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Tax Sale Atlas

Mountrail County, ND tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Mountrail County, ND tax sale, one of 2,606 counties in 31 states. North Dakota sells the deed itself, so no statutory investor interest rate applies. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Sep 4, 2026.

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

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

Next sale
Third Tuesday of November at 10:00 a.m. Central.
Format
In person
County office
701-628-2145
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Sep 4, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Mountrail County sells delinquent taxes

No tax lien certificate sale

North Dakota sells no tax lien certificate to investors. Under N.D.C.C. 57-28-09 the county auditor issues the tax deed to the county itself once the lien is foreclosed, so the county is the only party ever holding the delinquency.

Tax deed sale

In person
Run by
Mountrail County Auditor's Office
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Third Tuesday of November at 10:00 a.m. Central.
Sale list
Tax deed listings and appraisals, Mountrail County Auditor's Office
When it runs
Third Tuesday of November at 10:00 a.m. Central. The county's published notice offers the property "for sale at public auction at the Courthouse in the County Auditor's Office" beginning at "ten o'clock A.M."
Registration and deposit

Bidding is in person at the courthouse in Stanley, and the county publishes no online registration step or advance deposit. Each parcel is offered separately and sold to the highest bidder, but never below its published minimum sale price. The notice states that payments of all sales shall be for cash in full, so bring certified funds for the full bid.

Sale format and venue
Mountrail County forecloses the tax lien, takes tax deed to the land itself, and then resells it at an annual public auction under N.D. Cent. Code ch. 57-28. There is no online bidding platform and no tax lien certificate to buy here: the auction happens in the County Auditor's Office at the courthouse, 101 N Main St in Stanley. Every parcel carries a minimum sale price fixed by county appraisal, and the auditor's annual appraisal listing shows the parcel number, legal description, owner of record, delinquent tax year, taxes due and the appraised minimum for each tract. The auditor publishes the sale notice and the parcel list in the official county newspaper, the Mountrail County Promoter, in the weeks before the auction, and posts the same listings on the Auditor's Office documents page. In person at the Mountrail County Courthouse, Stanley
Source: Notice of Sale of Real Estate Forfeited for Non-Payment of Taxes, Mountrail County Auditor· Verified Sep 4, 2026

Mountrail County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Mountrail 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. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Tax deed listings and appraisals, Mountrail County Auditor's Office for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.

  3. Sale day

    Third Tuesday of November at 10:00 a.m. Central. 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 Mountrail County Auditor's Office as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Mountrail County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Tax deed listings and appraisals, Mountrail County Auditor's Office. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Bidding is in person at the courthouse in Stanley, and the county publishes no online registration step or advance deposit. Each parcel is offered separately and sold to the highest bidder, but never below its published minimum sale price. The notice states that payments of all sales shall be for cash in full, so bring certified funds for the full bid.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the North Dakota due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in North Dakota before you price the title work.

  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

Any parcel that does not sell at the November auction may be bought from the county auditor at private sale before the next annual sale, for not less than its minimum sale price. Some boards also list unsold parcels through licensed real estate brokers.

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what North Dakota calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax sale office

Mountrail County Auditor's Office

701-628-2145

Mountrail County Courthouse, 101 N Main St, PO Box 69, Stanley, ND 58784

Official website

County notes

  • The Mountrail County Courthouse is at 101 N Main St in Stanley and is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central.
  • The official county newspaper is the Mountrail County Promoter, which carries the auditor's notice of sale and the parcel list ahead of the November auction.
  • Inventory is thin. Published sale lists have run to only a handful of parcels a year, mostly small city lots in Stanley, Parshall, New Town and Plaza, with occasional agricultural tracts.
  • Minimum bids track the county's own appraisal and range widely, from under $100 on a small vacant lot to five figures on an improved city parcel.
  • Current property tax balances and payoff figures come from the Mountrail County Treasurer at 701-628-2935.

North Dakota rules

Redemption
There are two distinct windows and neither is a redemption against a private buyer. Up to October 1, paying the amount in the foreclosure notice stops the process. After the tax deed vests in the county, the former owner, the former owner's executor or administrator, or a parent, spouse or child of the former owner may repurchase the property so long as the county still holds tax title, for cash or on a contract for deed. A city holding a delinquent special assessment has a prior right to buy at the appraised value, exercisable within 30 days of the auditor's notice. Once the county sells at the annual auction, the purchaser's deed is not subject to any of this.
Deed deposit
None. Chapter 57-28 sets no bidder deposit and no registration fee. Each parcel is sold at auction to the highest qualified bidder for no less than the minimum sale price, and the terms are settled at the sale: the full amount in cash paid promptly to the county treasurer, or one quarter of the purchase price in cash with the balance in equal annual installments over not more than ten years under a contract for deed. A bidder who owes delinquent property taxes in any North Dakota county is disqualified from purchasing.
Governing statute
N.D.C.C. ch. 57-28

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 North Dakotarules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Mountrail County, North Dakota sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax deeds. North Dakota sells no tax lien certificates to investors; the County Auditor sells the property itself at a public tax sale.

How often does Mountrail County hold tax deed sales?

Mountrail County holds its tax deed sale once a year. Third Tuesday of November at 10:00 a.m. Central. 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. North Dakota's redemption rule: None after the county's annual sale. Before that, the owner may satisfy the tax lien up to the October 1 foreclosure date, and after the county takes the deed a statutory right of repurchase runs for as long as the tax title remains in the county. Call the Mountrail County Auditor's Office 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.

Where can I find the Mountrail County tax sale list?

Mountrail County posts its tax sale list at co.mountrail.nd.us. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

Verified Sep 4, 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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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

North Dakota tax salesDue diligence guide
Call Mountrail County Auditor's Office