Delinquent Property Taxes in Delaware: A Judge Confirms the Sheriff Sale Before Any Deed Can Issue
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Delaware · Last updated October 21, 2026
A Delaware tax collection ends in a courtroom rather than at a county auction counter. Delinquent property taxes are taxes an owner did not pay by the date the state fixed, after which the county adds a penalty and can force a sale of the property to collect them. The county's tax collecting authority files a praecipe with the prothonotary of the Superior Court, the prothonotary dockets a judgment against the parcel, a monition issues to the sheriff and is posted on the property, and a writ of venditioni exponas then commands the sheriff to expose the property to public sale (9 Del. C. 8722, 8724, 8725). Nothing about that sale is settled on the day it happens. It goes back to the Superior Court, which inquires into the regularity of the proceedings and either approves the sale or sets it aside (9 Del. C. 8731), and the county finance office can reject the winning bid (9 Del. C. 8726). Only once the Court approves does the clock that matters start running. The owner may redeem within 60 days from the day the sale is approved by the Court, by paying the purchaser the purchase price and 15 percent in addition to it, together with all costs incurred in the cause (9 Del. C. 8729). That 15 percent is a flat penalty on the bid, not an interest rate, so sitting out the 60 days buys nothing. No lien and no certificate changes hands. If nobody redeems, the purchaser must petition the Superior Court for an order directing the sheriff to execute and deliver a deed (9 Del. C. 8728). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Delaware
Where are you with the unpaid property taxes?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
When can Delaware sell my house for unpaid property taxes?
Through a court proceeding, not a fixed annual auction date. The tax collecting authority files a praecipe with the Superior Court prothonotary, a monition is posted on the property giving 20 days to pay, and 20 days after the sheriff returns that posting a writ of venditioni exponas may issue commanding the sale (9 Del. C. 8722, 8723, 8725).
How long is the redemption window after a Delaware monition sale?
Sixty days, counted from the day the Superior Court approves the sale and not from the sale itself (9 Del. C. 8729). Approval comes weeks after the auction, so the real deadline falls later than the sale date. The Sussex County Sheriff puts confirmation at the first Friday after the third Monday of the following month.
How much does it cost to redeem in Delaware once the property has sold?
The purchase price plus 15 percent of that price, together with all costs incurred in the cause (9 Del. C. 8729). The 15 percent is a flat penalty on whatever the buyer bid rather than a rate that accrues, so it does not grow week by week, and redeeming on day three costs the same percentage as day 59.
When do Delaware county property taxes go late each year?
County taxes are due and payable July 1 in New Castle County, June 1 in Kent County and July 1 in Sussex County (9 Del. C. 8601). The penalty starts on a different date than the due date: after September 1 in New Castle County, and after September 30 in Kent County and Sussex County (9 Del. C. 8604).
Delaware runs delinquent tax collection through the Superior Court
Delinquent property taxes in Delaware are county taxes left unpaid past the statutory date, after which the county adds a penalty and can force a sale of the property to collect what is owed (9 Del. C. 8604). The collection itself is judicial. A judgment is docketed against the parcel in the Superior Court, the sheriff posts a monition on the property, and the sheriff sells under a writ of venditioni exponas (9 Del. C. 8722, 8724, 8725). The Court then approves that sale or sets it aside (9 Del. C. 8731). Two figures decide what follows: 60 days measured from the Court's approval, and 15 percent added to the purchase price along with all costs in the cause (9 Del. C. 8729). The deed arrives last of all, and only by order of the Court (9 Del. C. 8728).
A Kent County farmhouse where the porch post carried the legal notice
Picture a farmhouse outside Dover whose county bill came due June 1 and went unpaid, so after September 30 the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer began adding 1.5 percent a month (9 Del. C. 8601, 8604). Two years on, a judgment is docketed in the Superior Court and the sheriff posts a monition on the porch post, which the statute treats as notice to everyone holding an interest in the land (9 Del. C. 8724). The owner lets the 20 days lapse, the sheriff sells, and the high bid is 61,000 dollars. Redemption now means that 61,000 dollars plus 15 percent of it, so 9,150 dollars, plus all costs in the cause, and it is due within 60 days of the day the Court approves the sale (9 Del. C. 8729). The approval date itself is whatever the docket says it is.
