Delinquent Property Taxes in Nebraska: A 25,000 Dollar Line Decides Whether You Get a Deed or a Lawsuit
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Nebraska · Last updated October 21, 2026
Nebraska sorts delinquent homes by price tag. Delinquent property taxes are property taxes an owner did not pay by the date the state fixed, after which interest is added and the county can force a sale to collect them. The fork comes later: a certificate holder may apply for a treasurer's tax deed only where 110 percent of the assessed value, less the amount needed to redeem, is 25,000 dollars or less, and above that line the holder shall foreclose the lien in district court instead (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1837(3)). What the county sells in March is the debt, not the house. The purchaser acquires a perpetual lien of the tax on the real property and you keep title (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1818(1)). No one outbids anyone: since January 1, 2015 the purchaser simply pays the taxes, delinquent interest and costs, and the treasurer announces the bidding rules (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1807(2)(c), (d)). Your deadline is unusual, because there is no fixed redemption date. The right of redemption expires when the purchaser files an application for tax deed with the county treasurer, and a redemption is invalid unless received before the close of business on the day that application arrives (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824). The holder cannot file it until three months after serving a notice headed, in sixteen point type, UNLESS YOU ACT YOU WILL LOSE THIS PROPERTY (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1831). Redeeming costs the sum on the certificate plus 14 percent a year to the day you pay (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824, 45-104.01). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Nebraska
Where are you with the unpaid property taxes?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Can a Nebraska county sell my house at the March tax sale?
No. What is sold is a tax sale certificate, and the purchaser acquires a perpetual lien of the tax on the real property while the owner keeps title (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1818). A deed or a court foreclosure comes later, and only if nobody redeems in the meantime (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1837, 77-1902).
How much does it cost to redeem a Nebraska tax sale certificate?
The sum mentioned on the certificate with interest at fourteen percent per annum from the date of purchase to the date of redemption, plus every later year of taxes the holder paid with the same interest from each payment date (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824, 45-104.01). A 25 dollar issuance fee and a 150 dollar administrative fee are added.
When exactly does the right to redeem end in Nebraska?
On a day the certificate holder chooses, not a calendar date. The right of redemption expires when the purchaser files an application for tax deed with the county treasurer, and no redemption is valid unless received before the close of business on the day that application reaches the treasurer (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824).
When do Nebraska property taxes become delinquent each year?
Taxes are due December 31 following the date of levy (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-203). One half becomes delinquent May 1 and the second half September 1, except in counties having a population of more than one hundred thousand, where the first half is delinquent April 1 and the second half August 1 (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-204).
Nebraska delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Nebraska keeps one counterparty throughout, the county treasurer, and one instrument, a certificate. Delinquent property taxes here are taxes an owner missed by the statutory date, after which interest accrues at fourteen percent per annum and the parcel can be sold to collect what is owed (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-207, 45-104.01). The treasurer lists the parcel four to six weeks out, publishes it weekly for three weeks from the first week in February, and offers it on the first Monday of March (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1802, 77-1804, 77-1801). The distinctive part is the back end, which is settled by arithmetic rather than by the investor. A treasurer's tax deed is available only where 110 percent of assessed value, less the redemption amount, is 25,000 dollars or less. Fail that test and the holder shall foreclose in district court (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1837(3)).
A Papillion split level where the assessor's number, not the investor, picks the route
The 2025 bill on a Papillion split level, about 4,600 dollars, goes unpaid, and Sarpy County's own taxpayer notice fixes the delinquency dates at April 1 and August 1, 2026, with interest accruing at fourteen percent a year from each. The county offers the parcel at its public tax sale on March 1, 2027, where a registered bidder pays the taxes, delinquent interest and costs and takes the certificate (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1807(2)(c)). A 150 dollar administrative fee is charged and the purchaser serves notice (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1818). Three years after that sale date the holder's window opens (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1837(1)). On a 310,000 dollar assessment, 110 percent is 341,000 dollars, and taking off roughly 7,000 dollars to redeem leaves about 334,000. Far above 25,000, so no treasurer's deed is available and the holder shall foreclose in district court (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1837(3)).
