Ray County, MO tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Registration closes at 4:00 p.m. on August 20 and the Collector accepts no registration on the morning of the sale, so a walk-in cannot bid on anything.
• •The Collector's sale notice opens registration on August 3 while the instruction sheet in the bidder packet says August 1. Both agree on the August 20 closing time, so file early rather than counting on the earlier date.
• •The bidder affidavit must be notarized, and the Collector's office will notarize it for you if you bring it to the counter before the deadline.
• •Bidders who live outside Ray County must attach copies of their paid real and personal property tax receipts to the affidavit, and non-Missouri residents must also appoint a Missouri resident agent who files an affidavit of their own.
• •Only names listed on a filed registration can be written onto the Collector's Deed, so decide how you want title vested before you turn the form in.
• •Post third year parcels never reach the live auction. They are sold on written silent bid sheets displayed from 9:00 a.m. until the live sale ends, and these carry no redemption period.
• •There is no online parcel list. The delinquent land list runs in the Richmond News and the Lawson Review in late July and early August, a copy is posted in the courthouse, and the office can tell you where to pick one up.
• •Owners can pay through sale day, and after August 19 they must pay at the counter rather than online, so parcels keep dropping off the list right up to the auction. Re-confirm your targets before you bid.
• •A deposit posted against delinquent real estate does not keep a parcel out of the sale, which is worth knowing when you screen the published list.
• •Winning bidders pay immediately after the sale; the Collector does not publish which forms of payment are accepted from bidders, so ask when you register.
• •Subsequent taxes must be paid by December 31 following the sale or the certificate can be forfeited, costing you the tax portion of your bid while only the surplus is refunded.
• •Five years of tax history per parcel is searchable free on the Collector's GovernMENTOR portal by parcel number, taxpayer ID, bill number or account number, which is the quickest pre-bid check on a listed tract.
• •The office is in the Ray County Courthouse at 100 W. Main Street, Suite 12, Richmond, MO 64085. Phone 816-776-2187, fax 816-776-2740. Courthouse hours are 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
• •The Collector's office states plainly that it follows RSMo Chapter 140 and cannot interpret the statute for bidders, so read the chapter before you register.

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 →