Madison County, NE tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •The Treasurer, Donna Primrose, runs the annual tax certificate sale and later issues the treasurer's tax deed. The office sits in the Madison County Courthouse at 1313 North Main Street, Madison, and is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; the fax is 402-454-3506 and mail goes to PO Box 270, Madison, NE 68748.
• •Two routes lead from a certificate to title in Nebraska. A holder can serve the statutory notice and apply to the Treasurer for a treasurer's tax deed, or file a foreclosure action in Madison County District Court instead. Choose the route before you bid, because the notice content and the timing differ between them.
• •The Register of Deeds records the tax deed and the chain of title behind it, at the same courthouse address; the number is 402-454-3311, option 8, and recorded documents from June 2014 forward are available to view online.
• •Price a parcel from the delinquent list on Nebraska Taxes Online, the search the Treasurer links from the county site. It returns the parcel by owner name, parcel number or address and shows the current tax position, which is the quickest check before the March sale.
• •Real property taxes fall due December 31, with the first half delinquent the following May 1 and the second half delinquent September 1. A parcel reaches the March sale list only after those delinquencies carry, so the February publication is the first firm signal of what will be offered.

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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