Delinquent Property Taxes by State

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · United States · Last updated October 21, 2026

Delinquent property taxes are property taxes a homeowner did not pay by the date their state sets, after which the county adds penalties and interest and can eventually force a sale of the property to collect them. Two questions decide what happens next, and state law answers both differently. The first is what actually gets sold. Some states sell a tax lien, often as a certificate, to an investor: title stays with the owner for the time being, and the owner clears it by paying the investor back with a statutory return. Other states sell the property itself at a tax sale, so title moves at or shortly after the auction. Others issue a deed that stays defeasible for a set window, during which the owner can still take the property back. Others auction nothing until a court has foreclosed, and in some the taxing body itself ends up holding title. The second question is what redeeming costs, and this is where states differ in kind rather than only in amount. The charge may be a monthly percentage, a flat penalty that does not grow with time at all, an annual rate with a guaranteed minimum return, or a rate bid downward at auction so the statutory figure is only a ceiling. Those cannot be converted into one another. How long you have varies too, and so does the event that starts the clock, which may be the delinquency, the sale, a court order, or a notice the purchaser serves. Select your state below. Attorney review is available through DocDraft.