Delinquent Property Taxes in Arkansas: The State Takes Title First, Then One Little Rock Office Sells the Land
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Arkansas · Last updated October 21, 2026
Arkansas never lets the county auction your land and never sells an investor a lien on it: the state takes legal title to the parcel first, and a single statewide office then sells the land itself. Unpaid property taxes are taxes an owner did not pay by the statutory deadline, after which charges pile on and the property can be sold to raise what is owed. Taxes run from the first business day of March to October 15, and anything unpaid after October 15 is delinquent (Ark. Code Ann. 26-36-201). The county collector holds the delinquency for one year, certifies the parcel to the Commissioner of State Lands by a certification date no later than July 1 of the following year, and on receipt of that certification title vests in the State of Arkansas in care of the Commissioner (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-101). Tax-delinquent lands shall not be sold at the county level. Buying the land back costs two charges rather than one rate: all delinquent taxes, plus ten percent simple interest for each year of delinquency, plus a ten percent penalty for each year of the delinquency, plus the costs the county and the Commissioner incurred (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-302). Both run from October 16 of the delinquency year. The deadline is not a number of months. It is 4:00 p.m. central time on the last business day before the sale date (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-202), and the Commissioner's rules say postmarks will not be accepted and deadlines are strictly enforced (26 CAR 400-108). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
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Where are you with the unpaid property taxes?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Who actually sells an Arkansas property for unpaid taxes?
The Commissioner of State Lands, not the county. Land unpaid for one year following the October 15 due date is forfeited to the state and transmitted by certification to the Commissioner for collection or sale, and tax-delinquent lands shall not be sold at the county level (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-101). The buyer receives a limited warranty deed (26 CAR 400-107).
How much does it cost to redeem tax-delinquent land in Arkansas?
All delinquent taxes plus two separate annual charges. The redeemer pays ten percent simple interest for each year of delinquency, a ten percent penalty for each year of the delinquency, and the costs incurred by the county and the Commissioner of State Lands (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-302). Penalties and interest accrue beginning October 16 in the year of delinquency.
When exactly does the right to redeem end in Arkansas?
Before 4:00 p.m. central standard time on the last business day before the date of the sale (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-202). A business day is Monday through Friday that is not an official state holiday. The Commissioner's rules add that postmarks will not be accepted and that deadlines are strictly enforced (26 CAR 400-108).
When do Arkansas property taxes become delinquent each year?
Once a year, not by instalment. Taxes on real estate are due and payable at the county collector's office between the first business day of March and October 15 inclusive, and all taxes unpaid after October 15 are delinquent (Ark. Code Ann. 26-36-201). The county collector then extends a ten percent penalty against delinquent taxpayers.
Arkansas delinquent property tax rules at a glance
By the time an Arkansas parcel reaches an auction block, the state already owns its title. Delinquent property taxes are taxes an owner failed to pay by the statutory deadline, after which charges accumulate and the land can be sold to recover them. Here the county collector is only a holding stage: it keeps the delinquency one year, certifies the parcel to the Commissioner of State Lands, and title then vests in the State of Arkansas in care of the Commissioner (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-101). Three things set it apart. The counterparty is a statewide elected office in Little Rock, not a courthouse or an investor. The charge doubles up, ten percent simple interest and a ten percent penalty for every year of delinquency (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-302). And the deadline is an afternoon, 4:00 p.m. central time on the last business day before the sale (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-202).
A Pocahontas house that nobody scheduled for sale, until a stranger placed a bid
Nobody sets the sale date on this one. A frame house in Pocahontas, Randolph County, carries roughly 1,450 dollars of 2022 taxes that went unpaid after October 15, 2023, so the collector extended a ten percent penalty and the redemption interest and penalty began running on October 16 of the delinquency year (Ark. Code Ann. 26-36-201, 26-37-302). The collector certified the parcel to the Commissioner of State Lands, and title vested in the state (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-101). It drew no qualifying bid at the in-person Randolph County auction, so it sat on the online unsold-property list. An out-of-state bidder then places the first online bid. That bid is the commencement date, and the thirtieth calendar day after it is deemed the date of sale (26 CAR 400-304). What the owner owes, and whether payment arrived in time, is for the Commissioner's records.