Relevant Laws
9 Del. C. 8601 and 8604 (due dates, and the late penalty each county adds)
Section 8601 makes all taxes assessed and levied due and payable each year on July 1 in New Castle County, June 1 in Kent County, and July 1 in Sussex County. Section 8604(a) adds, after September 1 in New Castle County, a penalty of 6 percent of the current charge and 1 percent of the unpaid principal balance as of the first day of every month thereafter until paid, and in Kent County and Sussex County, after September 30, a penalty of 1.5 percent per month until paid. Section 8604(c) and (d) govern abatement, the penalty waiver and the residential payment plan.
9 Del. C. 8602 (who the tax collecting authority is, and the mailed statement)
Provides that for chapter 86 and chapter 87 the term tax collecting authority refers, in New Castle County, to the Chief Financial Officer; in Kent County, to the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer; and in Sussex County, to the Director of Finance. It also requires the authority to mail every taxable a statement of taxes not more than 30 days after the taxes are due and payable, and provides that failure to receive that statement does not relieve the taxable of the obligation of timely payment.
9 Del. C. 8603 (quarterly or more frequent payment of real estate taxes)
Provides that the receiver of taxes and county treasurer or director of finance of any county may accept payment of all taxes due and payable on real estate on a quarterly or more frequent basis. This is the general instalment authority, separate from the mandatory residential payment plan in section 8604(d).
9 Del. C. 8610 (the written demand New Castle County must send by December 15)
Requires the Office of Finance for New Castle County, on or before December 15 of each year, to make at least 1 demand in writing upon every person or corporation liable for unpaid taxes, stating the amount due and that if the taxes are not paid during the month of December legal proceedings will be instituted. The notice is mailed to the last known address and the day of mailing is the day of giving notice. Failure to give the notice does not bar the proceedings, and the demand is not required where the taxpayer has entered a payment plan.
9 Del. C. 8701 (a complying payment plan bars collection in New Castle County)
Subsection (d) provides that if a taxpayer enters into a payment plan authorized under section 8604(d) and complies with it, New Castle County's tax collecting authority may not collect the taxes owed out of the taxpayer's real or personal property, including by filing a civil action, garnishing wages, seizing property, issuing a monition, filing for a writ of venditioni exponas, instituting attachment proceedings under subchapter III, selling through a sheriff sale or any other legal proceeding, or filing an action to collect on a tax lien. The subsection applies to New Castle County taxes and school taxes assessed on residential property for the 2025-2026 tax year.
9 Del. C. 8705 and 8706 (how long the tax stays a lien, and extension)
Section 8705 provides that taxes assessed against real estate by each of the three counties continue a lien against that real estate for 10 years from July 1 of the year for which the taxes were levied, but that if the real estate remains the property of the person who owned it when it was assessed, the lien continues until the tax is collected, and that in Kent County and Sussex County the lien of taxes has priority over all other liens. Section 8706 lets the lien in Kent or Sussex County be extended by filing a certificate with the prothonotary, which continues it for 5 years from the date of the levy and permits a writ of levari facias.
9 Del. C. 8722 (praecipe, judgment on the special docket, and monition)
Lets the tax collecting authority file a praecipe with the prothonotary of the Superior Court in the county where the property is located, containing the name of the person assessed, a copy of the bills showing the taxes due, and the property. The prothonotary records it on a special judgment docket of the Superior Court against the property. On a later praecipe for monition, the prothonotary issues a monition to the sheriff briefly stating the amount of the judgment, the years, the accrued penalty and a description of the property. Subsection (d) lets the tax collecting authority for New Castle, Kent and Sussex Counties run the monition process against property with an unknown owner for more than 5 years.
9 Del. C. 8723 and 8724 (the form of the monition, and posting as notice)
Section 8723 sets the form of the monition, which warns all persons having or claiming title, interest or lien that unless the judgment for the taxes is paid within 20 days after its date, or evidence of payment is filed with the prothonotary within that period, the tax collecting authority may proceed to sell the property including accrued penalties and all costs incurred in the collections process. Section 8724 requires the sheriff to post the monition on a prominent place or part of the property and to return the proceedings to the prothonotary within 10 days of posting, and provides that the posting constitutes notice to the owner or owners and all persons having any interest in the property.
