Delinquent Property Taxes in Kentucky: Twelve Percent Interest, and a Fee Stack That Dwarfs It
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Kentucky · Last updated October 21, 2026
In Kentucky the thing that changes hands when property taxes go unpaid is the bill itself: the county clerk turns it into a certificate of delinquency and sells that lien to an investor, who must then win a circuit court case before the house is at risk. Delinquent property taxes are taxes a homeowner did not pay by the date the state set, after which the county adds penalties and can eventually force a sale to collect them. Bills are due on or before December 31 of the assessment year, with a 5 percent penalty in January and 10 percent after January 31 (KRS 134.015). Whatever is still unpaid on April 15 passes from the sheriff to the county clerk and becomes a certificate of delinquency, a lien of record against the property (KRS 134.010, KRS 134.122). The clerk offers it for sale 90 to 135 days after that filing (KRS 134.128). The certificate bears simple interest at twelve percent per annum, a fraction of a month counted as an entire month (KRS 134.125). That rate is the small part of the bill. A 10 percent county clerk fee, a 20 percent county attorney fee, the sheriff's add-on and a third-party purchaser's capped attorney fees all ride on the same claim (KRS 134.126, KRS 134.504, KRS 134.119, KRS 134.452). There is no redemption window to miss, because the owner may pay the total due at any time (KRS 134.127). What closes is the lawsuit window: no action before one year from delinquency, none after eleven (KRS 134.546). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Kentucky
Where are you with the unpaid property taxes?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
How long do I have to pay off a Kentucky certificate of delinquency?
There is no fixed window. The delinquent taxpayer or any person having a legal or equitable estate in the property may, at any time, pay the total amount due to a third-party purchaser, and the same people may pay the county clerk at any time while the clerk holds the certificate (KRS 134.127).
What does it cost to clear a certificate of delinquency in Kentucky?
A certificate of delinquency shall bear simple interest at twelve percent per annum, with a fraction of a month counted as an entire month (KRS 134.125). The statutory fees are the larger number: 10 percent to the county clerk and 20 percent to the county attorney, added to the claim (KRS 134.126, KRS 134.504).
When can a Kentucky certificate holder take me to court over unpaid taxes?
Any action may be brought at any time after the passage of one year from the date the taxes became delinquent, and shall be brought within eleven years of that date (KRS 134.546). At least 45 days before suing, the holder must send notice by certified mail with proof of mailing (KRS 134.490).
When are Kentucky property taxes due, and when do the penalties start?
All property taxes are due and payable on or before December 31 of the assessment year, with a 2 percent discount for payment in full by November 1 (KRS 134.015). Taxes paid between January 1 and January 31 carry a 5 percent penalty, and taxes paid after January 31 carry 10 percent.
Kentucky delinquent property tax rules at a glance
A Kentucky tax bill left unpaid stops being a bill and turns into an asset the county clerk can sell to an investor, which is what delinquent property taxes mean here: taxes missed by the statutory date, after which the county piles on charges and can finally force a sale. The instrument is a lien, not a deed. Title stays with the owner until a circuit court says otherwise (KRS 134.122, KRS 134.546). Two things make this state unusual. First, the clock. Nothing expires on a calendar date, because payment is open at any time, while the lien and the right to sue both run eleven years from delinquency (KRS 134.420, KRS 134.546). Second, the arithmetic. Twelve percent simple annual interest sits underneath a stack of percentage fees and capped attorney fees that often exceed it (KRS 134.125, KRS 134.452).
An Owensboro bungalow where the interest is 900 dollars and the fees are more
The numbers below belong to a Daviess County brick ranch in Owensboro whose owner let a 2,400 dollar assessment year bill ride past December 31. In January a 5 percent penalty attaches, and after January 31 it is 10 percent (KRS 134.015). The sheriff files the claim with the county clerk on April 15, the sheriff's add-on goes on, and the claim becomes a certificate of delinquency (KRS 134.119, KRS 134.122). The clerk's sale falls inside the 90 to 135 day window and an investor pays it (KRS 134.128). Three years on, twelve percent simple interest has added several hundred dollars (KRS 134.125), while the clerk's 10 percent, the county attorney's 20 percent and capped prelitigation attorney fees have added more (KRS 134.126, KRS 134.504, KRS 134.452). What each figure actually totals is for the holder's statement and the court record.
Relevant Laws
KRS 134.015 (due date, the 2 percent discount, and the 5 and 10 percent penalties)
Provides that all property taxes are due and payable on or before December 31 of the assessment year, that a taxpayer paying in full by November 1 receives a two percent discount, that taxes paid between November 2 and December 31 are paid at face without discount or penalty, that taxes paid between January 1 and January 31 of the following year carry a five percent penalty, and that taxes paid after January 31 carry a ten percent penalty. It also sets an alternative collection schedule where the regular one is delayed.
