Frequently Asked Questions
Property Tax → Tax Sale
Where can I get the latest information about my property?
This information can be obtained by contacting your County Treasurer
What happens if my taxes are not paid by the due date?
Late interest accrues on the first day of each month if a tax payment is not paid before the due date. The interest accrues at the rate of 1.5% per month (rounded to the nearest dollar) with a minimum of one dollar. Late interest is added to the unpaid balance of your property taxes.
When the last day of the month is a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, the deadline for remitting tax payments without late interest or additional late interest for delinquent installments is extended to include the first business day of the following month.
Taxes that remain unpaid could be subject to tax sale. Once the taxes are sold at tax sale to another party they are considered paid. A tax lien is then placed on the property and if the tax sale is not redeemed within the time specified by Iowa law, the tax sale certificate holder may initiate proceedings to obtain a tax deed on the property.
What should I do if I have a tax sale on my property?
Contact your County Treasurer for information about your rights concerning a tax sale redemption and what steps are needed to redeem the tax sale certificate. If redemption is not completed within the time period provided by law, the right to redeem expires and a tax deed may be issued to the tax sale certificate holder.
Pursuant to Iowa law you may make a full redemption by remitting your payment to the County Treasurer for the amount of delinquent tax originally sold at tax sale plus two percent per month. Additional amounts may accrue.
Taxes for subsequent years may be paid by the tax sale certificate holder beginning fourteen days following the date from which a subsequent installment becomes delinquent. Even though prior taxes may have been sold at tax sale you may pay these subsequent taxes before the tax sale certificate holder has the right to pay them.
You must have an interest in the property sufficient to give you the right to redeem the tax sale. A sufficient interest means that you must be one of the following:
- The titleholder of record.
- The person in whose name the parcel was/is taxed.
- A person in possession of the parcel.
- A mortgagee with a lien on the parcel.
- A vendor of the parcel under a recorded contract of sale.
- A lessor with a recorded lease or memorandum of recorded lease.
- Any other person with an interest of record
Examples:
- Judgment creditor of record
- Vendee under recorded real estate contract
- Holder of an inherited or devised recorded interest
- Tax sale certificate holder
What do I do if I have received a Notice to Redeem From Tax Sale stating that I have ninety days to redeem the tax sale on my parcel?
Contact your County Treasurer for information about your rights concerning a tax sale redemption and what steps are needed to redeem the tax sale certificate. If redemption is not completed within the time period provided by law, the right to redeem expires and a tax deed may be issued to the tax sale certificate holder.