9 Del. C. 8725 (the writ of venditioni exponas that orders the sale)
Provides that at any time after the expiration of 20 days following the return of the sheriff upon the monition, unless the judgment and cost are paid or evidence of payment is produced in that period, a writ of venditioni exponas shall issue out of the office of the prothonotary on the written application of the tax collecting authority, directed to the sheriff and commanding the sheriff to sell the property described and to make due return. The section sets out the form of the writ, which runs in the name of the State of Delaware and commands the sheriff to expose the real estate to public sale.
9 Del. C. 8726 (the county finance office can approve or reject the final bid)
Lets the department of finance or the chief county financial officer approve or disapprove the final bid at a sheriff sale under the monition subchapter for any public purpose or reason, including a bidder's failure to comply with law on other property it owns, unpaid amounts owed to the State, a county or a municipality, or an inability to remedy unlawful conditions, provided the notice of public sale says the sale is subject to that approval. If the bid is not approved the property may be exposed to as many succeeding sales as the county chooses. The section also allows bidder prequalification certificates and limits assignment of a winning bid.
9 Del. C. 8727 and 8728 (what the sale vests, and the petition for the deed)
Section 8727 provides that real estate sold under the monition subchapter vests in the purchaser all the right, title and interest of the person in whose name the property was assessed and of the owners, freed and discharged from liens and encumbrances, dower or curtesy. Section 8728 provides that if the owner or the owner's legal representatives fail to redeem, the purchaser may present a petition to the Superior Court and pray for an order directing the Sheriff then in office to execute, acknowledge and deliver a deed conveying title, and that the Court has power, after a hearing on the petition, to issue that order.
9 Del. C. 8729 (redemption: 60 days from the Court's approval, plus 15 percent)
Provides that the owner of real estate sold under the monition subchapter, or the owner's legal representatives, may redeem it at any time within 60 days from the day the sale thereof is approved by the Court, by paying to the purchaser or the purchaser's legal representatives, successors or assigns the amount of the purchase price and 15 percent in addition thereto, together with all costs incurred in the cause. If the purchaser refuses to receive it, or does not reside or cannot be found within the county where the property is located, the owner pays the amount into the Court for the purchaser's use.
9 Del. C. 8730 and 8731 (recording the redemption, and approving or setting aside the sale)
Section 8730 lets an owner who has redeemed petition the Superior Court, which after hearing and determining the facts may cause a memorandum that the real estate has been redeemed to be entered on the record of the judgment, and provides that the owner then holds the redeemed real estate subject to the same liens and in the same order of priority as at the time of the sale, except so far as liens were discharged or reduced by the sheriff's application of the proceeds. Section 8731 provides that upon the return of the proceedings under a writ of venditioni exponas the Superior Court may inquire into their regularity and either approve the sale or set it aside.
9 Del. C. 8732 and 8733 (the lien prerequisite, and the fees taxed as costs)
Section 8732 provides that no proceedings may be brought under the monition subchapter unless the tax or assessment is a lien upon the property at the time the praecipe is filed with the prothonotary, and that references to the Superior Court include any Judge of it, in vacation as well as in term time. Section 8733 sets the prothonotary and sheriff fees taxed in monition proceedings and a 25 dollar fee for the tax collecting authority of Kent County and of Sussex County, lets Sussex County proceedings include all reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the Court, disapplies the schedule to Kent County, and lets Kent County and New Castle County set fees and costs by ordinance.
9 Del. C. 8757 and 8758 (the New Castle County attachment route: confirmation, surplus, 60 days)
Section 8757 requires the Superior Court, on return of an order of sale, to inquire into the circumstances and regularity of the proceedings and either confirm the sale or set it aside; provides that on confirmation the sheriff pays the plaintiff the judgment with interest and costs, then lienholders served with notice in order of priority, and the balance to the person who was the owner of the real estate at and immediately before the sale, or into the Superior Court; and provides that no sale shall be confirmed if the owner or any person having an interest pays the judgment with interest and all costs. Section 8758 gives the owner 60 days from the day the sale is confirmed by the Superior Court to redeem by paying the purchase price and 15 percent in addition thereto.
