Delinquent Property Taxes in Iowa: The Certificate Holder's Notice Sets Your Deadline, Not the Calendar
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Iowa · Last updated October 21, 2026
Iowa counties do not put the house itself on the block each June, they auction the delinquent taxes on it, and the winning bidder leaves with a certificate of purchase rather than a deed. Delinquent property taxes are taxes a homeowner did not pay by the date the state fixed, after which the county adds interest and can eventually force a sale to collect them. The first half of the bill is due before September 1 and goes delinquent from October 1, and the second half is due before March 1 and goes delinquent from April 1 (Iowa Code 445.36, 445.37). From then the unpaid installment draws interest at one and one-half percent a month, each fraction counted as a whole month (Iowa Code 445.39). On the third Monday in June the treasurer offers every delinquent parcel at public sale for the total amount due (Iowa Code 446.7). Bidders push no price up and bid no rate down. They bid down the percentage of the parcel they will take, from 100 percent toward a floor of one percent (Iowa Code 446.16). After the sale the clock is not on the calendar. The holder cannot move for one year and nine months after the sale, then serves a notice of expiration of right of redemption, and your right to redeem ends ninety days after that service is complete (Iowa Code 447.9, 447.12). Redeeming costs two percent a month on the amount sold, paid to the county treasurer (Iowa Code 447.1). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
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Where are you with the unpaid property taxes?
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When does an Iowa county sell the delinquent taxes on my house?
Annually, on the third Monday in June the county treasurer shall offer at public sale all parcels on which taxes are delinquent, and the sale shall be made for the total amount of taxes, interest, fees, and costs due (Iowa Code 446.7). For good cause the treasurer may designate a different date in June.
How much does it cost to redeem an Iowa tax sale certificate?
Interest of two percent per month, counting each fraction of a month as an entire month, from the month of sale, on the amount for which the parcel was sold including the fee for the certificate of purchase, plus the same rate on each subsequent year the holder paid (Iowa Code 447.1).
How long do I have to redeem after an Iowa tax sale?
There is no fixed calendar deadline. The certificate holder may serve a notice of expiration of right of redemption only after one year and nine months from the date of sale, and the right of redemption shall not expire until ninety days after that service is complete (Iowa Code 447.9, 447.12).
How much interest does Iowa add before the tax sale happens?
The unpaid installment draws interest of one and one-half percent per month until paid, from its delinquent date, with each fraction of a month counted as an entire month, computed to the nearest whole dollar and never less than one dollar (Iowa Code 445.39). That is interest, not a flat penalty.
Iowa delinquent property tax rules at a glance
An Iowa parcel goes delinquent once a semiannual installment date passes unpaid, and the county then charges monthly interest and can sell that delinquency to collect it. What sells is a tax sale certificate of purchase, and it does not convey title to the purchaser (Iowa Code 446.29, 448.1). The distinctive part is what the bidding is actually for. The person who offers to pay the total amount due for the smallest percentage of the parcel is the purchaser, with a statutory floor of one percent (Iowa Code 446.16). The return is not bid at all, because the statute fixes it at two percent a month (Iowa Code 447.1). And the end date belongs to the holder, not to the calendar, since nothing expires until the holder serves notice and ninety days run from completed service (Iowa Code 447.9, 447.12).
An Ames bungalow whose owner counts ninety days from an affidavit, not from the sale
A bungalow on the east side of Ames carries 2,150 dollars of unpaid taxes and is offered at the Story County sale on Monday, June 15, 2026, the third Monday in June (Iowa Code 446.7). A bidder designates 40 percent of the parcel and pays the total due plus the twenty dollar certificate fee (Iowa Code 446.16, 331.552). Redeeming in October 2026 counts June through October as five months, so interest at two percent a month on the 2,170 dollars sold adds about 217 dollars (Iowa Code 447.1). Nothing expires that autumn. The holder cannot even serve the notice of expiration until March 15, 2028, one year and nine months after the sale, and the owner's ninety days then run from the filing of the affidavit of service (Iowa Code 447.9, 447.12). Amounts and filing dates are for the Story County Treasurer's records.
Relevant Laws
Iowa Code 445.36 and 445.37 (installment dates and when taxes go delinquent)
Section 445.36 requires payment either in full or one half of the taxes before September 1 succeeding the levy and the remaining half before March 1 following. Section 445.37 provides that an unpaid semiannual installment becomes delinquent from October 1 after due, and an unpaid second installment from April 1 after due, with delinquency moving to the second business day of the following month where the last day of September or March is a Saturday or Sunday.