Relevant Laws
Ark. Code Ann. 26-36-201 (dates taxes are due, delinquency after October 15, the ten percent penalty)
Provides that all taxes levied on real estate and personal property are due and payable at the county collector's office between the first business day of March and October 15 inclusive, that all taxes unpaid after October 15 are delinquent, and that the county collector shall extend and collect a penalty of ten percent against all delinquent taxpayers. Subsection (e) rolls the date forward when October 15 falls on a weekend or a holiday observed by the United States Postal Service. Act 550 of 2025 rewrote subsection (d), the exemption for a taxpayer deployed with the armed forces, a reserve component or the National Guard.
Ark. Code Ann. 26-36-201(a)(1) and 26-35-501(a) as enacted by Act 307 of 2021 (the March to October 15 window)
The enacted text of the amendment that set the current payment window, on the General Assembly's own host. Section 4 provides that taxes are due and payable at the county collector's office between the first business day of March and October 15 inclusive, with a county collector permitted to open the tax books earlier once they have been delivered and the taxes certified for collection. Section 3 sets the first instalment of one-fourth as payable between the opening of the books and the third Monday in April.
Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-101 (forfeiture to the state and certification to the Commissioner of State Lands)
Provides that all lands upon which the taxes have not been paid for one year following the date the taxes were due, October 15, shall be forfeited to the state and transmitted by certification to the Commissioner of State Lands for collection or sale, that tax-delinquent lands shall not be sold at the county level, that the county collector shall hold tax-delinquent lands one year after the date of delinquency and certify them by a date no later than July 1 of the following year, and that on receipt of the certification title vests in the State of Arkansas in care of the Commissioner. Read on a codified republication stated current as of March 28, 2024; no state .gov copy of the Arkansas Code is published.
Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-202 as enacted by Act 241 of 2023 (procedure to sell, and the 4:00 p.m. redemption cutoff)
The enacted text of the act that rewrote the sale and redemption procedure, approved March 9, 2023 with an emergency clause. It sets the in-person tax-delinquent property auction in the county where the parcel is located, authorises an online unsold-property auction for parcels that drew no bid of at least the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs, permits a negotiated price two years or more after the auction, and provides that the owner and all interested parties be notified of the right to redeem the parcel before 4:00 p.m. central standard time on the last business day before the date of the sale. Section 2 of the same act sets the October 16 accrual date in 26-37-302(b) and Section 3 rewrites the redemption procedure in 26-37-310.
Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-302 as amended by Act 259 of 2025 (what a redeemer pays, and the disabled veteran exemption)
The enacted text providing that to redeem a tax-delinquent parcel with the county collector or the Commissioner of State Lands, or to purchase one at the Commissioner's sale, the redeemer or purchaser shall pay all delinquent taxes plus ten percent simple interest for each year of delinquency, plus a ten percent penalty for each year of the delinquency, plus the costs incurred by the county and the Commissioner. The act added subsection (e), under which a disabled veteran is not subject to the penalty when redeeming a parcel the veteran owns, on submitting the letter required by 26-3-306(b)(1)(A) and meeting the other requirements of 26-37-310.
Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-301 (notice of the right to redeem, and sixty day personal service on a homestead)
Provides that after receiving tax-delinquent land the Commissioner of State Lands shall notify the owner, at the owner's last known address as certified by the county, by certified mail of the owner's right to redeem, with interested parties notified of the sale by certified mail, regular mail used if certified mail is returned unclaimed or refused, and a second notice sent to any address reasonably identifiable from the recorded real property records if it is returned undelivered. It fixes the sale date no earlier than one year after certification, and requires actual notice by personal service of process at least sixty days before the sale for a homestead where proof of certified mail receipt is lacking. Read on a codified republication; subsection (a)(3) was last amended by Act 1053 of 2017 and subsection (c) by Act 584 of 2021.
Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-203(b)(1) as enacted by Act 447 of 2021 (ninety days to contest a conveyance)
The enacted text providing that, except as provided in subdivision (b)(2), an action to contest the validity of a conveyance under the section, or of a negotiated-price sale under 26-37-202, is barred if not commenced within ninety days after the date of the conveyance. The same act moved the Commissioner's auctions online and renamed the post-auction private sale an unsold-property auction.
Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-205 as amended by Act 172 of 2023 (distribution of funds and excess proceeds)
The enacted text setting the order in which money collected from the sale or redemption of a tax-delinquent parcel is distributed, first to the Commissioner of State Lands for penalties, collection fees and sale costs, then to the county for the delinquent taxes, interest and costs, then to the county, the Department of Finance and Administration and the county again for delinquent personal property taxes, state certificates of indebtedness and solid waste assessments, with the remainder placed in escrow. It provides that escrowed funds are held two years from the date they are placed in escrow and otherwise escheat by operation of law to the county, that the amount left after the Commissioner's share is paid to the former owners, and that the former owner shall release and relinquish all rights, title and interests in the parcel.
Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-205(b)(1) as amended by Act 1053 of 2017 (the Commissioner's share of excess proceeds)
The enacted text providing that ten percent of the remaining funds, up to a maximum of five hundred dollars, is paid to the Commissioner of State Lands for administering the distribution, and that the amount paid shall not be less than the sum needed to pay the filing fees required to record any deeds. The same act amended the notice provision in 26-37-301(a)(3) to require regular mail where certified mail is returned unclaimed or refused.
Ark. Code Ann. 26-35-501 (annual payment window, the three instalments, and the personal property bar)
Provides that ad valorem taxes are due and payable between the first business day in March and October 15 inclusive, and gives every taxpayer other than a utility or carrier the option to pay current taxes in instalments: one-fourth by the third Monday in April, a second one-fourth or a first one-half by the third Monday in July, and a final one-half by October 15. It allows a county collector to accept current taxes in any amount across that window, assesses a ten percent penalty on balances remaining after October 15, and bars a collector from accepting payment of delinquent real property taxes unless the taxpayer's delinquent personal property taxes are paid in full. Read on a codified republication stated current as of March 28, 2024.
Ark. Code Ann. 26-35-601 as amended by Act 521 of 2025 (real estate taxes cannot be taken without personal property taxes)
The enacted text under which a county collector knowingly accepting payment of general real estate taxes without requiring payment of the personal property taxes shown in the collector's records is guilty of a violation and on conviction fined between twenty-five and one hundred dollars. The act added the closing-transaction exceptions, including a duty to answer a written or electronic request for a statement of taxes owed within three business days and to accept the real estate taxes alone if that duty is missed.
26 CAR 400-104 (a sale no earlier than one year after certification)
The Commissioner of State Lands' codified rule providing that all parcels offered for sale have been certified to the state by the county for nonpayment of real property taxes, penalties, interest, fees and costs, and that the sale date shall be no earlier than one year after the tax-delinquent parcel is certified to the Commissioner. It also records that parcels are identified by legal description and parcel number rather than by physical address, and that they may remain subject to liens, easements, use restrictions and the prior year's tax lien.
26 CAR 400-105 and 400-106 (presale notice, newspaper publication, and the redemption notice)
Rule 400-105 requires a notice of sale published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, certified mail notice to the owner at the last known address certified by the county and to all interested parties, regular mail if certified mail is refused or unclaimed, and notice through a process server at least sixty calendar days before the sale for a parcel designated as a homestead where certified mail was not received. Rule 400-106 provides that all redemptions must be received prior to 4:00 p.m. central time on the last business day prior to the date of sale, whether the sale is a tax-delinquent property auction or an unsold-property auction, and requires certified funds for payments made within thirty days of the sale date.
26 CAR 400-108 (how to redeem, the thirty day quote, and strict deadlines)
Provides that until a parcel is sold or disposed of by the state a person wishing to redeem shall submit a petition to redeem with a verified signature, a sum equal to the outstanding taxes, penalties, interest, fees and costs owed when the petition is received, and any other documentation required, and allows online redemption through the Commissioner's website. The total due is valid for thirty calendar days from the date requested unless the parcel has been sold, a county amends its records or further costs accrue. Petitions and payments must be received in the Commissioner's office before the petition expires or before 4:00 p.m. central time on the last business day prior to the sale, whichever is earlier, postmarks will not be accepted, deadlines are strictly enforced, and partial or incorrect petitions will not extend the redemption period.