Relevant Laws
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-203 and 77-204 (when taxes are due and when each half goes delinquent)
Section 77-203 makes all property taxes due and payable on December 31 next following the date of levy, and makes real property taxes a first lien from that date until paid or extinguished. Section 77-204 makes one half delinquent May 1 and the second half September 1, except in counties having a population of more than one hundred thousand, where the dates are April 1 and August 1.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-207 (interest on delinquent taxes, by cross reference)
Provides that all delinquent taxes shall draw interest at a rate equal to the maximum rate allowed per annum under section 45-104.01, as adjusted from time to time by the Legislature, from the date they become delinquent, collected the same as the tax itself. The section prints no figure, so the rate must be read out of section 45-104.01.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 45-104.01 (the fourteen percent figure itself)
Provides that unless otherwise specifically provided, the interest rate assessed on delinquent payments of any taxes or special assessments owing to any political subdivision of the State of Nebraska shall be assessed at a rate of fourteen percent per annum. This is the figure that both the pre-sale interest in section 77-207 and the redemption interest in section 77-1824 point to.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1801 (what becomes subject to sale, and when)
Provides that all real estate on which the taxes have not been paid in full on or before the first Monday of March after they become delinquent shall be subject to sale on or after such date, excepting delinquent taxes on mobile homes, cabin trailers, manufactured homes and similar property assessed as improvements to leased land.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1802 and 77-1804 (the delinquent list, publication and the advertising charge)
Section 77-1802 requires the treasurer, not less than four nor more than six weeks before the first Monday of March, to list every parcel subject to sale with the owner of record, parcel number and street address. Section 77-1804 requires publication once a week for three consecutive weeks commencing the first week in February, posting in the treasurer's office, an electronic copy to the Property Tax Administrator for publication on the Department of Revenue website, and a twenty dollar advertising charge added to the amount due.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1806 and 77-1807 (how the sale is run, and that nothing is bid up)
Section 77-1806 has the treasurer commence the sale on the day named in the notice and continue it day to day, Sundays and holidays excepted. Section 77-1807(2) applies from January 1, 2015: absent a land bank's automatically accepted bid, the person who offers to pay the amount of taxes, delinquent interest and costs is the purchaser, the treasurer announces bidding rules that bind all bidders, an optional round robin ticket draw fixes the order of purchase, and a bidder pays a twenty five dollar registration fee that is not refundable on redemption. Subsection (1), the older smallest-portion rule, applies only until January 1, 2015.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1818 (the certificate is a lien, and the 150 dollar fee)
Provides that the purchaser is entitled to a certificate describing the property, the sum paid and the date the purchaser will be entitled to a deed, and that the purchaser acquires a perpetual lien of the tax on the real property, extendable to later taxes the purchaser pays. Subsection (2) requires the purchaser to serve the owner personally or at the residence, and only if unsuccessful by certified mail, with six listed contents including a prominent forfeiture warning, and charges the owner a one hundred fifty dollar administrative fee collected on redemption for the holder's benefit.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1823 (the twenty five dollar certificate issuance fee)
Provides that the county treasurer shall charge a twenty five dollar issuance fee for each certificate made for a sale of real property for taxes, that no issuance fee is required where the certificate issues in the name of the county but is due from the purchaser when the county assigns it, and that the fee is not refundable upon redemption.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824 (redemption, the charge, and the event that ends the right)
Provides that the owner, occupant, lienholder or other interested person may redeem, that the right of redemption expires when the purchaser files an application for tax deed with the county treasurer, and that a redemption is not valid unless received before the close of business on the day that application is received. Redemption is the sum mentioned in the certificate with interest at the rate specified in section 45-104.01 from the date of purchase to the date of redemption, plus all other taxes subsequently paid with the same interest from each payment date, plus the issuance fee under section 77-1823 and the administrative fee under section 77-1818(2).
