When the sale is held
The collector holds the delinquent land tax sale on the fourth Monday in August each year, starting at ten o'clock in the morning in or adjacent to the county courthouse, and continues it from day to day until every parcel has been offered. The delinquent list runs in a local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks beforehand, with the last insertion at least 15 days before the sale.
When taxes go delinquent
Missouri real estate taxes that remain unpaid on January 1 are delinquent, and the county collector must enforce the state's lien on them. Delinquent parcels are entered in the back tax book, and that entry is itself the levy that supports the sale. Each tract carries a penalty of 18 percent of each year's delinquency, except that a parcel redeemed before the sale pays no more than 2 percent per month or fraction of a month. Every parcel with delinquent and unpaid taxes is subject to sale on the fourth Monday in August, so the statutory gap between delinquency and a first offering can be as short as about eight months. Collectors differ in how quickly they advertise a newly delinquent parcel, so ask the county which tax years are in this year's sale.
What happens after the sale
Missouri runs no separate tax deed auction alongside the lien sale. The same August sale produces a deed instead of a certificate once a parcel has cycled far enough. A parcel offered without an adequate bid at a first offering goes to a second offering the next year, then to a third offering the year after. A purchaser at a third offering receives a certificate of purchase with a 90 day redemption period. A parcel that still does not sell is re-offered every 30 days, and a purchaser at any of those post third offering sales takes an immediate collector's deed with no redemption period at all. After a first or second offering, the certificate holder reaches the deed by obtaining a title search, serving the statutory 90 day notice on the owner and every recorded claimant, filing the affidavit with the collector, paying all subsequent taxes, and recording the deed within 18 months of the sale.
Leftover parcels between sales
Missouri publishes no standing over the counter certificate list, but it does have a continuing route to unsold parcels. If lands are not sold at the third offering, the collector must advertise or offer them for sale once every 30 days. Where the county commission has appointed a trustee to bid in unsold parcels and that trustee declines to take a parcel after the third offering, the collector may sell it at any time and for any amount. A purchaser at any of these post third offering sales takes an immediate collector's deed with no redemption period, and must pay all taxes that fell due after the taxes covered by the advertisement before the deed issues. That deed has priority over other liens and encumbrances except real property taxes. Ask the collector for the post third offering list and its terms, because the schedule and the format vary by county.
These dates are the statewide statutory schedule. The exact auction date, registration deadline, and platform are set county by county, so confirm them on the Missouri county pages before you plan a bid. For the mechanics of the sale itself, see how to buy in Missouri.
Verified Aug 18, 2026 against Missouri statutes.
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.