26 CAR 400-107, 400-109, 400-110 and 400-111 (the deed, dishonoured payments, the ninety day window, and the fees)
Rule 400-107 provides that the Commissioner issues a limited warranty deed conveying all rights, title and interest the state received through tax forfeiture, that the deed is limited in nature and often requires later legal action to obtain marketable title, and that no warranty of clear title is given. Rule 400-109 imposes a penalty of the greater of ten percent of a payment instrument's face value or twenty dollars where a sale is cancelled for a dishonoured payment, and allows a cancellation deed setting aside a redemption deed. Rule 400-110 records the ninety calendar day period to contest a conveyance. Rule 400-111 sets a five dollar fee for a redemption deed issued under 26-37-310 and a twenty-five dollar collection fee against every parcel redeemed or sold.
26 CAR 400-401 to 400-405 (excess proceeds, who may claim, and the two year escheat)
The Commissioner's codified rules on excess proceeds, defining them as money collected above the taxes, fees, penalties, interest and costs due at the time of sale, held in trust for the former owner after the statutory distributions. They limit claims to a former owner who held record title at the time of sale or an heir within the first degree of consanguinity, set out the claim packet, cap a third-party agent's fee at ten percent of the excess proceeds, bar a former owner or interested party who bought the parcel at the tax sale from a distribution, and provide that the proceeds are held two years before escheating to the county.
Code of Arkansas Rules, 26 CAR Part 400 (the Commissioner of State Lands rules, complete part)
The full codified part as published by the Bureau of Legislative Research, edition stamped March 23, 2026, covering the definitions of business day, redeemer, redemption, redemption deed, unsold-property auction commencement date and unsold-property auction closing date, the in-person auction procedure, the online unsold-property auction and its thirty calendar day period, the reserve bid amounts, and the excess proceeds rules.
Stone County Collector: Tax Collector (how the annual deadline and penalty work in practice)
An Arkansas county collector page recording that the collector collects all property taxes from the first day of March to the fifteenth day of October in the calendar year after assessment, that taxes not paid by October 15, outside the stated exceptions for a timely postmark or an October 15 falling on a weekend or holiday, are considered delinquent and the collector extends a ten percent penalty against the taxpayer under 26-36-201, and that the collector must deliver a delinquent list to a legal newspaper before December 1 each year for publication within seven days.
Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands (the office that holds the title and takes the redemption)
The statewide elected office named in the redemption statute. Its site carries the public auction catalog of parcels to be offered in the current or coming year, the post-auction sale listings where unsold parcels are bid on online, parcel mapping, the forms to pay taxes online or by mail, the excess proceeds claim route, county redemption and sales reports, and the real estate office address in Little Rock.
Regional Variances
Arkansas delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Sale mechanism
Tax deed, reached by forfeiture to the state. No lien or certificate is sold to an investor at any point, and tax-delinquent lands shall not be sold at the county level (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-101). Title vests in the State of Arkansas in care of the Commissioner of State Lands on certification, and the Commissioner then sells the parcel and issues the purchaser a limited warranty deed conveying all rights, title and interest the state received through tax forfeiture (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-202; 26 CAR 400-107).
The two sale routes
An in-person tax-delinquent property auction held in the county where the parcel is located, and, for parcels that drew no bid of at least the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs, an online unsold-property auction opened thirty calendar days later (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-202; 26 CAR 400-301). Two years or more after the in-person auction the Commissioner may negotiate the price. The in-person auction is the default route.
Delinquency date
One annual deadline, not instalment delinquency dates. Taxes on real estate are due and payable at the county collector's office between the first business day of March and October 15 inclusive, and all taxes unpaid after October 15 are delinquent (Ark. Code Ann. 26-36-201). When October 15 falls on a weekend or a holiday observed by the United States Postal Service, the taxes become due the following business day.
Penalty before any sale
The county collector extends and collects a penalty of ten percent against all delinquent taxpayers who have not paid within the time limit specified (Ark. Code Ann. 26-36-201). A penalty is not assessed against a taxpayer deployed with the United States Armed Forces, a reserve component or the National Guard during the deployment plus one tax year after it ends, on providing a DD Form 214 (Act 550 of 2025). The redemption interest and penalty accrue from October 16 of the delinquency year (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-302).
