Montgomery County, MO tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •This is a Chapter 140 Jones-Munger certificate sale, not a deed auction. A winning bid buys a Certificate of Purchase, and the Collector's information sheet states plainly that obtaining a Certificate of Purchase does not transfer ownership. Post third offering sales issue no certificate at all; that buyer is entitled to immediate issuance and delivery of a Collector's Deed.
• •Expect a small, rural offering. The current sale list carries 38 tracts, every one at first offering, with amounts due running from roughly $177 to roughly $19,400. Most are town lots in Montgomery City, Wellsville, New Florence, High Hill, Middletown, Jonesburg and Danville, with a handful of acreage tracts between about 1 and 50 acres.
• •Redemption on a first or second offering runs one year from issuance of the Certificate of Purchase, or until the purchaser has acquired the Collector's Deed. The redeeming party pays the certificate amount, 10 percent annual interest on the delinquent taxes only, the subsequent years' taxes the holder paid plus 8 percent annual interest, and title search and postage costs the Collector determines to be reasonable and customary. All redemptions go through the Collector's office, which notifies the certificate holder when a parcel redeems.
• •No compensation is allowed for costs incurred before March 1 following the date of the tax sale certificate, so a title search or mailing run earlier than that is money you will not recover on redemption. Turn receipts in to the Collector's office immediately.
• •To take a deed, pay all subsequent taxes, obtain a title search report from a licensed attorney or licensed title company, and at least 90 days before the redemption period ends notify the owners of record and every person holding a publicly recorded unreleased deed of trust, mortgage, lease, lien, judgment or other recorded claim of their right to redeem. Notice goes by both first class mail and certified mail return receipt requested to the last known available address, and the 90 day period starts on the postmark date.
• •File an affidavit with the Collector giving the date each required notice was sent, attaching a copy of the valid title search and its receipt, copies of the first class and certified mail notices, copies of the envelopes as they appeared immediately before mailing, the certified mail receipt as it came back, copies of anything the post office returned, and the original Certificate of Purchase. If the certified return receipt comes back unsigned and the first class notice is returned undeliverable for any reason other than refusal, you must attempt additional notice and certify in the affidavit that you did and by what means. The Collector will not authorize a deed until the notice proof satisfies the office.
• •A third offering purchase must meet the same requirements, but the 90 day notices have to be mailed within 45 days of the sale, and a Collector's Deed may be obtained at the end of that 90 days.
• •Failure to obtain a Collector's Deed within 18 months of the date on the Certificate of Purchase results in loss of all interest in the property. That deadline does not apply to third and post third offering purchases.
• •Montgomery County runs the Chapter 140 process, not the Chapter 141 Land Tax Collection Law used in St. Louis city and Jackson County, so there is no court supervised sale and no land trust or land reutilization authority holding unsold parcels here.
• •Prior year results are posted back to 2016, and the county recorded no subsequent third offering parcels for either 2024 or 2025, so post third offering inventory is thin in most years. Ask the Collector directly if you are hunting for it.
• •The Collector's office sits in the Courthouse Annex at 310 Salisbury, Suite C in Montgomery City, open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with mail to P.O. Box 2. Collector Anita L. Sullivan runs a two person office for much of the year, so call 573-564-2389 ahead and leave time to complete bidder paperwork before sale day. Tax information requests go to [email protected] or [email protected] with a name, parcel number and tax year, and the office cannot search records by street address.
• •The Collector's information sheet describes itself as only a brief outline of office procedure and suggests consulting an attorney before participating, which is sound given how much of the return here depends on getting the notice and deed steps right.

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.

See the full Missourirules and every county →