Land · North Dakota tax deed guide

Morton County tax deed sales, North Dakota

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Morton County publishes the most complete buyer paperwork in this group: a Notice of Annual Tax Sale with the parcel list and minimum bid for each parcel, and a separate Terms of Annual Sale for November 17, 2026. The terms are unusually specific. Payment is due the same day, a bid is an irrevocable offer, the successful bidder states in writing the names and addresses in which the county deed is to be issued, and the deed copy is mailed after the commission chairman signs, with the recorder sending the original after recording. The terms also warn that some assessments levied by other agencies may still be outstanding after the sale, and that where the Internal Revenue Service holds a lien it may redeem within 120 days after the sale. The 2026 list mixes current parcels with parcels marked as previous years, so leftover property from earlier sales is carried into the annual list.

Selling office: Morton County Auditor, Dawn Rhone, Morton County Courthouse, 210 2nd Ave. NW, Mandan, ND 58554-3158, phone (701) 667-3300.

Next sale: Tuesday, November 17, 2026, beginning at 10:00 a.m., public auction in the Commission Room at the Morton County Courthouse, Mandan.. This date, time, place and parcel list are published in the county Notice of Annual Tax Sale linked from the Morton County Delinquent Property Tax Information page, and the same date and time appear on the county Terms of Annual Sale for 2026.

Bring cash or a cashier check payable to the Morton County Treasurer Office and be ready to pay by 1:00 p.m. on sale day, and be ready to complete the affidavit that you owe no delinquent property taxes in any North Dakota county. Read the Terms of Annual Sale before bidding, especially the parts on no warranty of title, no abstracts, and the 120 day federal redemption right where an Internal Revenue Service lien is recorded.

Dates and deadlines

Sources: Morton County, Notice of Annual Tax Sale, November 17, 2026, with parcel list and minimum bids. Morton County Auditor, Terms of Annual Sale, sale date November 17, 2026. Morton County, Delinquent Property Tax Information page, with sale timeline and links to the notice and terms. Morton County, Treasurer Office page. North Dakota Secretary of State, County Election Officials, Morton County auditor listing. Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and parcels are pulled up to sale day.

Research Morton County parcels before you bid

A sale list gives you the parcels, 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 Morton County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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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).

How buying works in Morton County

Bidders qualify by completing an affidavit certifying that they have no delinquent property taxes in any North Dakota county, as required by state law and stated in the county Terms of Annual Sale. No advance registration deadline is published in the terms.

• Where buying happens At the county auditor sale each November, and at the auditor office at private sale for the rest of the year. The day, the room, and the parcel list are the county auditor published record, and each county page on this site names them from that record.
• The floor is built by statute No parcel sells below its appraised minimum, and the appraisal is constructed to recover every dollar of taxes, penalties, interest and costs due plus a year of estimated taxes. Bargains in North Dakota come from parcels whose appraised value fell below the amount due and took a fair minimum price, not from bidding technique (NDCC 57-28-10).
• Terms are part of the bid A bidder may pay cash or take the contract for deed at one fourth down. On a ten year contract the real cost of the parcel is the price plus board set interest at up to 12 percent, and the installments can be prepaid without penalty (NDCC 57-28-15).

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Parcels that receive no bids

The 2026 Morton County list itself carries leftover property forward: parcels marked with an asterisk are identified as previous years, and they are offered again in the annual list with a minimum bid. The county terms and notice do not describe a separate private sale counter. Under state law, property not sold at the November sale may also be sold by the auditor at private sale at not less than the minimum price, and the former owner may repurchase while the tax title remains in the county under section 57-28-19. The county terms separately note that the former owner has the right to redeem the property up to the time of sale by paying the entire amount of taxes, specials and interest against the property.

Before you bid

• Read the minimum, not just the parcel The list the auditor publishes carries the minimum sale price for every parcel. Compare the minimum with value before sale day: a minimum built under 57-28-10 is the full debt plus a year of taxes, and bidding starts there.
• The county sells all year Anything unsold in November remains available at private sale at not less than the minimum, and boards may reappraise before the next November. A missed sale date is not a missed year (NDCC 57-28-17).
• Price the special assessments The tax deed is free of encumbrances except special assessment installments still to come. On city lots those installments can run for years after the sale, and they belong in the bid from the start.

Every North Dakota county in this set

One page per county, each verified against the county's own publications and the current text of NDCC chapter 57-28. North Dakota auditors all run the same November sale under the same chapter; this set is the 10 largest counties.

• Cass County tax deed sales
• Burleigh County tax deed sales
• Grand Forks County tax deed sales
• Ward County tax deed sales
• Morton County (this page)
• Stutsman County tax deed sales
• Stark County tax deed sales
• Williams County tax deed sales
• Barnes County tax deed sales
• Richland County tax deed sales

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. The same desk runs Florida tax deed sales, Texas tax sales, Pennsylvania tax sales, Georgia tax sales, North Carolina tax foreclosure sales, Ohio tax foreclosure sales, Illinois tax lien sales, Michigan tax foreclosure sales, Arizona tax lien sales, California tax defaulted property sales, Colorado tax lien sales, South Carolina tax sales, Indiana tax lien sales, Tennessee delinquent tax sales, Wisconsin tax deed sales, Missouri tax sales, New Jersey tax lien sales, Maryland tax lien sales, West Virginia tax sales, Virginia tax sales, Oklahoma tax resale, Kansas tax foreclosure sales, Arkansas tax-delinquent land sales, Alabama tax sales, Kentucky certificate of delinquency sales, Mississippi tax land sales, Nevada tax deed sales, New Mexico delinquent property tax sales, Iowa tax lien sales, Nebraska tax certificate sales, Minnesota tax-forfeited land sales, Utah final tax sales, Washington tax foreclosure sales, Oregon tax foreclosure sales, Connecticut tax sales, Massachusetts tax title sales, Rhode Island tax sales, Vermont tax sales, New Hampshire tax lien sales, Maine tax lien sales, Delaware tax sales, Louisiana tax sales, Idaho tax deed sales, Montana tax lien assignments, Wyoming tax lien sales, South Dakota tax certificate sales, North Dakota tax deed sales, Alaska tax foreclosure sales and Hawaii tax sales, and the proven New York season, with the live membership, sits in the NY tax sale hub.