Time before a sale can happen
Two one-year stages run back to back. The county collector holds all tax-delinquent lands one year after the date of delinquency and certifies them to the Commissioner of State Lands by a certification date no later than July 1 of the following year (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-101). The sale date shall then be no earlier than one year after the parcel is certified (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-301; 26 CAR 400-104).
Redemption period and what starts the clock
There is no period measured in months. The right to redeem runs until before 4:00 p.m. central standard time on the last business day before the date of the sale (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-202), so the clock is set by the sale date, which by rule can be no earlier than one year after certification. For a parcel on the online unsold-property list there is no sale date until an outside bidder places the first online bid: that bid is the commencement date, and the thirtieth calendar day after it is deemed the date of sale (26 CAR 400-304).
Redeemer's charge
A compound annual charge, not one rate and not bid at auction. All delinquent taxes, plus ten percent simple interest for each year of delinquency, plus a ten percent penalty for each year of the delinquency, plus the costs incurred by the county and the Commissioner of State Lands (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-302). Both accrue beginning October 16 in the year of delinquency. A disabled veteran redeeming their own parcel is exempt from the penalty limb on meeting the stated requirements (Act 259 of 2025).
Other redemption costs
The costs incurred by the county and the Commissioner, including the cost of the redemption notice (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-302). The Commissioner's rules add a twenty-five dollar collection fee against every parcel redeemed or sold and a five dollar redemption deed fee, with any redemption deed fee limited to actual costs plus three percent (26 CAR 400-111; Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-310). Partial payments are refused and do not extend the period, and a dishonoured instrument draws a penalty of the greater of ten percent of its face value or twenty dollars (26 CAR 400-108, 400-109).
Notice to the owner
Certified mail from the Commissioner of State Lands after the land is received, to the owner at the last known address certified by the county, plus certified mail to interested parties, regular mail if certified mail is returned unclaimed or refused, and a second notice to any address reasonably identifiable from the recorded real property records (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-301). At least thirty calendar days of regular-mail notice before an in-person auction, certified mail when the first online bid is received, newspaper publication in the county, and personal service of process at least sixty days before the sale for a homestead where receipt was not proved (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-202; 26 CAR 400-105).
Where to redeem
The Commissioner of State Lands once the parcel is certified, by petition to redeem with a verified signature plus payment of the outstanding taxes, penalties, interest, fees and costs owed when the petition is received, or online through the Commissioner's website (26 CAR 400-108). The county collector is also named as a payee in the redemption statute (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-302). On redemption a redemption deed issues in the owner's name and is filed with the county, and it does not convey or change legal ownership (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-310).
Surplus proceeds
Claimable by the former owner, with an escheat date rather than a filing deadline. Money above the taxes, fees, penalties, interest and costs due at the time of sale is excess proceeds held in escrow for two years from the date the funds are placed there, and undistributed funds escheat by operation of law to the county where the parcel is located (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-205). Ten percent of the remainder, capped at five hundred dollars, goes to the Commissioner for administration, and the former owner must release all rights, title and interests in the parcel.
Payment plan
An instalment right at the county stage only. Every taxpayer other than a utility or carrier may pay current taxes in one-fourth by the third Monday in April, a second one-fourth or a first one-half by the third Monday in July, and a final one-half by October 15, and a collector may accept any amount across the window (Ark. Code Ann. 26-35-501). No penalty is assessed on an instalment payer until the taxes remain unpaid after October 15. Once the parcel is certified to the Commissioner there is no instalment route and partial payments will not be accepted (26 CAR 400-108).
Challenging a completed sale
Not a redemption, and the window is short. An action to contest the validity of a conveyance, or of a negotiated-price sale under 26-37-202, is barred if not commenced within ninety days after the date of the conveyance (Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-203). The Commissioner's rules record the same ninety calendar day period, direct that it be read to reflect the version of the statute applicable at the time of the sale, and warn that money a purchaser spends within those ninety days may not be recoverable (26 CAR 400-110).
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Arkansas guides
Adult Guardianship in Arkansas
Adverse Possession in Arkansas: Seven Years, Plus the 1995 Tax and Title Requirement
Arkansas Notice to Vacate: 2026 Landlord Rules, 3-Day & 10-Day Tracks
Asset Protection Planning in Arkansas (2026)
Dealing With Debt Collectors in Arkansas (2026)
Expunging a Criminal Record in Arkansas (2026)
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