St. Louis County, MO tax sales
How tax lien and tax deed sales work in St. Louis County, seat of Clayton: 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
- Registration
- Registration is required before any bid.
- County office
- (314) 615-7865
On this page
How St. Louis County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- St. Louis County Collector of Revenue, Collection Division
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- begins on the fourth Monday in August (August 24, 2026).
- Registration
- Registration is required before any bid.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Registration is required before any bid. Download the Collector's Tax Sale Registration Form, sign it before a notary and submit it to the Collector of Revenue with a copy of current verifiable photo identification. The form carries the RSMo 140.190 affidavit that the bidder is not delinquent on property taxes on any property owned individually or by the entity bidding, and it warns that a false affidavit can invalidate the sale. Use a street address, not a post office box. Out of state buyers must appoint a resident of St. Louis County as agent, file a signed and notarized notice of that appointment with the Collector at registration, and consent to the jurisdiction of the county circuit court; the certificate of purchase is then issued to the agent. Once registered you receive an email confirmation with an assigned bidder number and instructions for placing a sealed bid, and registration cannot be changed afterward except for a properly noted assignment of the certificate. Bids go in an envelope clearly marked "Tax Sale Bid" with the bidder number written on it, dropped in the Collection Division box in the street level lobby at 41 S. Central Avenue, Clayton. Handwritten bid forms are refused. Payment must accompany the sealed bid, and at the Collector's discretion certified funds such as cashier's checks, money orders, or business checks from a registered business are accepted.
Sale format and venue
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- County Collector
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- There is no separate deed auction.
When it runs
Sale format and venue
St. Louis County tax sale list and auction calendar
For St. Louis 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.
Get the advertised list
Use Notice of First Offering of Delinquent Lands and Lots for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
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.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 St. Louis County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Notice of First Offering of Delinquent Lands and Lots. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Registration is required before any bid. Download the Collector's Tax Sale Registration Form, sign it before a notary and submit it to the Collector of Revenue with a copy of current verifiable photo identification. The form carries the RSMo 140.190 affidavit that the bidder is not delinquent on property taxes on any property owned individually or by the entity bidding, and it warns that a false affidavit can invalidate the sale. Use a street address, not a post office box. Out of state buyers must appoint a resident of St. Louis County as agent, file a signed and notarized notice of that appointment with the Collector at registration, and consent to the jurisdiction of the county circuit court; the certificate of purchase is then issued to the agent. Once registered you receive an email confirmation with an assigned bidder number and instructions for placing a sealed bid, and registration cannot be changed afterward except for a properly noted assignment of the certificate. Bids go in an envelope clearly marked "Tax Sale Bid" with the bidder number written on it, dropped in the Collection Division box in the street level lobby at 41 S. Central Avenue, Clayton. Handwritten bid forms are refused. Payment must accompany the sealed bid, and at the Collector's discretion certified funds such as cashier's checks, money orders, or business checks from a registered business are accepted.
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.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
unsold liens and deeds
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.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
County notes
- St. Louis County holds the standard Chapter 140 certificate sale, not a Chapter 141 court-supervised land tax sale, but it takes bids only by sealed envelope, so plan a mailed or hand-delivered bid rather than a trip to an auction room.
- Property owners can pull a parcel out of the sale by paying the delinquent taxes for 2023 and older years in full, and from August 3 those payoffs cannot be made online or by personal check, so advertised parcels keep dropping off the list right up to the sale.
- Prior year results are published, including the 2025 first and second sale auction book, the valid bids received, and the 2025 third sale auction book, which is the quickest way to gauge what St. Louis County parcels actually clear at before committing to a sealed bid.
- Two year round inventories sit alongside the August sale and are not the same list: Post Third Sale Offerings held by the Collector, and the separate Trustee office inventory of tax delinquent property, which also accepts bids all year.
- The Collector's main line is (314) 615-5500 and the office is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at 41 South Central Avenue in Clayton.
Missouri rules
- 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.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Does St. Louis County, Missouri sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the St. Louis County tax certificate sale?
How often does St. Louis County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the St. Louis County tax sale list?
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.
Browse all 115 Missouri counties
Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.