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Tax Sale Atlas

Buffalo County, SD tax sales

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

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

Next sale
Buffalo County runs no scheduled tax deed auction.
Registration
There is no bidder registration, because Buffalo County holds no open tax deed auction.
County office
(605) 293-3236
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 31, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Buffalo County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

Run by
Buffalo County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Buffalo County holds one annual tax certificate sale on the third Monday in December.
Registration
There is no online bidder registration and no auction platform account to open.
Next expected
on the third Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Sale list
County legal notices (the delinquent tax list runs in the Central Dakota Times)
When it runs
Buffalo County holds one annual tax certificate sale on the third Monday in December. The date is fixed statewide: the South Dakota Department of Revenue records the SDCL 10-23-7 rule as an "Annual sale on 3rd Monday in December from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm" and notes that all certificates carry that same third Monday in December date. Buffalo County publishes no sale calendar of its own, so call the Treasurer at (605) 293-3236 to confirm the year's date and hours before travelling to Gann Valley.
Registration and deposit

There is no online bidder registration and no auction platform account to open. Bidders take part in person at the Treasurer's office in Gann Valley on sale day. Call (605) 293-3236 ahead of the December sale to confirm the date and hours, what the office accepts as payment, and what identification or taxpayer identification details it wants from an out-of-state buyer. An assignment of a tax sale certificate must be notarized and presented to the Treasurer.

Sale format and venue
Bidding runs the interest rate down rather than the price up. The purchase amount is the delinquent tax, interest and costs on the parcel, and the Department of Revenue records the SDCL 10-23-8 method of sale as "lowest interest rate prevails if there is competition," so competition cuts your yield instead of raising what you pay. Buffalo County uses no online auction platform, so a buyer deals directly with the Treasurer's office at 112 Osman Ave. in Gann Valley. Parcels that draw no bidder are bid off to the county under SDCL 10-23-24, and the county can assign those certificates afterward, but every tax on the property has to be paid before the county assigns one. A certificate holder may also pay later years' taxes and have them added to the certificate amount when the Treasurer is told at the time of payment. Ask the Treasurer which county-held certificates are available before making the drive.
Source: South Dakota Department of Revenue, County Treasurers Tax Deed and Delinquent Tax Guidance· Verified Aug 31, 2026

Tax deed sale

Run by
Buffalo County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Buffalo County runs no scheduled tax deed auction.
Registration
There is no bidder registration, because Buffalo County holds no open tax deed auction.
When it runs
Buffalo County runs no scheduled tax deed auction. A deed follows an unredeemed certificate on its own clock: SDCL 10-25-1 allows the deed no sooner than three years and no later than six years from the date of the tax sale for property in town, and the Treasurer makes out the deed once the 60 day redemption window closes.
Registration and deposit

There is no bidder registration, because Buffalo County holds no open tax deed auction. Contact the Treasurer at (605) 293-3236 to ask what property the county has taken by tax deed and how it is offered.

Sale format and venue
In South Dakota the deed is the last step of the certificate, not a separate auction a new bidder can enter. The holder serves the statutory notice on everyone entitled to it, and the clock starts when the affidavit of completed service is filed with the Treasurer, with 60 days from that filing as the last chance to redeem. Until the deed is issued, the owner can redeem at any time. A holder demanding a deed must first buy every prior certificate the county holds on the parcel. Certificates do expire: if deed proceedings are not started within six years the rights are void and the certificate is cancelled, a limit that does not apply to the county's own certificates. Where the county takes a deed and resells, county liens, mechanic's liens, judgments and mortgages are released, while state and federal liens and municipal special assessments stay with the property. Surplus over taxes, penalty, interest and costs goes back to the prior owner of record and moves to the state Unclaimed Property Division if that owner is not found within 180 days.
Source: South Dakota Department of Revenue, County Treasurers Tax Deed and Delinquent Tax Guidance· Verified Aug 31, 2026

Buffalo County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Buffalo 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 County legal notices (the delinquent tax list runs in the Central Dakota Times) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    There is no bidder registration, because Buffalo County holds no open tax deed auction. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    Buffalo County runs no scheduled tax deed auction. The auction platform is still being verified. Confirm the next sale date and registration window with the county before you bid.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Buffalo County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Buffalo County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from County legal notices (the delinquent tax list runs in the Central Dakota Times). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    There is no bidder registration, because Buffalo County holds no open tax deed auction. Contact the Treasurer at (605) 293-3236 to ask what property the county has taken by tax deed and how it is offered.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the South 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 South 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

Three routes exist and each runs through a county office. A certificate that stayed unsold for want of bidders must be sold at private sale at the treasurer's office to any person who pays the taxes, penalty and costs due. A person may also buy the county's interest in a certificate the treasurer bid off, by paying the taxes, penalty, interest and costs of sale and transfer plus every unpaid and subsequent tax, after which the treasurer assigns the certificate and the buyer holds the rights of an original purchaser. Both routes are closed in a county whose commissioners have not waived SDCL 10-23-28.1. Separately, tax deed property the county offered that drew no bid may be sold at private sale within twelve months for not less than ninety percent of the appraised value, without further publication or appraisal. Ask the county treasurer about certificates and the county auditor about unsold deeded parcels.