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1825 (where the money goes and what you get)
Requires the county treasurer to enter a memorandum of redemption in the record, give a receipt to the person redeeming, send written notice of redemption to the certificate holder by first class mail where an address is on file or by electronic means if previously agreed, and pay the redemption money to or upon the order of the holder on return of the certificate.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1826 and 77-1827 (the two extended clocks)
Section 77-1826 allows the real property of minors to be redeemed during the ordinary time of redemption or at any time before the minor comes of age and during two years thereafter. Section 77-1827 allows the real property of persons with an intellectual disability or a mental disorder to be redeemed at any time within five years after the sale.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1829 (a second sale pushes the deed back)
Provides that a purchaser who suffers the same real property to be again sold for taxes before the expiration of the last day of the second annual sale thereafter is not entitled to a deed until a like term expires from the date of the second sale, during which the property remains subject to redemption on the terms prescribed by law. It does not apply to real property determined vacant and abandoned under section 77-1837.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1831 and 77-1832 (the three month warning and how it must be served)
Section 77-1831 bars any tax deed unless the purchaser, at least three months before applying, serves a notice stating that the deed will be applied for after at least three months, and requires the notice to carry the statement UNLESS YOU ACT YOU WILL LOSE THIS PROPERTY in sixteen point type along with the purchase date, the description, the name assessed, the amount represented by the certificate, and a statement of the redemption right and its expiry on the date of application. Section 77-1832 requires personal or residence service on the occupant and the record title holder, certified mail or designated delivery only if that fails, and certified mail on every encumbrancer found by the title search.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1836 (the publication cost a redeemer must also pay)
Provides that where a person was compelled to publish the pre-deed notice, no person with a right to redeem may redeem until paying the officer authorized to receive redemption money the amount paid for publishing the notice, for the use of the person compelled to publish it, and caps that fee at twenty dollars for each item of real property in the notice.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1837 (the 25,000 dollar test, and the deed window)
Subsection (1) lets the purchaser or assignee apply for a tax deed within nine months after the expiration of three years after the date of sale, or within nine months after the expiration of two years for real estate determined vacant and abandoned under subsection (5). Subsection (3) allows the application only if one hundred ten percent of the assessed value in the county assessor's records at the time of application, less the amount that would be needed to redeem, is twenty five thousand dollars or less, and provides that if that requirement is not met the purchaser or assignee shall foreclose the lien pursuant to section 77-1902. Subsection (5) limits the vacant and abandoned route to land bank holders and lists eleven criteria.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1837.01 (which year's law governs your certificate)
Provides that the laws in effect on the date of issuance of a tax sale certificate govern all matters related to tax deed proceedings, including noticing and application, and foreclosure proceedings, and that changes in law shall not apply retroactively to certificates previously issued. Certificates issued between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2016 are governed by the law as of December 31, 2009, and those issued between January 1, 2017 and September 7, 2019 by the law as of September 7, 2019. Subsection (4), added by Laws 2026, LB1253 with an effective date of April 8, 2026, applies section 77-1909 as in effect on May 7, 2025 to foreclosed certificates regardless of issue date.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1838 (what the deed vests, and the surplus owed back to you)
Subsection (1) provides that the recorded treasurer's deed vests the title in the grantee, subject to community improvement district and sanitary and improvement district special assessment liens not previously offered for sale. Subsection (2) requires the grantee, within thirty days after recording, to pay the surplus to the previous owner, calculated from the resale amount if the property has since been sold or otherwise from the assessed value at the time of the deed application, minus the amount that would have been needed to redeem, minus the amount needed to pay all encumbrances, minus a five hundred dollar administrative fee or reasonable attorney's fees in the event of judicial foreclosure.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1856 (the certificate dies if the holder sits on it)
Provides that if the owner of a tax sale certificate fails or neglects to demand a deed or to commence a foreclosure action within the time specified in section 77-1837(1)(b) or section 77-1902(2)(b), the certificate ceases to be valid or of any force or effect whatever and the real property is forever released and discharged from the lien of all taxes for which it was sold, and directs the treasurer to enter the cancellation on the tax sale records.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1902 and 77-1909 (the court route, and the ten percent attorney fee)
