Land · North Dakota tax deed guide

Williams County tax deed sales, North Dakota

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The county page explains that property becomes subject to foreclosure once property taxes, specials, and any interest and penalties are two or more years past due, delinquent in the third year, that the Auditor Office gives notice of foreclosure of tax lien under North Dakota Century Code 57-28 and holds an annual tax foreclosure sale on the third Tuesday in November, and that the Board of County Commissioners may set the price at market value or at what is owed for back taxes. For the 2025 sale the page shows three parcels, in Williston, Tioga, and Appam, with minimum bid prices set by the Board on October 7, 2025, and dispositions recorded after the sale, two sold above the minimum and one shown as action pending. Owners of properties taken in October have until the sale date to redeem, and the page notes the IRS right to redeem from the purchaser for up to 120 days after the sale. A county answers page says the list of properties is made available on the Tax Foreclosure page about a month before the sale.

Selling office: Williams County Auditor, Beth M. Innis, Williams County Administration Building, Suite 118, 206 E Broadway, Williston, ND 58801, (701) 577-4500

Next sale: No 2026 sale date or 2026 property list is published on the county Tax Foreclosure Properties page. The most recent sale published there is the 2025 Tax Foreclosure Sale on Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 10 a.m. in the 3rd Floor Training Room of the Williams County Administration Building, 206 E Broadway, Williston.. The county answers page says the property list is posted on the Tax Foreclosure page about a month before the November sale, but the page itself still carries the 2025 sale heading, the 2025 parcel list, and the 2025 minimum prices. A 2026 date, room, and list would appear on that same page, and the Auditor Office at (701) 577-4500 is the published contact for the sale.

Watch the Tax Foreclosure Properties page for the 2026 list, which the county says appears about a month before the sale, and call the Auditor Office at (701) 577-4500 to confirm the 2026 date and room. Inspect any parcel in person before the sale, because the county sells as is, makes no guarantee of marketability, and advises buyers to consult an attorney first.

Dates and deadlines

Sources: Williams County, Tax Foreclosure Properties. Williams County, Auditor Office. Williams County, Elections, Auditor Office address and phone. Williams County, Property Taxes answers, tax foreclosure list timing. Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and parcels are pulled up to sale day.

Research Williams County parcels before you bid

A sale list gives you the parcels, the date, and the opening terms. It does not give you the owner, the value, or the rest of the picture: liens, foreclosure status, and parcel history. PropertyRadar is the data platform for that layer. It carries owner records, assessed and market values, foreclosure and tax data, and property history for parcels across Williams County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How North Dakota tax deed sales work

• The lien ages into foreclosure. On or before June 1 in each year the county auditor gives notice of foreclosure of tax lien for every parcel on which two or more years have passed since the tax became due, and the foreclosure date is October 1 after the notice is served (NDCC 57-28-01 and 57-28-02).
• Notice is personal, mailed, and published. The sheriff serves the notice personally on an owner living on residential property, every other owner, mortgagee and lienholder is served by certified mail, and the full list is published once on or before August 1 in the official newspaper (NDCC 57-28-04 and 57-28-06).
• The county takes the deed. If the lien is not satisfied by October 1, all interests pass to the county and the auditor issues a tax deed to the county, free of encumbrances except installments of special assessments still to come due (NDCC 57-28-08 and 57-28-09).
• The board appraises and sets the floor. At least 30 days before the annual sale the board of county commissioners appraises each tax deed parcel and fixes a minimum sale price: enough to cover all taxes, penalties, interest and costs due plus the estimated taxes for the current year, at least the full amount due where the property is worth more, and a fair minimum where it is worth less (NDCC 57-28-10).
• The annual sale is the third Tuesday of November. The sale sits at the county auditor office or the usual place of holding district court, and each parcel is auctioned to the highest qualified bidder at no less than the minimum price, for cash or for one fourth cash and the balance in equal annual installments over no more than ten years. A person who owes delinquent taxes to any county cannot bid (NDCC 57-28-13 and 57-28-15).
• Leftovers sell all year. A parcel that draws no sale in November may be sold by the auditor at private sale at not less than the minimum price before the next annual sale, and the board may also place unsold property with licensed brokers on nonexclusive listings (NDCC 57-28-17 and 57-28-17.1).
• Repurchase and surplus close the record. While the county holds the tax title, the former owner, an executor or administrator, or a parent, spouse or child may repurchase the property. If a parcel sells above everything owed, the county holds the excess for 90 days: the record owner takes it on an undisputed claim filed inside the 90 days, disputed claims go to the clerk of district court, and unclaimed excess goes to the state unclaimed property administrator (NDCC 57-28-19 and 57-28-20).