Iowa Code 445.39 (interest of one and one-half percent a month on the delinquency)
Provides that an unpaid first installment draws interest of one and one-half percent per month until paid from the delinquent date following the levy, that the same interest is charged on an unpaid last half from its delinquent date, that the interest is computed to the nearest whole dollar and shall not be less than one dollar, and that in calculating interest each fraction of a month shall be counted as an entire month.
Iowa Code 445.36A (partial payments, and their limits once a parcel has sold)
Lets the county treasurer accept partial payments as an alternative to semiannual or annual payment, requires a partial payment on a delinquency to equal or exceed the interest, fees and costs of the installment being paid and to be applied to those first, and provides that partial payment shall not be permitted in lieu of redemption if the property has been sold for taxes under chapter 446 and under any circumstances shall not constitute an extension of the time period for a sale.
Iowa Code 446.7 (the annual tax sale on the third Monday in June)
Provides that annually, on the third Monday in June, the county treasurer shall offer at public sale all parcels on which taxes are delinquent, that the sale shall be made for the total amount of taxes, interest, fees, and costs due, and that for good cause the treasurer may designate a different date in June. It also bars the sale of parcels on which the county or a municipality already holds a certificate and of parcels of the state or its subdivisions.
Iowa Code 446.9 (notice of the sale by mail by May 1, and publication)
Requires the treasurer to serve notice of the date, time and place of the annual tax sale on the person in whose name the parcel is taxed by regular first class mail to the last known address not later than May 1 of each fiscal year, to publish the sale once in at least one official county newspaper at least one week but not more than three weeks before it, and to state in both that if the parcel is not redeemed within the period provided in chapter 447 the right to redeem expires and a deed may be issued. Failure to receive a mailed notice is not a defense.
Iowa Code 446.16 (the bid is a percentage of the parcel, floored at one percent)
Provides that the person who offers to pay the total amount due for the smallest percentage of the parcel is the purchaser, that the designated percentage gives that person an undivided interest upon issuance of a treasurer's deed, that ties at the smallest percentage are resolved by a random selection process, and that the percentage designated shall not be less than one percent. It also provides that the delinquent tax lien transfers with the certificate and expires when the certificate expires.
Iowa Code 446.18 and 446.19 (the public bidder sale and the county as purchaser)
Section 446.18 requires the treasurer, on the day of the regular sale or any adjournment, to offer and sell all parcels that remain liable to sale, have previously been advertised, have been offered for one year or more and remain unsold for want of bidders. Section 446.19 provides that where no bid is received at that sale, or the bid is less than the total amount due, the county through its treasurer shall bid a sum equal to the total amount due, with no money paid and each taxing body charged its share.
Iowa Code 446.37 (the certificate holder's own three year deadline)
Provides that after three years have elapsed from the time of any tax sale, or one year from a sale under section 446.19B, and the holder of a certificate has not filed an affidavit of service of notice of expiration of right of redemption under section 447.12, the county treasurer shall cancel the sale from the county system. Where the filing is stayed by operation of law the period runs to the later of six months after the stay lifts or three years from the sale. The section does not apply to certificates held by a county.
Iowa Code 447.1 (redemption terms and the two percent a month)
Provides that a parcel sold under chapter 446 or 447 may be redeemed at any time before the right of redemption expires, by payment to the county treasurer of the amount for which the parcel was sold including the fee for the certificate of purchase, with interest of two percent per month counting each fraction of a month as an entire month from the month of sale, plus the total paid by the purchaser for any subsequent year with interest at the same rate from the month of payment. The interest must be at least one dollar and is rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
Iowa Code 447.9 (notice of expiration of right of redemption, and the county's own right)
Provides that after one year and nine months from the date of sale, or nine months from a sale under section 446.18, or three months from a sale under section 446.19A or 446.19B, the certificate holder may cause notice to be served on the person in possession and the person in whose name the parcel is taxed, stating the sale date, the parcel, the purchaser, and that the right of redemption will expire and a deed be made unless redemption is made within ninety days from completed service. Service is by both regular mail and certified mail, and must also reach mortgagees, recorded contract vendors, recorded lessors and others of record. Subsection 3 gives the county a right of redemption for owner occupied residential parcels on a petition by a person unable to contribute to the public revenue.
Iowa Code 447.12 (when service is complete, and the ninety day cutoff)
Provides that service is complete only after an affidavit has been filed with the county treasurer showing the making, manner, time, place and direction of service and the costs incurred, that the right of redemption shall not expire until ninety days after service is complete, that a redemption is not valid unless received by the treasurer or entered through the treasurer's authorized internet site before the close of business on the ninetieth day from completed service, and that the date of postmark is not the date of receipt. Where a county holds a public bidder certificate the county may accept a redemption any time before the tax deed issues.