Section 77-1902 lets the holder of a certificate or tax deed proceed in the district court of the county where the land sits to foreclose the tax lien in the same manner and with like effect as the foreclosure of a real estate mortgage, within nine months after three years from the sale date, or nine months after two years for vacant and abandoned real estate. Section 77-1909 requires the decree to determine the taxes, special assessments, other liens, interest and costs chargeable to each parcel and to award the plaintiff an attorney's fee equal to ten percent of the amount due, plus reasonable fees in excess for good cause shown, taxed as costs.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1917 (redeeming once a foreclosure has started)
Subsection (1) lets any person entitled to redeem do so at any time prior to the institution of foreclosure proceedings by paying the treasurer the certificate sum with interest at the section 45-104.01 rate plus subsequent taxes and interest. Subsection (2) lets redemption continue after the decree and before final confirmation of the sale by paying the clerk of the district court the amount found due with interest and costs, plus subsequent taxes and interest on the purchase price where a third party bought at sheriff's sale, and includes the attorney's fees provided for in section 77-1909 where requested in the complaint.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1915 and 77-1916 (what happens to the foreclosure sale money)
Section 77-1915 pays the costs charged to the property first, then the balance to the plaintiff where the plaintiff is a private person, firm or corporation, or to the county treasurer for distribution where the plaintiff is a governmental subdivision, municipal corporation or drainage or irrigation district. Section 77-1916 provides that if a surplus remains after satisfying all costs and taxes against a particular item of real property, the excess is applied in the manner provided by law for the disposition of the surplus in the foreclosure of mortgages on real property.
Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1704.02 (the county option escrow, and its limit)
Provides that any county board may pass a resolution to allow payments toward current or delinquent property taxes, or charges for interest, publication, penalties or other delinquency charges, to be held in escrow by the county treasurer, and may require a minimum, limited or periodic payment amount and an escrow agreement. It also provides that escrowed payments for delinquent taxes are applied to the oldest delinquencies first and shall not affect any collection procedure that is underway or available to the county until the delinquency is fully satisfied.
Nebraska Department of Revenue: Nebraska Delinquent Real Property List
The state agency page that publishes the compiled statewide delinquent real property list required by Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1804, built from what each county treasurer submits in the first week of February, alongside a complete list of county treasurer contact information and parcel search links. The page directs all questions about delinquent real property to the county treasurer.
Sarpy County Treasurer: Real Estate Taxes
A county treasurer page showing the over one hundred thousand population track in practice. It states the 2025 statement delinquency dates as April 1, 2026 and August 1, 2026, that interest accrues at an annual rate of 14 percent from the date of delinquency, that once taxes are delinquent payments are accepted only in minimum one half year increments plus accrued interest, and that unpaid 2025 real property taxes would be offered at a public tax sale on March 1, 2027 resulting in a tax lien on the property.
Regional Variances
Nebraska delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Sale mechanism
Tax lien certificate first, then one of two back ends. The county treasurer sells a tax sale certificate at public auction on the first Monday of March and the purchaser acquires a perpetual lien of the tax on the real property, so title stays with the owner (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1801, 77-1818(1)). Nothing is bid up or down: from January 1, 2015 the purchaser pays the taxes, delinquent interest and costs, the treasurer announces the bidding rules, and an optional round robin ticket draw sets the order in which registered bidders may take one parcel per round (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1807(2)).
The route fork, and who decides it
Not the investor. A treasurer's tax deed is available only where one hundred ten percent of the assessed value in the county assessor's records at the time of application, less the amount needed to redeem, is twenty five thousand dollars or less, and if that test is not met the holder shall foreclose the lien in district court instead (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1837(3)). The foreclosure runs in the same manner and with like effect as the foreclosure of a real estate mortgage (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1902(1)).
Delinquency dates
Taxes are due December 31 following the date of levy and become a first lien that day (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-203). One half is delinquent May 1 and the second half September 1, except in counties having a population of more than one hundred thousand, where the first half is delinquent April 1 and the second half August 1 (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-204). Which pair applies therefore depends on the county.