9 Del. C. 8760 and 8761 (a lienholder's one year window, and the deed order)
Section 8760 provides that if the owner does not redeem within 60 days from the day the sale is confirmed by the Superior Court, any person with an interest or lien discharged by the sale may petition the Court at any time within 1 year from the day of confirmation, offering to pay into Court the purchase price and 15 percent in addition thereto, and the Court decides after that year which petitioner may redeem. Section 8761 lets a redeeming lienholder or an unredeemed purchaser petition for an order directing the sheriff to execute, acknowledge and deliver a deed.
9 Del. C. 8771 to 8773 (the Kent and Sussex County route: notice, handbills, court approval)
Section 8771 lets the tax collecting authority sell the lands and tenements of a taxable without first employing other remedies, after mailing an itemized tax bill with notice of the intended sale to the taxable's last known post office address and filing a certificate with the prothonotary that is recorded in a Tax Sale Record. Section 8772 requires handbills posted in at least 10 public places in the county, 1 on the land to be sold and 1 at the courthouse, plus newspaper publication at least 1 issue before the sale, with all sales made at the courthouse door. Section 8773 requires every sale to be returned to the Superior Court, which inquires into the circumstances and either approves the sale, in which case the authority makes a deed, or sets it aside.
9 Del. C. 8776 and 8779 (that route's 1 year window at 20 percent, and the excess to the owner)
Section 8776 provides that no sale under that subchapter shall be approved by the Court if the owner is ready at Court to pay the taxes, penalty and costs, and that no deed shall be made until the expiration of 1 year from the time of sale, within which time the owner or the owner's heirs, executors or administrators may redeem on payment to the tax collecting authority of the costs, the amount of the purchase money, and 20 percent interest thereon, and expenses of the deeds, with the redemption money forwarded to the purchaser within 3 days. Section 8779 requires that after satisfying the tax due and the costs and expenses of sale, the amount remaining be paid at once to the owner of the land.
Delaware Superior Court: Project Rightful Owner (unclaimed sheriff sale excess proceeds)
The Superior Court's own program for returning excess proceeds from sheriff sales. The Court states that excess proceeds arise when the value of the property at the time of sale exceeds the amount of money needed to pay off all recorded liens and mortgages, that it has disbursed over 6 million dollars to rightful owners, that a claimant is encouraged to secure an attorney because proving entitlement can be complicated and that pro bono counsel may be available, and that a person who proves entitlement also receives interest from the time the money was transferred from the Sheriff's Office to the Prothonotary. The page carries searchable property listings for each of the three counties and the petition requirements.
Regional Variances
Delaware delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Sale mechanism
Judicial. No lien and no certificate is sold. The tax collecting authority dockets a judgment against the parcel in the Superior Court on a praecipe, a monition issues to the sheriff, and a writ of venditioni exponas commands the sheriff to expose the property to public sale (9 Del. C. 8722, 8725). The sale is returned to the Court, which approves it or sets it aside (9 Del. C. 8731), and the county finance office may reject the final bid (9 Del. C. 8726).
Who gets the deed, and when
Not the winning bidder at the sale. The sale vests the assessed owner's right, title and interest in the purchaser, freed of liens, dower and curtesy (9 Del. C. 8727), but the deed comes only if redemption fails and the purchaser petitions the Superior Court, which may order the sheriff to execute, acknowledge and deliver it after a hearing (9 Del. C. 8728).
Delinquency dates
One annual bill, three county dates. Taxes are due and payable July 1 in New Castle County, June 1 in Kent County and July 1 in Sussex County (9 Del. C. 8601). The statement must be mailed within 30 days of the due date, and not receiving it does not excuse late payment (9 Del. C. 8602).
Penalty before any sale
Two structures, by county. New Castle County adds, after September 1, a penalty of 6 percent of the current charge plus 1 percent of the unpaid principal balance as of the first day of every month thereafter until paid. Kent County and Sussex County add, after September 30, 1.5 percent per month until paid (9 Del. C. 8604).