Iowa Code 447.13 (costs added to the amount necessary to redeem)
Provides that the cost of serving the notice including certified mail, and the cost of publication under section 447.10 if publication is required, shall be added to the amount necessary to redeem, and that the cost of a record search shall also be added. Where the certificate holder is other than a county the search must be performed by an abstractor active in the Iowa title guaranty program under section 16.91 or by an Iowa licensed attorney, and the search cost added shall not exceed three hundred dollars. Costs not filed with the treasurer before redemption is complete shall not be collected by the treasurer.
Iowa Code 447.7 and 447.14 (a longer clock for legal disability, and the law of the sale year)
Section 447.7 lets a legal representative of a person with a legal disability redeem under section 447.1 before the deed is delivered, and after delivery lets that person or their representative bring an equitable redemption action in district court at any time prior to one year after the legal disability is removed, subject to the cut offs in subsections 3 and 4 including a three year limit from recording. Section 447.14 provides that the law in effect at the time of tax sale governs redemption, so a parcel sold in an earlier year is measured against that year's law.
Iowa Code 448.1 and 448.3 (when the deed is made out, and what it conveys)
Section 448.1 requires the treasurer, immediately after the expiration of ninety days from the date of completed service of the notice provided in section 447.12, to make out a deed for each parcel sold and unredeemed on return of the certificate and payment of the deed and recording fees, to record it before delivery, and to charge twenty five dollars for each deed. Section 448.3 provides that the executed and recorded deed vests in the purchaser all the right, title, interest and claim of the state and county and all the right, title, interest and estate of the former owner in the parcel conveyed, subject to listed exceptions, and that the deed is void where an owner of record or the person in whose name the parcel is taxed establishes they were not served in accordance with section 447.9.
Iowa Code 447.8, 448.12 and 448.16 (redeeming after the deed, and the bars on doing so)
Section 447.8 confines post deed redemption to an equitable action in the district court of the county where the parcel is located, maintainable only by a person entitled to redeem during the ninety day period and only on proof of improper service or of an interest acquired during that period. Section 448.12 bars any action under section 447.8 or 448.6 or for recovery of the parcel after three years from the execution and recording of the deed. Section 448.16 provides that once a tax title holder files the affidavit described in section 448.15, an adverse claim must be filed with the county recorder within one hundred twenty days or the tax title is conclusively established as a matter of law.
Iowa Code 427.8 and 427.9 (suspension or abatement for a person unable to pay)
Section 427.8 lets a person who is unable to contribute to the public revenue file a sworn petition with the board of supervisors listing their parcels, allows the board to order the treasurer to suspend collection of the taxes, special assessments and rates or charges including interest, fees and costs for the current year and prior unpaid years, or to abate them, and requires the approved petition to be filed by March 1 of the current tax year with the treasurer. Section 427.9 deems a recipient of federal supplementary security income or state supplementary assistance, or a resident of a health care facility whose care the state is paying for, unable to contribute, and directs suspension without the petition.
Iowa Code 331.552 (the twenty dollar tax sale certificate fee)
Lists the duties of the county treasurer, including subsection 23, to collect a fee of twenty dollars for issuing a tax sale certificate. That fee is part of the amount for which the parcel was sold under section 447.1, so it draws the two percent monthly interest along with the taxes.
Story County Treasurer: terms and conditions of the annual tax sale of June 15, 2026
A county treasurer document showing how the statutory scheme is run in one county, including that the sale opened on Monday, June 15, 2026, that delinquent taxes on each parcel were offered beginning with a 100 percent undivided interest and bid downs ran in whole percentage points from 99 percent to 1 percent, that the certificate fee was twenty dollars, that the certificate of purchase does not convey title, that the ninety day notice may be issued after one year and nine months from the sale date or nine months for a public bidder parcel, that a redemption is not valid unless received before the close of business on the ninetieth day from completed service, and that the treasurer cancels the certificate after three years without an affidavit of service. The sale date, time, newspaper and registration fee are Story County figures and other counties set their own.
Clay County, Iowa Treasurer: property taxes
A county treasurer page stating in plain terms that taxes may be paid in one lump sum on or before September 30 or in two installments by September 30 and March 31, that to avoid penalty for late payment the first half must be paid before October 1 and the second before April 1, that delinquent interest accrues at the rate of 1.5 percent per month rounded to the nearest dollar with a minimum of a dollar, that the annual tax sale is held the third Monday in June with an adjourned sale scheduled for the third Monday of each subsequent month, and that the rate of interest required by Iowa law to be paid in a redemption is 2 percent per month.
