Land · North Dakota tax deed guide

North Dakota tax deed sales by county

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North Dakota has no tax lien sale in the sense lien states use the term: nobody buys a certificate, and no investor ever holds the lien. Unpaid taxes stay with the county until the auditor forecloses the lien, after a June notice season and an October 1 foreclosure date, and the county itself takes a tax deed to the property. What the public buys in North Dakota is the property, once a year, at the county own auction.

The annual sale begins on the third Tuesday of November. Each parcel carries a minimum price built by appraisal to cover everything owed, sells to the highest bidder for cash or on a contract for deed over up to ten years, and anything unsold stays available at the auditor office at private sale. If a parcel sells for more than was owed, the county holds the excess for the former owner to claim. The ten counties below are the largest in the state, and each page carries that county list, room, and record.

Verify before you go: a city or town can move a date, change terms, cancel a sale, or pull parcels at any time. The official sale list is the final word.

The 10 counties

Each row links to that jurisdiction's own page: selling office, venue or platform, deposit, payment terms, leftover channel, and sources. Where a jurisdiction has not posted a dated sale, the row says so instead of projecting a pattern onto it.

How North Dakota tax deed sales work

• The lien ages into foreclosure. On or before June 1 in each year the county auditor gives notice of foreclosure of tax lien for every parcel on which two or more years have passed since the tax became due, and the foreclosure date is October 1 after the notice is served (NDCC 57-28-01 and 57-28-02).
• Notice is personal, mailed, and published. The sheriff serves the notice personally on an owner living on residential property, every other owner, mortgagee and lienholder is served by certified mail, and the full list is published once on or before August 1 in the official newspaper (NDCC 57-28-04 and 57-28-06).
• The county takes the deed. If the lien is not satisfied by October 1, all interests pass to the county and the auditor issues a tax deed to the county, free of encumbrances except installments of special assessments still to come due (NDCC 57-28-08 and 57-28-09).
• The board appraises and sets the floor. At least 30 days before the annual sale the board of county commissioners appraises each tax deed parcel and fixes a minimum sale price: enough to cover all taxes, penalties, interest and costs due plus the estimated taxes for the current year, at least the full amount due where the property is worth more, and a fair minimum where it is worth less (NDCC 57-28-10).
• The annual sale is the third Tuesday of November. The sale sits at the county auditor office or the usual place of holding district court, and each parcel is auctioned to the highest qualified bidder at no less than the minimum price, for cash or for one fourth cash and the balance in equal annual installments over no more than ten years. A person who owes delinquent taxes to any county cannot bid (NDCC 57-28-13 and 57-28-15).
• Leftovers sell all year. A parcel that draws no sale in November may be sold by the auditor at private sale at not less than the minimum price before the next annual sale, and the board may also place unsold property with licensed brokers on nonexclusive listings (NDCC 57-28-17 and 57-28-17.1).
• Repurchase and surplus close the record. While the county holds the tax title, the former owner, an executor or administrator, or a parent, spouse or child may repurchase the property. If a parcel sells above everything owed, the county holds the excess for 90 days: the record owner takes it on an undisputed claim filed inside the 90 days, disputed claims go to the clerk of district court, and unclaimed excess goes to the state unclaimed property administrator (NDCC 57-28-19 and 57-28-20).

North Dakota at a glance: the auditor forecloses the tax lien on October 1, the county takes a tax deed, and the property sells at auction on the third Tuesday of November at an appraised minimum price built to cover everything owed (NDCC 57-28-01, 57-28-10 and 57-28-15).

Research the parcels before you bid

A sale list gives you the parcel, the date, and the opening terms. It does not give you the owner, the value, or the rest of the picture: liens, foreclosure status, and parcel history. PropertyRadar is the data platform for that layer. It carries owner records, assessed and market values, foreclosure and tax data, and property history for parcels across the country, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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Get the alert, not just the calendar.

The dates on these pages are the free layer. The Pine membership is the paid layer, proven in New York: members pick their counties, get alerts when a sale is scheduled or a list posts, and receive the full property list with the analysis already done. North Dakota jurisdictions open from the interest list first, in the order readers join it.

Keep going

Once a deadline puts you in a sale, the Land Investor Due Diligence Toolkit is the checklist and bid worksheet to run on each parcel before you bid.