What's the difference between a tax lien and a tax deed?

A tax lien is the county's claim for unpaid taxes, sold to an investor as a certificate: you earn interest when the owner pays up. A tax deed is the property itself, sold at auction: you become the owner (subject to the state's redemption and title rules). Across our 51-jurisdiction law library: 17 jurisdictions sell pure liens, 21 sell pure deeds, 10 sell redeemable deeds, and 3 run hybrid systems.

Which states sell tax liens?

The pure lien jurisdictions in our dataset are: Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming. Three more states — Alabama, Florida, Ohio — sell liens alongside deeds.

Which states sell tax deeds?

The pure deed jurisdictions are: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin. The redeemable-deed jurisdictions — where you get a deed the owner can still buy back during a window — are: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont

What does Florida sell?

Both. Florida is a hybrid: tax lien certificates sell every year on or before June 1 (up to 18%, bid down in 0.25% steps, 5% minimum premium on most redemptions), and tax deed sales run several times a month, year-round, through the Clerks of Court. Certificate holders may apply for a tax deed after two years.

What interest can I earn on a tax lien?

Whatever your state's law sets and its auction leaves you. Caps and fixed rates in our dataset include: Florida up to 18% (bid down), Ohio certificates up to 18% (bid down), Arizona up to 16% (bid down), Kentucky a fixed 12%, Iowa a fixed 24%, New Jersey up to 18% (bid down, then premium), and Illinois a penalty bid down from 9% per six-month period. Competitive sales clear below caps — Maricopa County, Arizona commonly clears at 0–3%.

What is the highest tax lien rate in the country?

Iowa's fixed 24% per year (2% per month, Iowa Code 447.1) is the highest headline rate in our dataset — and it is not bid down; competition moves to the undivided-interest percentage instead. The highest caps in bid-down states are 18% (Florida, Ohio, New Jersey, DC).

What is a redemption period?

The statutory window during which the former owner can reclaim the property by paying the full amount owed — the sale price plus the state's interest or premium and costs. It is set by state law and is the master timeline of every tax-sale investment.

Which states have the shortest redemption windows?

Delaware's monition sales allow 60 days from court confirmation; Connecticut allows 60 days for abandoned property (six months standard); Tennessee allows 30 days for qualifying vacant or abandoned property; Texas allows 180 days for most property classes (two years for homestead, agricultural and mineral).

Which states have the longest timelines?

Arizona lien holders cannot start foreclosure until three years after the sale (lien expires at ten years). Louisiana redemption runs three years from recordation. Illinois redemption generally runs 2.5 years, extendable to three. Florida certificate holders may apply for a deed from year two, and the certificate lives seven years.

What happens when the owner redeems?

The county collects the payoff — your amount plus the statutory interest or premium and costs — and pays you; the lien is satisfied (or, in redeemable-deed states, the deed is defeated) and the owner keeps the property. Redemption is the normal outcome in lien investing and the priced outcome in redeemable-deed investing: Texas pays a 25% first-year premium, Georgia 20%, South Carolina tiered 3–12%.

What happens if the owner never redeems?

The investor's endgame opens, by the state's process: foreclosure of the lien (Arizona, New Jersey — judicial), a tax deed application (Florida, after two years), a deed petition (Indiana — within six months after the one-year period or the lien terminates), barring the right (Georgia), or issuance of the deed after the window (South Carolina). A quiet title action is commonly needed afterward for insurable title.

When do tax sales happen?

On each state's statutory calendar. Anchors from our dataset: Texas and Georgia sell the first Tuesday of the month; Florida certificates by June 1 and deeds year-round; Arizona liens each February; Iowa the third Monday in June; Indiana in the fall (mostly September–October); Illinois in the fall; Mississippi on the last Monday in August; Oklahoma's resale begins the second Monday in June.

Are tax sales held online or in person?

Both — it follows the county, not the state. Online examples from our platform research: Florida certificates on LienHub and RealTaxLien, Florida deeds on RealTaxDeed, Arizona on RealAuction county portals, Mississippi on GovEase, Cook County (Illinois) on RealAuction, Bid4Assets for deed sales in 30+ states. Georgia sheriff sales and many South Carolina county sales remain in person on courthouse steps.

What does 'bid down' mean?