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

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)

Buffalo County Treasurer

(605) 293-3236

PO Box 165, 112 Osman Ave., Gann Valley, SD 57341

Official website

County notes

  • Janice Von Eye is the Buffalo County Treasurer. The office collects every property tax levied in the county and runs the December certificate sale. Courthouse hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and the office line is (605) 293-3236.
  • Watch the Central Dakota Times for the delinquent tax list and the sale notice. The county commission renews that paper as Buffalo County's official newspaper each January, most recently for 2026.
  • The commission designates the Gann Valley courthouse as the legal place for holding foreclosure sales, so county sales happen at 112 Osman Ave. rather than in a larger town.
  • Debra Morrison holds both the Buffalo County Auditor and Register of Deeds posts at (605) 293-3217, so the office the Treasurer reports the sale to and the office that records a tax deed are the same desk.
  • Buffalo County keeps no tax sale page of its own. Its website carries office contacts, commission minutes and legal notices such as resolutions and budget hearings, so the newspaper and a call to the Treasurer are the route to the current delinquent list.

South Dakota rules

Max interest rate
10% per year, bid down at auction
Minimum return
No statutory minimum; interest accrues at your bid rate
Redemption
There is no fixed redemption deadline that starts at the sale. SDCL 10-24-1 lets any person redeem at any time before a tax deed is issued. What sets the outer limit is the deed process: SDCL 10-25-1 bars the certificate holder from starting that process until three years after the certificate sale, and SDCL 10-25-8 keeps the right to redeem alive until sixty days after the affidavit of completed service of the notice of intention is filed with the treasurer. Missing that sixty-day window passes the owner's, mortgagee's and lienholder's interests to the certificate holder. After the deed is recorded, the former owner has one hundred eighty days to bring an action to recover possession or to avoid the deed, which is a limitation period rather than a further right to redeem.
Deed deposit
Chapter 6-13 sets no deposit for a cash sale. A buyer taking an installment contract must deposit the cash portion with the fiscal officer as soon as the bid is accepted, and the board can still decline to approve the sale, in which case the deposit is returned. A separate rule bars a bidder from the sale entirely: under SDCL 10-25-45 a county may refuse a bid from any person who is not current on all property taxes due within that county. Payment methods and any county-set deposit are county practice rather than statute, so confirm them with the county before bidding.
Surplus proceeds
The county first deducts the expenses of taking the tax deed and of the sale. What remains is prorated to the taxing districts on the levies for the most recent year included in the proceeds until all tax and interest is paid. Any surplus left after taxes, penalty, interest, county liens and other costs must be returned to the prior owner of record, and if that owner cannot be found within one hundred eighty days the surplus is transferred to the Unclaimed Property Division under SDCL chapter 43-41B. The same distribution binds a private buyer. SDCL 10-25-39.2, effective February 12, 2024, requires any person other than a county who acquires property by tax deed after being issued a tax certificate to offer that property at public auction under chapter 6-13 within one year of the deed, and entitles that seller only to compensation in the same manner as a redemption under SDCL 10-24-1. A South Dakota certificate is therefore a route to being paid what the certificate is worth, not a route to keeping the land.
Governing statute
SDCL Title 10, Chapter 10-23

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 South Dakotarules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Buffalo County, South Dakota sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Buffalo County follows South Dakota's tax lien state system.

When is the Buffalo County tax certificate sale?

Buffalo County holds one annual tax certificate sale on the third Monday in December. The date is fixed statewide: the South Dakota Department of Revenue records the SDCL 10-23-7 rule as an "Annual sale on 3rd Monday in December from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm" and notes that all certificates carry that same third Monday in December date. Buffalo County publishes no sale calendar of its own, so call the Treasurer at (605) 293-3236 to confirm the year's date and hours before travelling to Gann Valley. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

How often does Buffalo County hold tax deed sales?

Buffalo County holds its tax deed sale once a year. Buffalo County runs no scheduled tax deed auction. 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. South Dakota's redemption rule: Open until a tax deed issues; a deed cannot be sought until 3 years after the certificate sale, and redemption then runs until 60 days after completed service of the notice of intention. Call the Buffalo County 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 Buffalo County tax sale list?

Buffalo County posts its tax sale list at buffalo.sdcounties.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 Aug 31, 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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