidder who lives outside Missouri, and any out-of-state company, must also file written consent to the jurisdiction of the Madison County circuit court and appoint a Madison County resident as agent, with the certificate of purchase then issued to that agent. The Collector may keep a bidder out of the sale for not meeting those conditions. Call (573) 783-6544 ahead of the sale to confirm what the office wants in hand and which forms of payment it takes.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Missouri due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.

  4. 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

Missouri publishes no standing over the counter certificate list. The equivalent route is the post third offering sale. Parcels that draw no buyer at a third offering must be advertised or offered again once every 30 days, and where the county's appointed trustee declines to take a parcel the collector may sell it at any time and for any amount. A buyer at any of these sales gets an immediate collector's deed, no redemption period, and must first pay every tax that fell due after the taxes named in the advertisement. Parcels the trustee did take are held for the taxing funds and sold on order of the county commission. Ask the collector for the current post third offering list and its bidding terms, because the format varies by county.

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.

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County offices

Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)

Madison County Collector

(573) 783-6544

1 Courthouse Square, Fredericktown, MO 63645

Official website

County notes

  • Madison County publishes no tax sale page and no bidder packet. The Collector's office in the courthouse at Fredericktown is the working source for the sale date, the bidding rules and the parcel list. Reach Collector Sarah Stephens at (573) 783-6544 or [email protected], and watch the county newspaper each August for the published notice.
  • Budget for a trip. The sale is held live in or next to the courthouse at 10 a.m. and runs day to day until every parcel has been offered, and no remote bidding option is published for this county.
  • Out-of-state buyers need paperwork finished before sale day. Missouri takes no bid from a nonresident until they file written consent to the county circuit court's jurisdiction and name a Madison County resident as agent, and the certificate of purchase is issued in that agent's name.
  • The Collector's property tax inquiry looks up any Madison County parcel by parcel number or owner name and shows what is owed, which is a fast way to price a parcel before you bid on it.
  • Courthouse offices keep hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and close on legal holidays. The Collector is on the first floor at 1 Courthouse Square, with the courthouse switchboard at (573) 783-2176, extension 4.
  • Ask the Collector how many tracts are still on the list before you commit to the trip. Owners pay off parcels right up to the sale date, so a published list shrinks as the sale date approaches.

Missouri rules

Max interest rate
10% per year, set by statute (bidding is on price)
Minimum return
No statutory minimum return; what you earn is set by the price at the sale
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.
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.
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.
Governing statute
Mo. Rev. Stat. Chapter 140

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 Missourirules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Madison County, Missouri sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Madison County follows Missouri's tax lien state system.

When is the Madison County tax certificate sale?

The annual delinquent land tax sale opens at 10 a.m. on the fourth Monday in August and continues from day to day until every parcel has been offered, which places the 2026 sale on August 24. Bidding happens in or next to the Madison County Courthouse on Courthouse Square in Fredericktown. No sale calendar is posted online, so confirm the date and the room with the Collector at (573) 783-6544 before you travel. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Collector before the sale.

How often does Madison County hold tax deed sales?

Madison County holds its tax deed sale once a year. There is no separate deed auction. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Missouri's redemption rule: 1 year from a first or second offering sale, 90 days from a third offering sale, and none after a post third offering sale. Call the County Collector as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the Madison County tax sale list?

Madison County posts its tax sale list at mopublicnotices.com. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

Verified Aug 22, 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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