Regional Variances
Iowa delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Sale mechanism
Lien first, deed only later. The treasurer sells the delinquent taxes and issues a tax sale certificate of purchase, which does not convey title (Iowa Code 446.29, 448.1). Bidders compete by designating the smallest percentage of the parcel they will take for the total amount due, floored at one percent, with ties broken by random selection (Iowa Code 446.16). A treasurer's deed follows only after the ninety day period that runs from completed service of the notice of expiration (Iowa Code 448.1).
Delinquency dates
Two installments. Half the taxes are payable before September 1 succeeding the levy and the remaining half before March 1 following (Iowa Code 445.36). An unpaid first installment becomes delinquent from October 1 after due and an unpaid second installment from April 1 after due, moving to the second business day of the next month where the last day of September or March falls on a Saturday or Sunday (Iowa Code 445.37).
Charge before the sale
Interest, not a flat penalty. The unpaid installment draws interest of one and one-half percent per month until paid from its delinquent date, computed to the nearest whole dollar, never less than one dollar, with each fraction of a month counted as an entire month (Iowa Code 445.39). Chapter 445 adds no separate percentage penalty on the delinquency itself.
Time before sale
The annual tax sale runs on the third Monday in June, for good cause on another June date, and offers all parcels on which taxes are delinquent that day (Iowa Code 446.7). A first half installment delinquent from October 1 can therefore be offered the following June. Parcels advertised, offered for a year or more and unsold for want of bidders go to the public bidder sale the same day (Iowa Code 446.18).
Redemption period and clock
Two stages, and the second one is the deadline. Stage one runs from the date of sale and only earns the holder the right to act: one year and nine months for a regular sale, nine months after a public bidder sale under section 446.18, three months after a county or city purchase under section 446.19A or 446.19B (Iowa Code 447.9). Stage two is ninety days from completed service of the notice, and service is complete only when the holder's affidavit is filed with the treasurer (Iowa Code 447.12).
Redeemer's charge
A monthly simple rate fixed by statute, not a bid down rate and not a flat penalty. Two percent per month, counting each fraction of a month as an entire month, from the month of sale, on the amount for which the parcel was sold including the certificate fee, plus the same two percent a month on each subsequent year the holder paid, from the month of that payment (Iowa Code 447.1). Interest is rounded to the nearest whole dollar and must be at least one dollar.
Other redemption costs
The twenty dollar certificate fee sits inside the amount sold and so earns interest (Iowa Code 331.552, 447.1). Once the notice is in play, add the cost of serving it including certified mail, the cost of publication under section 447.10 if required, and a record search cost capped at three hundred dollars where the holder is not a county (Iowa Code 447.13). Costs not filed with the treasurer before redemption is complete cannot be collected by the treasurer.
Notice to the owner
Four separate notices. Notice of the sale by regular first class mail not later than May 1 of each fiscal year, plus publication once in an official county newspaper at least one week but not more than three weeks before the sale (Iowa Code 446.9). Notice that the parcel sold, by regular mail within fifteen days of the sale (Iowa Code 446.2). Then the notice of expiration, served by both regular mail and certified mail, with publication under section 447.10 if it cannot be served (Iowa Code 447.9).
Where to redeem
The county treasurer of the county where the parcel is located. Payment goes to the treasurer, who holds it subject to the order of the purchaser, or is entered through the treasurer's authorized internet site, and must be received before the close of business on the ninetieth day from completed service (Iowa Code 447.1, 447.12). The treasurer then issues a certificate of redemption recording the facts of the sale, the date and the amount paid (Iowa Code 447.5).
Surplus proceeds
None in chapters 445 through 448. The sale is made for the total amount of taxes, interest, fees, and costs due (Iowa Code 446.7) and bidders compete on the percentage of the parcel rather than on price (Iowa Code 446.16), so no bid premium above the debt arises at the sale. A scan of the full text of those four chapters returned no surplus, overage or proceeds provision, and this is recorded as an asserted absence for attorney review rather than as a quoted rule.
Payment plan
No statutory installment plan of redemption. Before a sale the treasurer may accept partial payments applied first to interest, fees and costs, but a partial payment is not permitted in lieu of redemption once the parcel has sold and never extends the time for a sale (Iowa Code 445.36A). The separate relief is a petition to the board of supervisors to suspend or abate, filed by March 1 of the current tax year, automatic for certain assistance recipients and care facility residents (Iowa Code 427.8, 427.9).
The holder's own deadline
Three years. If the holder has not filed an affidavit of service of the notice of expiration within three years of the sale, one year for a sale under section 446.19B, the treasurer cancels the sale from the county system (Iowa Code 446.37). Certificates held by a county are outside that limit. A holder who does take the deed must return the certificate and pay the deed and recording fees within ninety calendar days after the redemption period expires or the certificate is cancelled (Iowa Code 448.1).
Frequently Asked Questions
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