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Tax Sale Atlas

Brown County, NE tax sales

How tax lien sales work in Brown County, seat of Ainsworth: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how Nebraska tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next sale
Nebraska holds no tax deed auction.
Format
In person
Registration
Register with the Brown County Treasurer before the sale.
County office
402-387-2650
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 24, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Brown County sells delinquent taxes

From lien to deed

Nebraska holds no county tax deed auction. A certificate holder reaches title down one of two roads, and which road is available depends on how much equity is in the parcel. Three years after the date of the tax sale, and after serving the Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1831 notice at least three months in advance, the holder may apply to the county treasurer for a tax deed. That road is open only where 110 percent of the parcel's assessed value at the time of the application, less the amount that would be needed to redeem it, is twenty five thousand dollars or less. Where the equity is larger the holder must instead foreclose the certificate in the district court of the county where the land lies, in the same manner as a real estate mortgage foreclosure. Either step has to be taken within nine months after the expiration of three years from the date of sale, or nine months after two years where the holder is a land bank and the parcel qualifies as vacant and abandoned. Missing the window voids the certificate.

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
Brown County Treasurer's Office
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Annually on the first Monday in March.
Registration
Register with the Brown County Treasurer before the sale.
Next expected
on the first Monday in March, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
When it runs
Annually on the first Monday in March. Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1801 provides that all real estate on which the taxes have not been paid in full "on or before the first Monday of March, after they become delinquent, shall be subject to sale on or after such date," and Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1802 requires the Treasurer's notice to state that the property will be sold at public auction on the first Monday of March at the county treasurer's office or another location the notice designates. Brown County publishes no separate sale calendar, so call the Treasurer's Office at 402-387-2650 to confirm the starting hour and the room before you travel.
Registration and deposit

Register with the Brown County Treasurer before the sale. Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1807 requires every bidder to register with the county treasurer or a designee prior to participating, to pay a $25 registration fee, and, if the bidder is a foreign corporation, to provide proof that it maintains a registered agent for service of process with the Nebraska Secretary of State. Registered bidders then draw sequentially numbered tickets that fix the order in which they select parcels. Because the county posts no bidder packet, ask the Treasurer's Office at 402-387-2650 or [email protected] for the registration cutoff, the forms it wants on file, accepted payment methods, and any deposit it requires on sale day.

Sale format and venue
Brown County sells tax sale certificates in person at the Treasurer's Office in the courthouse at 148 W 4th St in Ainsworth. No online auction platform is confirmed for this county, and nothing is bid on the interest rate. Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1807 has required a round robin format since January 1, 2015: registered bidders draw sequentially numbered tickets, take turns in that order paying the full amount of delinquent taxes, delinquent interest and costs due on a parcel of their choosing, and a new round begins if listed property remains unsold. Every certificate earns the same statutory 14 percent per year under Neb. Rev. Stat. 45-104.01, so the ticket draw and your parcel shortlist decide the outcome, not price competition. A land bank bid that is automatically accepted takes its parcel out of the round robin with no auction held. The delinquent tax list and notice of sale are prepared not less than four nor more than six weeks before the first Monday of March under Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1802 and run in the county's legal newspaper. Brown County posts no list online, so request a copy from the Treasurer's Office or watch the local paper through late January and February. Parcels nobody takes are struck off to the county, and Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1809 lets the Treasurer assign one of those county held certificates at any time to a buyer paying the face amount plus interest at the rate set by section 45-104.01, which is the practical over the counter route in a county this size. Two separate paths lead from certificate to title. A holder may serve the statutory notice under Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1831, which warns the owner in sixteen point type and states that a deed may be applied for after three months from service, then apply to the Treasurer for a treasurer's tax deed; the right of redemption closes at the end of business on the date of that application. Alternatively the holder may foreclose the tax lien in district court in the same manner as a real estate mortgage under Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1902, filed within nine months after three years from the sale date, or within nine months after two years for property properly determined vacant and abandoned. Confirm current terms with the Treasurer before committing funds.
Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1807, Real property taxes; delinquent tax sale; how conducted, Nebraska Legislature· Verified Aug 24, 2026

Brown County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Brown 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

    Register with the Brown County Treasurer before the sale. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    Nebraska holds no tax 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 Treasurer for the administrative deed, or the sheriff under a district court decree as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Brown 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

    Register with the Brown County Treasurer before the sale. Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1807 requires every bidder to register with the county treasurer or a designee prior to participating, to pay a $25 registration fee, and, if the bidder is a foreign corporation, to provide proof that it maintains a registered agent for service of process with the Nebraska Secretary of State. Registered bidders then draw sequentially numbered tickets that fix the order in which they select parcels. Because the county posts no bidder packet, ask the Treasurer's Office at 402-387-2650 or [email protected] for the registration cutoff, the forms it wants on file, accepted payment methods, and any deposit it requires on sale day.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Nebraska 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