KRS 134.010 (what a certificate of delinquency is)
Defines a certificate of delinquency as a tax claim on real property for taxes that remains unpaid on April 15 under the regular collection schedule, or three full months and fifteen days from the due date under an alternative schedule, and that has been filed with the county clerk. It also defines priority certificate of delinquency, protected list, tax claim and third-party purchaser.
KRS 134.119 (the sheriff's collection role and the 10 percent add-on)
Makes the sheriff the collector of state, county, school district and other taxing district property taxes, and provides that as additional compensation for the collection of delinquent taxes the sheriff is entitled to an amount equal to ten percent of the total taxes due plus ten percent of the ten percent penalty, added to the total amount due and paid by the person paying the tax claim or the certificate of delinquency.
KRS 134.122 (April 15 transfer from sheriff to county clerk, and what the certificate contains)
Requires the sheriff to file all remaining tax claims with the county clerk on April 15, or three months and fifteen days from the due date under an alternative schedule, and provides that on filing a real property tax claim becomes a certificate of delinquency. Lists what the certificate includes: the face amount of the tax, the ten percent penalty under KRS 134.015, and the sheriff's commission and ten percent add-on under KRS 134.119. The certificate is prima facie evidence that the tax claim was valid and correct in all respects.
KRS 134.125 (twelve percent simple interest on the certificate)
Provides that a certificate of delinquency shall bear simple interest at twelve percent per annum, calculated initially on the base amount established by KRS 134.122(2)(d) and in subsequent months on the outstanding balance of the base amount until paid, with a fraction of a month counted as an entire month. Where a third-party purchaser pays the certificate, the amount that purchaser paid becomes the base amount on which simple interest is initially calculated.
KRS 134.126 (the county clerk's duties and the 10 percent clerk fee)
Requires the county clerk to receive and record payments for all certificates of delinquency filed by the sheriff, to give a receipt to the person making payment, and to allocate payments among the entities entitled to them. Provides that as compensation for collection the county clerk shall be paid ten percent of the amount due each taxing unit for each certificate, added to the amount of the tax claim and paid by the person paying it. Also governs assignment of a certificate to a person other than the one primarily liable.
KRS 134.127 (paying the amount due at any time)
Lists the persons who may pay the county clerk at any time the total amount due on a certificate of delinquency owned by the taxing jurisdictions and in the clerk's possession, including the person primarily liable and any person with a legal or equitable estate in the property, a tenant or lawful occupant, or a mortgagee. Provides that the delinquent taxpayer or any person having a legal or equitable estate in the property may, at any time, pay the total amount due to a third-party purchaser, and sets out the lien release duties that follow payment.
KRS 134.128 (the clerk's annual sale, its 90 to 135 day window, and published notice)
Governs the sale of certificates of delinquency by county clerks to third parties. Requires the Department of Revenue to establish an annual statewide schedule published on its website at least ten days before the first sale, administered in each county by the county clerk, with each county's sale scheduled at least ninety days but not more than one hundred thirty-five days after the sheriff files the unpaid tax claims. Requires published notice at least thirty but not more than forty-five days before the sale listing each property by owner, address and parcel number. Sets registration requirements and a county registration fee not exceeding 250 dollars.
KRS 134.420 (the eleven year tax lien)
Provides that the state and each county, city or other taxing district has a lien on the property assessed for taxes due them for eleven years following the date when the taxes become delinquent, that the lien is not defeated except by sale to a bona fide purchaser, and that it includes all interest, penalties, fees, commissions, charges, costs, attorney fees and other expenses incurred by reason of the delinquency or in collecting it, with priority over any other obligation for which the property is liable.
KRS 134.452 (what a third-party purchaser may charge, and the caps)
Limits a third-party purchaser to the amount actually paid for the certificate, interest under KRS 134.125, and prelitigation attorney fees capped by certificate size: up to one hundred percent of a certificate of 5 to 350 dollars not exceeding 350 dollars, up to eighty percent of a certificate of 351 to 700 dollars not exceeding 560 dollars, and up to seventy percent above 701 dollars not exceeding 700 dollars. Those fees may accrue only in increments of the lesser of fees incurred or 175 dollars per notice, no more often than every ninety days. Caps assignment administrative fees at 115 dollars and treats litigation fees up to 2,000 dollars as potentially reasonable, with more allowed only on a court finding.
