York County, NE tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Bidding order is drawn at random once every registered bidder has arrived, and each position picks one parcel per round, so registering early buys no advantage in the rotation.
• •Latecomers are worked in at the end of the round underway and take the last position when the next round starts, which makes a 9:00 a.m. arrival worth more than any bidding tactic.
• •Megan Williams is the County Treasurer and Michelle Steiger is the Deputy Treasurer. The office is on the first floor of the courthouse at 510 N Lincoln Avenue in York and is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• •The county keeps the original certificates in the office and sends buyers mailed or emailed copies, on the reasoning that a lost certificate has to be replaced with a bond. Allow a couple of days after the sale for the paperwork and for the emailed total before the check is deposited.
• •Certificates are issued in the exact name given at registration. Changing that name later, or assigning the certificate to someone else, costs $20.00, so register in the name that should hold the lien.
• •The advertised list is printed in descending order of amount due and is the working list on sale day, with anything paid between publication and the sale removed. Confirm the parcels you want are still on the list before you travel.
• •Buyers do their own research. Parcel records and current tax balances for York County are searchable on Nebraska Taxes Online, and the county links a GIS property search from its home page.
• •Redemption proceeds are mailed roughly 10 days after the owner redeems, and the $20.00 purchase fee on each certificate is not returned.
• •The Treasurer states the sale rules exist to protect York County taxpayers and that on any question the statutes do not settle, the office will side with the local property owner.

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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