Schuyler County, MO tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Tammy Steele is the elected Collector. The office mails to P.O. Box 65, Lancaster, MO 63548, and answers at (660) 457-3825, by fax at (660) 457-3124, or by email at [email protected].
• •Two phone numbers are in circulation for the office. The Missouri State Tax Commission collector directory lists (660) 457-3825, and the Missouri Association of Counties directory lists 660-956-9500. Try the first and fall back to the second.
• •The delinquent land list runs as a legal notice in the Schuyler County Times, the paper of record for Lancaster, Downing, Greentop and Queen City. The 2026 notice ran July 16, July 23 and July 30 ahead of the fourth Monday in August sale, and the statewide public notice search at mopublicnotices.com carries the same notice under a Schuyler County filter.
• •A certificate of purchase does not clear other liens. Run a title search, serve the statutory 90 day notice on the owner and every recorded claimant, and get the Collector's deed executed and recorded within 18 months of the sale, or the money paid stops being a lien on the tract.
• •The county office directory lists the Recorder at P.O. Box 186, Lancaster, MO 63548, phone 660-956-9186, and the Assessor at P.O. Box 418, Lancaster, MO 63548, phone 660-956-9111. Those two offices are where the lien search and the parcel research start, since the Collector publishes no parcel viewer.

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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