KRS 134.490 (purchaser notices, the 45 day warning, and the monthly payment plan)
Requires a third-party purchaser to notify the delinquent taxpayer within fifty days after the clerk delivers the certificate and every six months after that, by certified mail with proof of mailing and with a copy to each mortgagee. Requires a notice at least forty-five days before instituting a legal action, stating that enforcement action will be taken and that collection actions may include foreclosure. Sets out the information each notice must carry, including an itemisation of purchase price, accrued interest and purchaser fees, and requires a registered purchaser to provide a monthly installment payment plan on written request for a processing fee of no more than 8 dollars a month. Amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 161, effective July 15, 2026.
KRS 134.504 (county attorney collection, the 20 percent fee, notices, and payment plans)
Makes the Department of Revenue responsible for collecting certificates of delinquency and lets it contract that work to each county attorney. Requires a notice within thirty days of the certificate stating that it is a lien of record, that it bears twelve percent interest, that a third-party purchaser may pay it any time after ninety days and may impose substantial additional costs including foreclosure, and that the taxpayer may qualify for a payment plan if terms are agreed before the sale, plus a second notice within sixty days carrying the actual sale date. Sets county attorney compensation at twenty percent of the amount due each taxing unit, waived on payment in full within five days of filing, with an additional thirteen percent on litigation. Requires the county attorney to establish an installment payment system. Amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 48, effective July 15, 2026.
KRS 134.546 (the one year wait, the eleven year deadline, and the foreclosure sale)
Provides that an action to collect any amount due on a certificate of delinquency may be brought at any time after the passage of one year from the date the taxes became delinquent and shall be brought within eleven years of that date. Lets a third-party purchaser sue the taxpayer on the debt, sue to enforce the KRS 134.420 lien, or join both. Provides that property owned by a delinquent taxpayer is subject to foreclosure or execution in satisfaction of a judgment, and that if property is sold under a judgment of foreclosure it shall be appraised under KRS 426.520 and there shall be a right of redemption as provided in KRS 426.530.
KRS 426.520 and KRS 426.530 (pre-sale appraisal and the conditional six month redemption)
Section 426.520 requires real property sold under a court order or judgment other than an execution to be appraised under oath before sale, in writing, signed, returned to the court and filed among the papers of the cause before the sale. Section 426.530 provides that if the property does not bring two-thirds of its appraised value the defendant and his or her representatives may redeem it within six months from the day of sale by paying the original purchase money and ten percent per annum interest, plus reasonable post-sale costs of maintenance or repair, with the redemption money paid to the clerk of the court and the master commissioner then conveying the property back.
KRS 68.095 and KRS 91.511 (the in-rem route a county may now use, and its 60 day redemption)
KRS 68.095, created by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 48 effective July 15, 2026, provides that in addition to other powers a county may enforce collection of any tax bill due to it by the procedure authorized in KRS 91.481 to 91.527, subject to the limitation period in KRS 134.546. On that route KRS 91.511 lets any person with a right, title, interest or lien discharge the lien or satisfy the judgment at any time prior to sale by paying the collector the entirety of it, and gives the owner sixty days from the day of sale to redeem where the property did not bring its most recent certified assessed value, by paying the purchaser the original purchase price plus eighteen percent per annum, with the owner entitled to remain in possession until the right expires.
KRS 91.517 (how a sale's proceeds are distributed on the in-rem route)
Requires the court to set a hearing to confirm the master commissioner's sale, and on confirmation to apply the proceeds first to all costs including court costs and publication costs, then to all tax bills on the property including principal, interest and penalties, and then, if proceeds remain, to determine the other issues in the suit. Provides that funds remaining after distribution escheat to the state under KRS Chapter 393 if no person entitled to them appears and claims them within two years after the sale.
KRS 134.549 (redemption where the taxing districts obtained the land)
Provides that after the state, county and taxing districts obtain real property through an action on a certificate of delinquency, the commissioner's designated agent may advertise and sell it, with notice posted at the courthouse door for fifteen days and publication under KRS Chapter 424, and that the property may be redeemed at any time before the commissioner gives a deed to a purchaser by paying the county clerk the amount due at the time the property was acquired plus subsequent costs and interest at twelve percent per annum.
Kentucky Department of Revenue: Delinquent Property Tax
The state revenue agency's plain-language page on the process. It states that at the close of business on April 15 the tax bills are transferred from the sheriff's office to the county clerk's office, that they are then known as a certificate of delinquency and represent a lien against the property, that interest begins to accrue on the total due at the rate of 1 percent per month, that a 10 percent county clerk fee and a 20 percent county attorney fee are added, that beginning in mid-July county clerks offer the certificates for sale to third party purchasers with most sales from mid-July through the end of August, and that where a certificate is sold the owner must then work with the third party to arrange payment.