Two routes reach parcels outside the March sale, and both run through the county treasurer. Any parcel that stayed unsold at the public sale for want of bidders must then be sold at private sale at the treasurer's office to any person who pays the taxes, penalty, and costs; the certificate issued that way is marked sold for taxes at private sale. Separately, where the county board bought a parcel in the county's name because it drew no bidder, the treasurer holds that certificate and may assign it at any time to anyone willing to pay the face amount plus 14 percent interest from the date of the certificate, with the county clerk endorsing the assignment and the twenty five dollar issuance fee due from the buyer. If the parcel lies inside a municipality that has created a land bank, the treasurer must give the land bank the first opportunity to acquire the county's certificate. Ask the county treasurer which parcels are open to private sale and which county held certificates are available for assignment.

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)

Brown County Treasurer's Office

402-387-2650

Brown County Courthouse, 148 W 4th St, PO Box 25, Ainsworth, NE 69210

Official website

County notes

  • The Brown County Treasurer is Bruce A. Mitchell. The office sits in the courthouse at 148 W 4th St in Ainsworth, takes mail at PO Box 25, Ainsworth, NE 69210, and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
  • Nebraska's round robin sale pays no premium for a higher bid, so the work that decides your return happens before sale day: shortlist parcels, rank them, and be ready to name your pick the moment your ticket comes up.
  • Brown County maintains no tax sale page and no online tax payment portal, so registration paperwork, the delinquent list and the sale-day terms all come from the Treasurer's Office directly at 402-387-2650 or [email protected].
  • For pre-bid research, the Assessor's page points to the county's online GIS parcel viewer and to Nebraska Deeds Online for recorded documents; the Register of Deeds handles recording in person at the same courthouse.
  • Real estate taxes are due December 31, with the first half delinquent the following May 1 and the second half delinquent September 1, so a parcel carries unpaid taxes through both dates before it reaches the March sale.

Nebraska rules

Max interest rate
14% per year, fixed by statute (nothing is bid)
Minimum return
No statutory floor; every certificate earns the same statutory rate
Redemption
Nebraska does not run a redemption clock that simply expires. The right to redeem stays open until the certificate holder files the application for a tax deed with the county treasurer, and the treasurer may not accept a redemption after the close of business on the day that application arrives. Because the holder cannot apply until three years after the sale, and must first serve a notice at least three months before applying that says in sixteen point type UNLESS YOU ACT YOU WILL LOSE THIS PROPERTY, the ordinary parcel carries a redemption window of about three years and three months and the owner gets a written warning inside it. Several conditions of the parcel or of its owner change that window, and they are recorded as tracks below. On the foreclosure road the window is different again: redemption stays open until the district court confirms the sheriff's sale.
Surplus proceeds
Nebraska returns the owner's equity on both roads. On the administrative road, within thirty days after the deed is recorded the grantee must pay the surplus to the previous owner. The surplus is the resale price if the grantee has already sold the parcel, or the assessed value shown in the county assessor's records at the time of the deed application if the grantee has not, less the amount that would have been needed to redeem the parcel, less the amount needed to pay all encumbrances on it, and less an administrative fee of five hundred dollars, or reasonable attorney fees in the case of a judicial foreclosure, which the grantee may keep to offset the cost of getting the deed. On the foreclosure road, any surplus remaining after all costs and taxes on a parcel are satisfied is applied the way surplus is applied in a mortgage foreclosure, and proceeds from one parcel may not be applied to the taxes on another except as the decree directs.
Governing statute
Neb. Rev. Stat. Chapter 77, Article 18 (77-1801 et seq.)

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 Nebraskarules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Brown County, Nebraska sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax lien certificates. In Nebraska investors buy the lien, not the property; the County Treasurer runs the sale.

When is the Brown County tax certificate sale?

Annually on the first Monday in March. Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1801 provides that all real estate on which the taxes have not been paid in full "on or before the first Monday of March, after they become delinquent, shall be subject to sale on or after such date," and Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1802 requires the Treasurer's notice to state that the property will be sold at public auction on the first Monday of March at the county treasurer's office or another location the notice designates. Brown County publishes no separate sale calendar, so call the Treasurer's Office at 402-387-2650 to confirm the starting hour and the room before you travel. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

How often does Brown County hold tax deed sales?

Brown County holds its tax deed sale none. Nebraska holds no tax 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. Nebraska's redemption rule: 3 years from the tax sale before the holder may apply for a treasurer's tax deed, and the owner may redeem right up to the day that application is filed. Call the County Treasurer for the administrative deed, or the sheriff under a district court decree 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 24, 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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Call Brown County Treasurer's Office