Time before sale
No minimum period of delinquency is set. A monition requires only that the tax be a lien when the praecipe is filed (9 Del. C. 8732), and the lien runs 10 years from July 1 of the levy year, or until collected while the same owner holds (9 Del. C. 8705). Inside the proceeding the intervals are 20 days on the monition, a 10 day sheriff's return, then 20 more days before the writ (9 Del. C. 8723, 8724, 8725).
Redemption period and clock
60 days, measured from the day the sale is approved by the Court, not from the sale and not from the delinquency (9 Del. C. 8729). Approval follows the auction by weeks, which pushes the real deadline out; the Sussex County Sheriff states that confirmation occurs the first Friday after the third Monday of the month following the sale. No homestead, agricultural, minority or disability extension of the 60 days appears in chapter 87.
Redeemer's charge
A flat penalty on the bid, not interest and not a bid-down rate. The owner pays the amount of the purchase price and 15 percent in addition thereto (9 Del. C. 8729). It is calculated on what the purchaser paid rather than on the taxes owed, and because it does not accrue, redeeming in week one and redeeming in week eight cost the same percentage.
Other redemption costs
All costs incurred in the cause ride on top of the price and the 15 percent (9 Del. C. 8729). Section 8733 taxes prothonotary and sheriff fees plus a 25 dollar tax collecting authority fee in Kent County and in Sussex County, allows reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the Court in Sussex County proceedings, and lets Kent County and New Castle County set fees and costs by ordinance, so the total is not one statewide figure.
Notice to the owner
Posting, not certified mail. The sheriff posts the monition on a prominent place or part of the property, and that posting is the statutory notice to the owner and to all persons having any interest (9 Del. C. 8724). In New Castle County a written demand must also go out on or before December 15 warning that proceedings follow if the taxes are not paid during December (9 Del. C. 8610).
Where to redeem
Before a sale, the county tax collecting authority: the Chief Financial Officer in New Castle County, the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer in Kent County, the Director of Finance in Sussex County (9 Del. C. 8602). After the sale, the purchaser or the purchaser's legal representatives, successors or assigns, and only if they refuse or cannot be found in the county, into the Court (9 Del. C. 8729).
Surplus proceeds
Payable to the former owner. After the judgment, interest and costs, the sheriff pays lienholders served with notice in order of priority and the balance to the person who was the owner at and immediately before the sale, or pays that balance into the Superior Court (9 Del. C. 8757). Unclaimed money sits with the Prothonotary and is returned through the Superior Court's Project Rightful Owner, with interest from the transfer date.
Payment plan
Mandatory in each county on residential terms. Where the property is zoned residential and is the taxpayer's primary residence and the bill exceeds the prior year's by 300 dollars or more, the county must allow a plan paying school taxes in at least 3 equal installments with no interest, penalty or late fee on timely payments (9 Del. C. 8604). Real estate taxes may also be paid quarterly or more often (9 Del. C. 8603).
The two alternative routes, and why they matter
Chapter 87 holds two further tracks with different rules. Attachment of land in New Castle County also ends in Superior Court confirmation, 60 days to redeem at price plus 15 percent, and a separate lienholder window of 1 year from confirmation (9 Del. C. 8757, 8758, 8760). The Kent and Sussex route sells at the courthouse door, bars a deed for 1 year from the sale, and redeems at costs plus purchase money plus 20 percent interest plus deed expenses (9 Del. C. 8776).
Stopping the sale by paying the judgment
Payment can defeat confirmation outright. On the New Castle County attachment route no sale shall be confirmed if the owner or any person having an interest pays the plaintiff, or pays into the Superior Court for the plaintiff's use, the amount of the judgment together with interest and all costs (9 Del. C. 8757). On the Kent and Sussex route no sale is approved if the owner is ready at Court to pay the taxes, penalty and costs (9 Del. C. 8776).
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Delaware guides
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Dealing With Debt Collectors in Delaware (2026)
Delaware Notice to Vacate: 2026 Landlord Rules & 60-Day Rule
Expunging a Criminal Record in Delaware (2026)
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