The interest rate is the bid: the investor willing to accept the lowest rate wins. Florida starts at 18% and descends in 0.25% increments; Arizona starts at 16%; Ohio certificates start at 18%. The statutory maximum is an opening suggestion — your real rate is the clearing rate.

What is premium bidding?

Bidding the price up instead of the rate down. The premium (amount over the tax obligation) usually earns nothing: New Jersey premiums are returned only on redemption and escheat to the municipality after five unredeemed years; Colorado premiums are not refunded on redemption; Mississippi computes redemption regardless of the bid. Indiana is the exception — overbid returns with 5% per annum.

What does over-the-counter (OTC) mean?

Buying what the auction didn't sell, afterward, at set terms: Florida counties sell struck certificates over the counter at the full 18%; DC sells bid-off liens through MyTax.DC.gov; California counties may reoffer unsold parcels within 90 days at reduced minimums; Indiana routes leftovers to a commissioners' sale (with a shorter 120-day redemption).

What happens to properties that don't sell at auction?

They are struck to the county or bid in for the state, then move through second-chance channels: OTC counters, reoffers (California, within 90 days), commissioners' sales (Indiana), Cook County's biennial scavenger sale (Illinois), Michigan's reduced/no-minimum reoffers and land banks, and Minnesota's tax-forfeited land sales.

What is an opening bid at a tax deed sale?

The statutory floor the auction starts from. Florida opens at the taxes and fees owed, plus half the assessed value on homestead property. California minimum bids build from taxes and costs. Texas opens from taxes plus costs. Every dollar bid above the floor in a deed sale becomes surplus, not value.

What is a quiet title action and do I need one?

A lawsuit that asks a court to declare you the owner and extinguish competing claims, making the title insurable. After tax deeds it is the standard route in Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas and Michigan practice. Budget with the commonly cited practitioner range of roughly $1,000–$3,000 for a straightforward uncontested case — a planning range, not a quote; contested cases cost more.

What are surplus funds?

The amount a sale brings in above the taxes, penalties, interest and costs owed. It belongs to lienholders and the former owner — who claim it through the county — not to the winning bidder and not to the county (Tyler v. Hennepin County, 2023). Idaho apportions it to parties in interest first, then the former owner.

Can out-of-state investors buy tax liens and deeds?

Generally the sales are public, but states impose their own buyer rules — two from our dataset: Missouri requires non-resident purchasers to appoint a Missouri resident agent (and all buyers to file a no-delinquency affidavit), and Arkansas bars purchasers whose home of record is outside the United States. Always check the target state's law page and the county's bidder terms before registering.

What is a redeemable deed?

A deed the former owner can defeat by redeeming during a statutory window at a statutory premium. Texas: 25% in year one, 50% in year two for homestead/ag/mineral. Georgia: 20% the first year, plus 10% per additional year, until barred. South Carolina: tiered interest of 3–12% over 12 months. Tennessee: 12% per annum with windows tiered by delinquency length.

What does a LienToDeed alert include?

Each alert covers a newly listed property from a county-published list: the parcel and sale details, a 0–100 score built from taxes owed versus assessed value, property type, sale date and the state's rules, and the number that decides the deal — a max bid for deeds or max-rate guidance for liens, labeled Verified or Estimate. High-score watchlist matches alert instantly by text and email; the rest arrive in a daily digest; redeemed or withdrawn watched properties alert too.

How much does LienToDeed cost?

Free: the nationwide sale calendar, all 51 state law guides and one county snapshot. Bidder, $49/mo: one state with scored listings and instant text + email alerts. Pro, $99/mo: all states, priority texts, the sold-results archive, surplus lists and over-the-counter inventory. Single-county reports are $19.99. Alerts activate state by state as county ingestion is verified.

How does LienToDeed know when new properties are listed?

We monitor the lists counties themselves publish — clerk sale schedules, tax collector advertisements and delinquent lists, which are public records — and diff them for new, redeemed and withdrawn parcels. Every parcel is re-verified against its source before an alert fires. We do not scrape auction platforms whose terms prohibit automated monitoring (SRI/Zeus and CivicSource both prohibit it); where a platform's terms are unclear, we use the county's own publication of the same sale.

Get the answers before the sale, not after

LienToDeed alerts you when new properties are listed in your states — scored, with a max bid or max rate — and when watched properties redeem or withdraw.

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