Land · North Dakota tax deed guide

Ward County tax deed sales, North Dakota

Verified

Ward County publishes the clearest short explanation of its own pattern among these counties, on its Property Tax page. It says real estate taxes not fully paid by October 15 are delinquent, that if taxes remain unpaid for three years the Auditor and Treasurer serves a foreclosure notice and the county becomes owner of the property on October 1, and that the office also handles tax foreclosure administration as one of its listed services. The same page separates two routes after foreclosure: the annual sale on the third Tuesday in November, and private sale of foreclosed property held throughout the year. No parcel level list accompanies that explanation.

Selling office: Ward County Auditor and Treasurer, Marisa Haman, Ward County Administration Building, 225 3rd St SE, Minot, ND 58701, phone (701) 857-6420. Mailing address PO Box 5005, Minot, ND 58702-5005.

Next sale: The county publishes a recurring pattern, a sale on the third Tuesday in November of each year, which in 2026 is Tuesday, November 17, 2026. The county does not publish a 2026 parcel list, start time or room in the pages reviewed.. The recurring date pattern comes from the Ward County Property Tax page. Because that page names no year specific notice, list or time, the 2026 event is recorded as a published pattern rather than a published 2026 notice, and the list and time remain unverified from county publications.

Call the Auditor and Treasurer at 701-857-6420 for the 2026 list, the start time and the room, and ask about private sale property available during the year, since the county says that route runs throughout the year but publishes no list with it.

Dates and deadlines

Sources: Ward County, Property Tax page, foreclosure and annual sale explanation. Ward County, Auditor and Treasurer Office page, including tax foreclosure administration. North Dakota Secretary of State, County Election Officials, Ward 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 Ward 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 Ward 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 Ward County

The county does not publish a bidder registration process or a bidder affidavit on its Property Tax page or its Auditor and Treasurer office page.

• 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

Ward County states on its Property Tax page that private sale of foreclosed property is held throughout the year, which is the county practice for property that does not sell at the annual sale. Under state law, private sale is at not less than the minimum price, and the board may list leftovers with brokers. The former owner may repurchase while the tax title remains in the county under section 57-28-19.

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 (this page)
• Morton County tax deed sales
• 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.