Regional Variances
Kentucky delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Sale mechanism
Lien first, then a court foreclosure. On filing with the county clerk a real property tax claim becomes a certificate of delinquency, which the Department of Revenue describes as a lien against the property, and the clerk sells it to registered third-party purchasers at an annual county sale (KRS 134.122, KRS 134.128). Title stays with the owner. Taking the property requires a circuit court action to enforce the KRS 134.420 lien, after which the property is appraised and sold under the judgment (KRS 134.546).
Delinquency dates
One annual bill, not installments. Due and payable on or before December 31 of the assessment year, 2 percent off for payment in full by November 1, face value from November 2 to December 31, a 5 percent penalty from January 1 to January 31 and 10 percent after January 31 (KRS 134.015). A claim still unpaid on April 15 becomes a certificate of delinquency once the sheriff files it (KRS 134.010, KRS 134.122).
Penalty and interest before the sale
Three charges, stacked. The 5 or 10 percent penalty under KRS 134.015. The sheriff's add-on of 10 percent of the total taxes due plus 10 percent of the 10 percent penalty, which becomes part of the certificate (KRS 134.119, KRS 134.122). Then simple interest at twelve percent per annum on the certificate, with a fraction of a month counted as an entire month (KRS 134.125).
Time before sale
Two different clocks. The clerk's sale of the certificate is scheduled at least 90 days but not more than 135 days after the sheriff files the unpaid claims, extended to as much as 195 days where a clerk asks to include certain separately assessed mineral certificates (KRS 134.128). The court action that can actually take the property cannot be brought until one year has passed from the date the taxes became delinquent (KRS 134.546).
Redemption period and clock
No pre-sale window, because payment is open at any time to the clerk or to the purchaser (KRS 134.127). The outside bounds are the eleven year lien and the eleven year limit on an enforcement action, both running from the date the taxes became delinquent (KRS 134.420, KRS 134.546). After a foreclosure sale redemption is conditional: six months from the day of sale, only where the property did not bring two-thirds of its appraised value (KRS 426.530). On the in-rem route a county may use, 60 days from the day of sale where it did not bring its most recent certified assessed value (KRS 91.511).
Redeemer's charge
A simple annual rate, not a monthly penalty and not a bid-down figure. Twelve percent per annum simple interest, with a fraction of a month counted as an entire month, and with the base resetting to the amount a third-party purchaser actually paid the clerk (KRS 134.125). The post-sale charge is a different kind of number on a different base: the original purchase money plus ten percent per annum (KRS 426.530), or the purchase price plus eighteen percent per annum on the in-rem route (KRS 91.511).
Other redemption costs
This is where the money is. A 10 percent county clerk fee and a 20 percent county attorney fee, both added to the claim, the latter waived only on payment in full within five days of filing (KRS 134.126, KRS 134.504). One dollar per notice mailed, 5 dollars per certificate advertised plus the advertising cost (KRS 134.504, KRS 134.128). From a third-party purchaser, prelitigation attorney fees capped at 350, 560 or 700 dollars by certificate size, a 115 dollar assignment fee, and litigation fees up to 2,000 dollars or more if a court finds it warranted (KRS 134.452). A county attorney who litigates may take an additional 13 percent (KRS 134.504).
Notice to the owner
Four tracks. A 30 day notice and a 60 day second notice from the county attorney or the Department, the second carrying the actual sale date (KRS 134.504). Published notice by the clerk at least 30 but not more than 45 days before the sale, listing each property by owner, address and parcel number (KRS 134.128). A certified mail notice from a third-party purchaser within 50 days of delivery and every 6 months after (KRS 134.490). A 45 day notice before any legal action (KRS 134.490, KRS 134.504).
Where to redeem
The county clerk, who receives and records payments on certificates filed by the sheriff and gives a receipt (KRS 134.126). Once a third-party purchaser holds the certificate, payment goes to that purchaser, whose legal name, physical address, payment address and telephone number must appear in the statutory notice (KRS 134.127, KRS 134.490). Post-sale redemption money goes to the clerk of the court that rendered the judgment (KRS 426.530).
Surplus proceeds
Decided in the lawsuit, not claimed over a counter. On the in-rem route the court applies proceeds to costs, then to all tax bills including principal, interest and penalties, then determines the other issues in the suit, and funds no one claims within two years after the sale escheat to the state (KRS 91.517). On the ordinary route every other lienholder must be named as a defendant and none may receive proceeds without showing their right by answer and cross claim (KRS 426.006).
Payment plan
Two rights on opposite sides of the sale. Before it, the county attorney must establish a system to accept installment payments, may agree terms with a delinquent taxpayer, and may on written request for good cause waive or reduce certain fees and penalties, with terms agreed before the sale date (KRS 134.504). After it, a registered third-party purchaser must provide a monthly installment plan on the taxpayer's written request, under a signed agreement, for a processing fee of no more than 8 dollars a month (KRS 134.490).
Frequently Asked Questions
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