Interest and charges before the sale
Interest runs at fourteen percent per annum from the date the taxes become delinquent, collected the same as the tax itself (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-207, 45-104.01). Section 77-207 prints no figure, so the rate has to be read out of section 45-104.01. A twenty dollar advertising charge is assessed against each description and added to the total due when the parcel goes on the published delinquent list (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1804(1)).
Time before the sale
The parcel becomes subject to sale on or after the first Monday of March after the taxes become delinquent (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1801), so roughly ten to eleven months after the first half delinquency date. The treasurer commences the sale on the day named in the notice and continues it from day to day, Sundays and holidays excepted, until every listed parcel has been sold or offered (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1806).
Redemption period and clock
There is no fixed redemption date. The clock that matters runs from the date of the tax sale, because the holder's filing window is the nine months after three years from that date, or the nine months after two years where a land bank holder determined the real estate vacant and abandoned (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1837(1)). But the right itself expires when the purchaser files an application for tax deed with the county treasurer, and no redemption is valid unless received before the close of business on the day that application is received (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824). Longer clocks exist for minors and for persons with an intellectual disability or a mental disorder (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1826, 77-1827).
Redeemer's charge
A simple annual rate, not a penalty, not a premium and not a bid down rate, because nothing was bid at the sale. The sum mentioned in the certificate carries interest at the rate specified in section 45-104.01, fourteen percent per annum, from the date of purchase to the date of redemption, and every later year of taxes the holder paid carries the same rate from each payment date (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824, 45-104.01).
Other redemption costs
The amount due for redemption includes the twenty five dollar certificate issuance fee, which is not refundable upon redemption, and the one hundred fifty dollar administrative fee charged to the owner when the certificate issues and collected for the holder's benefit (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824, 77-1823, 77-1818(2)). Where the pre-deed notice had to be published, add the publication cost, capped at twenty dollars per item of real property (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1836). Inside a foreclosure the decree adds an attorney's fee of ten percent of the amount due, plus more for good cause shown, taxed as costs (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1909).
Notice to the owner
Three events. Before the sale, the treasurer lists the parcel four to six weeks out with the owner of record, parcel number and street address, publishes weekly for three consecutive weeks from the first week in February, posts a copy in the office, and sends the list to the Property Tax Administrator for the Department of Revenue website (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1802, 77-1804). On issuance, the purchaser serves the owner personally or at the residence, and only if unsuccessful by certified mail, with a prominent forfeiture warning (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1818(2)). Before any deed, a notice headed UNLESS YOU ACT YOU WILL LOSE THIS PROPERTY in sixteen point type, served at least three months ahead on the occupant, the record owner and every encumbrancer found by a title search (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1831, 77-1832, 77-1833).
Where to redeem
The county treasurer, who takes the money for the certificate holder's use, enters a memorandum of redemption, issues a receipt and notifies the holder (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824, 77-1825). Once a foreclosure decree has been entered, redemption instead means paying the clerk of the district court the amount found due with interest and costs, at any time before final confirmation of the sale (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1917(2)).
Surplus proceeds
Owed back on both routes, and on the deed route without the former owner filing anything. Within thirty days after recording the deed the grantee shall pay the surplus to the previous owner, measured by the resale price if the property has since been sold, otherwise by the assessed value at the time of the deed application, less the amount that would have been needed to redeem, less all encumbrances, less a five hundred dollar administrative fee or reasonable attorney's fees in a judicial foreclosure (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1838(2)). On the court route, any surplus after all costs and taxes is applied as a mortgage foreclosure surplus is (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1915, 77-1916).
Payment plan
A county option, not a statewide right, and it does not pause anything. Any county board may pass a resolution letting the treasurer hold payments in escrow toward current or delinquent taxes, interest, publication, penalties or other delinquency charges, and may set a minimum or periodic amount and require an escrow agreement (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1704.02(1)). The same section provides that escrowed payments go to the oldest delinquencies first and shall not affect any collection procedure that is underway or available to the county until the delinquency is fully satisfied.
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