Hayes County, NE tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Tammy Schwenk is the Hayes County Treasurer and runs the sale from the courthouse at 505 Troth Street, mailing address P.O. Box 370, Hayes Center, NE 69032. Phone (308) 286-3214, fax (308) 286-3208, email [email protected].
• •The delinquent list is advertised locally and filed with the state. Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1804 requires the Treasurer to publish the list and sale notice once a week for three consecutive weeks starting the first week of February in the legal newspaper the county board designates, to post a copy in the office, and to send an electronic copy to the Property Tax Administrator, who compiles every county's list on the Department of Revenue site. A $20 advertising charge is added to each description and collected the same way as taxes.
• •Two paths lead from a Hayes County certificate to title, and the value of the property decides which one is open. After the statutory notice is served on the owner, Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1837 lets the holder apply to the Treasurer for a treasurer's tax deed only when 110 percent of the assessed value, less the amount needed to redeem, is $25,000 or less. Above that figure the holder must instead foreclose the lien in Hayes County District Court under Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1902, which proceeds like a mortgage foreclosure. Either step must be started within nine months after three years from the date of sale.
• •The buyer serves the owner, not the county. Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1818 requires the certificate purchaser to notify the record owner by personal or residence service, and by certified mail if that fails, stating that a certificate has issued, describing the owner's redemption rights, and warning that failure to act may forfeit the property. A $150 administrative fee is charged to the owner and paid to the certificate holder on redemption.
• •Research parcels before bidding on the county parcel search at hayes.gworks.com, which carries Hayes County ownership and valuation records. Deeds and liens are recorded by Susan Messersmith, who serves as both County Clerk and Register of Deeds at (308) 286-3413. Recording costs $10 for the first page plus $6 for each additional page, and documentary stamp tax is $2.25 per $1,000 of purchase price.
• •Hayes County holds no separate tax deed auction. Every route to a Hayes County property through delinquent taxes begins with buying a certificate at the March sale or over the counter from the Treasurer afterward.

Nebraska rules

Max interest rate

14% per year, fixed by statute (nothing is bid)Neb. Rev. Stat. 45-104.01 - Interest; political subdivisions; delinquent taxes; special assessmentsNeb. Rev. Stat. 45-104.01Verified Aug 23, 2026

Minimum return

No statutory floor; every certificate earns the same statutory rateNeb. Rev. Stat. 45-104.01 - Interest; political subdivisions; delinquent taxes; special assessmentsNeb. Rev. Stat. 45-104.01Verified Aug 23, 2026

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.Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824 - Real property taxes; redemption from sale; when and how madeNeb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824Verified Aug 23, 2026

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.Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1838 - Real property taxes; issuance of treasurer's tax deed; execution, acknowledgment, and recording; effect; lien for special assessments; pay surplus to previous ownerNeb. Rev. Stat. 77-1838Verified Aug 23, 2026

Governing statute

Neb. Rev. Stat. Chapter 77, Article 18 (77-1801 et seq.)Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1801 - Real property taxes; collection by sale; whenNeb. Rev. Stat. 77-1801Verified Aug 23, 2026

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.

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