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Tax Sale Atlas

Nelson County, ND tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Nelson 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 Nelson County, seat of Lakota: 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.

Format
In person
Registration
The published notice sets no advance registration and no deposit.
County office
701-247-2463
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Sep 4, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Nelson 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
Nelson County Auditor/Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Registration
The published notice sets no advance registration and no deposit.
Sale list
2025 Notice of Sale, parcel list with minimum prices
When it runs
Annually on the third Tuesday of November at 10:00 a.m. at the Nelson County Courthouse in Lakota. The county's 2025 notice set the sale at "the Courthouse in the City of Lakota, Nelson County, on Tuesday, the 18th day of November, 2025, beginning at the hour of 10:00 A.M. and continuing from day to day until completed." The 2024 sale opened at the same hour on November 19.
Registration and deposit

The published notice sets no advance registration and no deposit. Bidders come to the courthouse in Lakota on sale morning and bid in person, and the county sells for cash to the highest bidder at or above the minimum price fixed by the Board of County Commissioners. Call the Auditor/Treasurer at 701-247-2463 before the sale to confirm accepted payment forms.

Sale format and venue
Nelson County sells land it already owns at a live tax deed auction. Under N.D. Cent. Code ch. 57-28 the county forecloses the tax lien about three years after taxes go delinquent, takes tax title, then resells by county deed at the November auction at the courthouse in Lakota. Parcels sell as is, with no warranties, to the highest cash bidder, and never below the minimum sale price fixed by the Board of County Commissioners. The deed is executed in the name of the county by the chairman of the Board of County Commissioners and the county auditor. North Dakota issues no tax lien certificates, so there is no interest rate and no bid-down step. Live in-person auction at the Nelson County Courthouse in Lakota. There is no online bidding.
Source: 2025 Notice of Sale of Tax-Forfeited Property, Nelson County Auditor/Treasurer· Verified Sep 4, 2026

Nelson County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Nelson 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 2025 Notice of Sale, parcel list with minimum prices for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    The published notice sets no advance registration and no deposit. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    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 Nelson County Auditor/Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Nelson County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from 2025 Notice of Sale, parcel list with minimum prices. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    The published notice sets no advance registration and no deposit. Bidders come to the courthouse in Lakota on sale morning and bid in person, and the county sells for cash to the highest bidder at or above the minimum price fixed by the Board of County Commissioners. Call the Auditor/Treasurer at 701-247-2463 before the sale to confirm accepted payment forms.

  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

Nelson County Auditor/Treasurer

701-247-2463

210 B Ave W, Ste 201, Lakota, ND 58344

Official website

County notes

  • The sale list is short and rural. The 2025 notice carried eight parcels in Aneta, Lakota, and Illinois and Rubin townships, with minimum prices from $100.00 to $10,552.96. The 2024 notice ran longer, adding parcels in Dahlen, Michigan, Nash and Sarnia townships, many of them townsite lots opening at $100.00.
  • Minimum prices are set parcel by parcel by the county commission, so opening figures vary widely across one list rather than tracking the tax owed.
  • Two Lakota City parcels on the 2025 notice carry minimums marked "Specials only, no consolidated or penalty/interest," meaning the opening figure covers unpaid special assessments and not the full delinquent tax balance.
  • The county posts the sale notice on the Auditor/Treasurer page under "Notice of Foreclosure of Property." The 2025 notice was issued October 7, 2025 and the 2024 notice October 15, 2024, so watch that page from early October for the parcel list and minimum prices.
  • The notice provides that the auction continues "from day to day until completed," so plan on more than the opening morning when the list is long.

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 Nelson 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 Nelson County hold tax deed sales?

Nelson County holds its tax deed sale once a year. 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 Nelson County Auditor/Treasurer 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 Nelson County tax sale list?

Nelson County posts its tax sale list at nelsonco.org. 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 Nelson County Auditor/Treasurer