- Does Nebraska sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Nebraska sells tax liens. Every county treasurer holds one public tax sale a year, on the first Monday of March, and issues a tax sale certificate on each delinquent parcel. Nebraska holds no county tax deed auction. A certificate holder reaches title either by applying to the treasurer for a tax deed three years later, where the parcel's equity is small enough, or by foreclosing the certificate in district court.
- What interest rate does a Nebraska tax sale certificate pay?
- 14 percent per year. Neb. Rev. Stat. 45-104.01 fixes the interest rate on delinquent taxes owed to any Nebraska political subdivision at fourteen percent per annum unless another statute says otherwise, and the redemption statute applies that rate from the date of purchase to the date of redemption. The rate is the same for every buyer because nothing is bid. There is no minimum return and no penalty floor, so a certificate redeemed shortly after the sale earns only the interest that actually accrued.
- How does bidding work at a Nebraska tax sale?
- It mostly is not bidding. Since January 1, 2015 the purchaser is whoever offers to pay the taxes, delinquent interest, and costs due on the parcel, so the price is the payoff figure and the rate is fixed by statute. What the sale allocates is which registered bidder gets which parcel. The treasurer announces the rules at the opening of the sale, and the format the statute sets out is a round robin: registered bidders draw numbered tickets, and each takes one parcel per round in ticket order until every parcel is sold or every bidder has passed. Registration is with the treasurer beforehand and costs a non refundable twenty five dollars. Before 2015 Nebraska bid down the undivided ownership interest in the parcel, and you will still see that mechanic described in older material.
- When is the Nebraska tax sale held?
- The first Monday of March in every county, and the sale continues from day to day, Sundays and holidays excepted, until every listed parcel has been sold or offered. The treasurer prepares the list four to six weeks in advance and publishes it once a week for three consecutive weeks in a legal newspaper starting the first week in February. Nebraska does not assign county sale dates centrally the way some states do, because the date is fixed in statute.
- How long is the redemption period in Nebraska?
- For an ordinary parcel it is about three years and three months. The right to redeem stays open until the certificate holder files the tax deed application with the county treasurer, and the holder cannot file that application until three years after the sale, after serving the owner a warning notice at least three months earlier. Several conditions change the clock: a land bank holding a vacant and abandoned parcel can apply after two years, a minor may redeem until reaching majority and for two years afterward, a person with an intellectual disability or a mental disorder has five years from the sale, and on the foreclosure road redemption stays open until the court confirms the sheriff's sale.
- How long is a Nebraska tax sale certificate good for?
- Three years and nine months. The holder must apply to the treasurer for a tax deed or file a district court foreclosure within nine months after the expiration of three years from the date of sale, or nine months after two years for a land bank holding a vacant and abandoned parcel. Miss the deadline and Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1856 makes the certificate cease to be valid or of any force or effect whatever, and the parcel is forever released from the lien of the taxes it was sold for. The treasurer then enters a cancellation on the tax sale record.
- Can you buy Nebraska tax certificates over the counter?
- Yes, two ways, both through the county treasurer. Any parcel that goes unsold at the March sale for want of bidders must be sold at private sale at the treasurer's office to any person who pays the taxes, penalty, and costs, and the certificate is marked sold for taxes at private sale. Separately, where the county board bought a parcel in the county's name, the treasurer may assign that certificate at any time to anyone willing to pay the face amount plus 14 percent interest from the date of the certificate. If the parcel sits inside a municipality with a land bank, the land bank gets the first opportunity to acquire the county's certificate.
- Does the former owner get the equity back when a Nebraska tax deed issues?
- Yes. Within thirty days after recording the treasurer's tax deed the grantee must pay the surplus to the previous owner. The surplus is the resale price if the grantee has already sold, or the assessed value at the time of the deed application if not, less what would have been needed to redeem, less all encumbrances, and less a five hundred dollar administrative fee, or reasonable attorney fees where the title came through a judicial foreclosure. Separately, the administrative deed road is closed entirely where 110 percent of assessed value minus the redemption amount exceeds twenty five thousand dollars; those parcels have to be foreclosed in district court, where any surplus is distributed as in a mortgage foreclosure.
- Where is the statewide list of Nebraska delinquent property?
- The Nebraska Department of Revenue publishes it. Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1804(2) requires every county treasurer to send an electronic copy of its list of real property subject to sale to the Property Tax Administrator, who compiles all 93 counties and posts the result on the department website each February. The page carries a statewide spreadsheet of delinquent parcels and a second spreadsheet of county treasurer contact details and parcel search links, which is the fastest way to build a Nebraska list before the March sale.
Verified Aug 23, 2026 against Nebraska 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.