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Tax Sale Atlas

Sullivan County, MO tax sales

How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Sullivan County, seat of Milan: 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
(660) 265-4514
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 22, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Sullivan County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
Sullivan County Treasurer and Ex Officio Collector of Revenue
Frequency
annual
When it runs
Missouri sets the collector's delinquent land tax sale on the fourth Monday in August, "commencing at ten o'clock of said day and continuing from day to day thereafter until all are offered," held in or adjacent to the county courthouse, which puts the Sullivan County sale at the courthouse at 109 N. Main Street in Milan. In 2026 the fourth Monday falls on August 24. The office publishes no sale calendar online, so call the Collector/Treasurer at (660) 265-4514 to confirm the date, the start time, the room and whether any tracts are still on the list.
Registration and deposit

No online bidder portal and no downloadable bidder form serve this county, so plan to appear in person at the Sullivan County Courthouse, 109 N. Main St., Ste. 4 in Milan, and call the Collector/Treasurer at (660) 265-4514 ahead of the sale to confirm the start time, any registration cutoff and the accepted forms of payment. Missouri requires a bidder who is delinquent on any other tax payment to sign an affidavit stating that at the time of sale, and failing to sign or giving false information can invalidate the purchase. A nonresident bidder must first file a written agreement consenting to the jurisdiction of the county circuit court and appoint a citizen of the county as agent; the certificate is issued to that agent, who then conveys to the buyer. The winning bid is payable to the Collector at the sale.

Sale format and venue
Sullivan County runs the Chapter 140 Jones-Munger certificate sale through the Treasurer and Ex Officio Collector of Revenue, who holds both offices, rather than the court supervised Chapter 141 land trust route. Bidding is live at the courthouse in Milan and no online auction platform serves this county, so do not plan on bidding remotely. Bidding opens at the delinquent taxes plus interest, penalty and costs, the tract goes to the highest bidder, and the buyer receives a certificate of purchase rather than a deed. First, second and third offerings can all run at the same August sale, each tract offered at the stage it has reached. The county posts no parcel list online, so the two ways to see what is being offered are the delinquent land list published as a newspaper legal notice and a direct call to the office at (660) 265-4514. An owner can pay and pull a tract off the list right up to the hour of sale, and in a county this small a light year can see every delinquency paid before sale day, so confirm the live list before booking travel to Milan.
Source: Missouri Revised Statutes 140.170 - County collector to publish delinquent land list, 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

Sullivan County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Sullivan 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

    A county sale-list URL is still being verified. Use the office and platform details on this page before relying on a copied list.

  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 Sullivan County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    The county sale-list URL is still being verified. Use the county office contacts below and confirm the advertised parcels directly before you price a bid.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    No online bidder portal and no downloadable bidder form serve this county, so plan to appear in person at the Sullivan County Courthouse, 109 N. Main St., Ste. 4 in Milan, and call the Collector/Treasurer at (660) 265-4514 ahead of the sale to confirm the start time, any registration cutoff and the accepted forms of payment. Missouri requires a bidder who is delinquent on any other tax payment to sign an affidavit stating that at the time of sale, and failing to sign or giving false information can invalidate the purchase. A nonresident bidder must first file a written agreement consenting to the jurisdiction of the county circuit court and appoint a citizen of the county as agent; the certificate is issued to that agent, who then conveys to the buyer. The winning bid is payable to the Collector at the sale.

  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.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)

Sullivan County Treasurer and Ex Officio Collector of Revenue

(660) 265-4514

Sullivan County Courthouse, 109 N. Main St., Ste. 4, Milan, MO 63556

Official website

County notes

  • Jennifer Hollon-Russell serves as Sullivan County Collector/Treasurer, and the office sits in Suite 4 of the Sullivan County Courthouse at 109 N. Main Street in Milan, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and closed on legal holidays. One officeholder handles both the tax collection and the certificate paperwork. Reach the office at (660) 265-4514, by fax at (660) 265-4919, or by email at [email protected].
  • Sullivan County keeps no county government website and no tax sale calendar, bidder form or parcel list online, so the Collector/Treasurer's office is the reliable channel for the sale date, the bidder affidavit and the payment terms.
  • The delinquent land list reaches the public as a newspaper legal notice rather than a county download. Chapter 140 requires it to run in a newspaper of general circulation in the county for three consecutive weeks, one insertion weekly, with the last insertion at least fifteen days before the fourth Monday in August. The Milan Standard is the Milan paper carried in the Missouri Press Association's public notice directory, and mopublicnotices.com offers a statewide search of published notices.
  • Price a tract before the sale on the county property tax inquiry portal at sullivanmo.devnetwedge.com, which searches real estate, personal property and merchant license records by parcel number or owner name and carries the Collector/Treasurer's own contact details.
  • A certificate of purchase clears only the property tax lien, so run a title search before applying for a collector's deed and give the owner and every lienholder the statutory 90 days notice. The certificate lapses if the deed is not executed and recorded within 18 months of the sale.

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 Sullivan County, Missouri sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Sullivan County follows Missouri's tax lien state system.

When is the Sullivan County tax certificate sale?

Missouri sets the collector's delinquent land tax sale on the fourth Monday in August, "commencing at ten o'clock of said day and continuing from day to day thereafter until all are offered," held in or adjacent to the county courthouse, which puts the Sullivan County sale at the courthouse at 109 N. Main Street in Milan. In 2026 the fourth Monday falls on August 24. The office publishes no sale calendar online, so call the Collector/Treasurer at (660) 265-4514 to confirm the date, the start time, the room and whether any tracts are still on the list. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Collector before the sale.

How often does Sullivan County hold tax deed sales?

Sullivan 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.

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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