Tax Lien Sale

Tax Lien Sale

The Platte County Tax Lien Sale for delinquent 2023 taxes is tentatively set for Thursday, July 11, 2024 at the Platte County Courthouse (806 9th St, Wheatland, WY) beginning at 9:00 a.m..  

General Information

The Treasurer's office holds a tax lien sale every year in July. Any unpaid taxes are sold to the public, lottery style. The buyer then receives a Certificate of Purchase (CP) and then holds a tax lien on the property. They will hold that tax lien until such time as the property owner pays the taxes. At that time, the CP holder will receive their original investment back plus 3% interest plus 15% APR.

If the property owner does not pay the tax again the next year, the CP holder has the option to purchase the subsequent year's tax (sub) as soon as it becomes delinquent and does not have to wait until the tax sale.  

Subsequent Year Taxes

A certificate holder is under no obligation to pay subsequent taxes. Subsequent taxes, when paid by the certificate holder, attach to the original lien and earn the same rate of interest (15%) as the original certificate. Payments of subsequent taxes will be accepted on September 1 but the interest will not apply until the taxes are delinquent the day after the payable dates listed below:

• First installment - November 10
• Second installment - May 10

If the CP holder continues to hold the tax lien for a length of time, they can then begin the process of obtaining a Treasurer's Deed and take possession of the property. The length of time depends on the type of property. The redemption period for a land tax lien is 4 years; an improvement district is 4 years; irrigation assessment is 18 months.

Tax Sale Specifics

Listings of delinquent properties will be advertised in the Platte County Record Times beginning three weeks prior to the sale. We do not mail copies of delinquent listings, a final copy will be made available the morning of the sale. The delinquent listing will be available for download here one week prior to the sale.

The sale will be lottery style, approximately the middle of July every year. You must be present to purchase tax liens - no liens are offered through the mail before or after the sale. A number will be drawn for each piece of property. If it is your number, you may choose to purchase or pass the property. Tax liens must be paid for the day of the sale. We accept cash, check, money order and most major credit cards.The original tax liens are held in our office. We will send copies at the lien holder’s request. The interest rate is 15% plus an additional 3% on the original year’s tax lien.

The Day of the Sale

• Pick up tax sale handouts:
  • Registration Form
  • Request for Taxpayer ID & Certification (if we don’t have one on file)
  • Information for applying for a Treasurer’s Deed
• Fill out & turn in registration form before the sale starts.
• You will be given a sale # and a copy of the delinquent list when you turn in your registration.
• Each sale number must have a person 18 or older present.
• The sale starts @ 9:00 a.m.
• We will run an electronic program to pull buyer’s # randomly. When it pulls the first buyer number, it will assign a parcel to that number. This process will continue until all parcels are assigned to a buyer number.
• After buyer #’s are assigned, we will print a list of any/all parcels that each buyer received. There will be a 5 minute break where you will have the opportunity to review and accept or reject any parcels at that time.
• If there are any rejected parcels, we will pull a random # & offer that parcel to that buyer. This will continue until all rejected parcels are sold.
• There will be no transfer of tax liens the day of sale.  Those will be accepted beginning the Monday after the sale.
• Immediately after the sale, check out will begin. Accounts will be settled in numerical order, starting with #1, in the Treasurer’s Office.
• The Certificate of Purchases (CP’s) will be kept on file at the Treasurer’s Office. You may request a copy for your files, which we will mail to you.

Location

The sale is held in the Commissioners Room at the Platte County Courthouse, 806 9th Street in Wheatland. 

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