How buying works in Williams County

Registration will be at the sale, in the county's own words on its Tax Foreclosure Properties page. The county publishes no advance registration form or online registration for the sale.

• Where buying happens At the county auditor sale each November, and at the auditor office at private sale for the rest of the year. The day, the room, and the parcel list are the county auditor published record, and each county page on this site names them from that record.
• The floor is built by statute No parcel sells below its appraised minimum, and the appraisal is constructed to recover every dollar of taxes, penalties, interest and costs due plus a year of estimated taxes. Bargains in North Dakota come from parcels whose appraised value fell below the amount due and took a fair minimum price, not from bidding technique (NDCC 57-28-10).
• Terms are part of the bid A bidder may pay cash or take the contract for deed at one fourth down. On a ten year contract the real cost of the parcel is the price plus board set interest at up to 12 percent, and the installments can be prepaid without penalty (NDCC 57-28-15).

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Parcels that receive no bids

Under North Dakota law, property not sold at the November sale may be sold afterward at private sale by the auditor at not less than the minimum price, the board may list leftover property with brokers, and the former owner and certain family members may repurchase the property while the tax title remains in the county. On the county published 2025 list, one Tioga parcel is shown with its disposition as action pending rather than a sale price. The county publishes no separate leftover or private sale list.

Before you bid

• Read the minimum, not just the parcel The list the auditor publishes carries the minimum sale price for every parcel. Compare the minimum with value before sale day: a minimum built under 57-28-10 is the full debt plus a year of taxes, and bidding starts there.
• The county sells all year Anything unsold in November remains available at private sale at not less than the minimum, and boards may reappraise before the next November. A missed sale date is not a missed year (NDCC 57-28-17).
• Price the special assessments The tax deed is free of encumbrances except special assessment installments still to come. On city lots those installments can run for years after the sale, and they belong in the bid from the start.

Every North Dakota county in this set

One page per county, each verified against the county's own publications and the current text of NDCC chapter 57-28. North Dakota auditors all run the same November sale under the same chapter; this set is the 10 largest counties.

• Cass County tax deed sales
• Burleigh County tax deed sales
• Grand Forks County tax deed sales
• Ward County tax deed sales
• Morton County tax deed sales
• Stutsman County tax deed sales
• Stark County tax deed sales
• Williams County (this page)
• Barnes County tax deed sales
• Richland County tax deed sales

Keep going

Once a deadline puts you in a sale, the Land Investor Due Diligence Toolkit is the checklist and bid worksheet to run on each parcel before you bid. The same desk runs Florida tax deed sales, Texas tax sales, Pennsylvania tax sales, Georgia tax sales, North Carolina tax foreclosure sales, Ohio tax foreclosure sales, Illinois tax lien sales, Michigan tax foreclosure sales, Arizona tax lien sales, California tax defaulted property sales, Colorado tax lien sales, South Carolina tax sales, Indiana tax lien sales, Tennessee delinquent tax sales, Wisconsin tax deed sales, Missouri tax sales, New Jersey tax lien sales, Maryland tax lien sales, West Virginia tax sales, Virginia tax sales, Oklahoma tax resale, Kansas tax foreclosure sales, Arkansas tax-delinquent land sales, Alabama tax sales, Kentucky certificate of delinquency sales, Mississippi tax land sales, Nevada tax deed sales, New Mexico delinquent property tax sales, Iowa tax lien sales, Nebraska tax certificate sales, Minnesota tax-forfeited land sales, Utah final tax sales, Washington tax foreclosure sales, Oregon tax foreclosure sales, Connecticut tax sales, Massachusetts tax title sales, Rhode Island tax sales, Vermont tax sales, New Hampshire tax lien sales, Maine tax lien sales, Delaware tax sales, Louisiana tax sales, Idaho tax deed sales, Montana tax lien assignments, Wyoming tax lien sales, South Dakota tax certificate sales, North Dakota tax deed sales, Alaska tax foreclosure sales and Hawaii tax sales, and the proven New York season, with the live membership, sits in the NY tax sale hub.