Delinquent Land Tax Sale Overview

Delinquent Land Tax Sale for Independence and Kansas City

The scheduled dates for the DLT sale will be determined in January 2024: 

Independence Courthouse, 308 W. Kansas Ave., Independence, MO on the courthouse steps, day to day as needed.

Monday, August 12, 2024 - Friday, August 16, 2024

Kansas City Courthouse, 415 E. 12th Street, Kansas City, MO: on the courthouse steps, day to day as needed.  

Monday, August 19, 2024 - Friday, August 23, 2024

DLT Bidder Registration Forms- we will begin accepting registration forms in April, but they must be approved 10-days prior to the sale and can be mailed or hand delivered to our office at 1305 Locust Street, 2nd floor, Kansas City, MO.

The Court Administrator for the 16th Circuit Court is responsible for conducting the sale of properties that have a judgment of foreclosure for unpaid delinquent taxes for three or more years.  The following is an overview of the Delinquent Land Tax sale process and will include links on our website to provide more specific information, such as, bidder registration and a link to the Jackson County Collections Department, which has additional information, The Delinquent Land Tax Sale and Buying Tax Foreclosure Property on the Courthouse Steps.

Delinquent Taxes:

If a real estate parcel has a delinquent tax that is 3 years old, that property faces a foreclosure sale to recover back taxes. Jackson County may file a lawsuit seeking a judgment of foreclosure for unpaid delinquent taxes. If the Court agrees with the County’s action, the Court will issue a judgment granting the foreclosure order. The property owner has several opportunities to redeem their property before it is sold in a tax sale.

First, the property owner could pay the taxes, penalties and associated suit cost in full any time prior to the sale to remove the property from the tax sale process. This payment must be made in person, by cash, or certified funds.

In the alternative, the owner of a property pending sale for delinquent taxes may enter into a payment contract to avoid the sale of their property. These contracts may be entered only after the judgment of foreclosure and will normally require an upfront payment and installment payments thereafter, which are non-refundable. If this property owner chooses not to enter into a contract or did enter into a contract and later defaulted on those installment payments, the property will proceed in the sale process.

Notices of Intent:

Notices are sent to the last property owner(s) on record with Jackson County and other interested parties, such as escrow companies with deeds of trust. A notice of the sale and a legal description of the properties to be offered are published in a local newspaper for 4 consecutive weeks prior to sale. A scheduled sale parcel will appear in the paper for 4 weeks even though a property owner may have paid the delinquent tax after the first week of publication.

Bidder Registration:

In order to bid on properties in the DLT sale you must register for the sale and the approval of the application must be completed no less than 10 days prior to the sale (see our link Bidder Registration).  All properties are sold by calling their legal description and are sold as is and all sales are final.  The Bidder is responsible for ensuring that they are bidding on the correct property and have done their due diligence, as they will be responsible for any potential environmental contamination, and any taxes and assessments that are not included in the judgment.  For additional information please refer to the Jackson County Collections Department link: Buying Tax Foreclosure Property on the Courthouse Steps.

In order to qualify as a Bidder for the sale you will need to complete the Bidder Registration form (Bidder Registration) and comply with the following (if applicable):

  • Obtain and present a statement with the completed Registration Form from each city in which you own property to demonstrate that you are not the owner of any parcel of real estate with two or more convictions based on violations of that municipality’s building or housing codes (see Bidder registration form for list of contact numbers for municipalities).

  • If you are an owner of real estate in Jackson County, MO that you are not affected by delinquent taxes and in compliance with RSMo 141.550.

Important Notice for Bidder Applications:
In order to receive a record check and or letter for a property in Kansas City, MO you will need to respond to the Kansas City Municipal Court at 511 E 11th St, Kansas City, MO 64106, or you can follow this link www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/departments/municipal-court/case-information-and-records for your record check to submit with your application.
Please be advised that it may take (3) days to obtain this report from the on-line site. Be sure to ask for a letter for no municipal code violations and or records check of the same for building and or codes violations. Do not ask for a criminal record check as you will probably be referred to the MO Highway Patrol, who provides criminal record checks, but will not contain municipal code violations and will not qualify.
Individuals and businesses who own properties in Jackson County must demonstrate that they do not own properties affected by a tax bill which has been delinquent for more than six months and is not the owner of any parcel of real property with two or more violations of the municipality's building or housing codes.  A prospective bidder may make such demonstration by presenting statements from the appropriate collection and enforcement officials of the municipalities.
NOTE: For a business, corporation, LLC, partnership, limited partnership, trust, or real estate trust which own property in Jackson County please see our Bidder Registration information under Delinquent Land Tax Overview to determine the individual from your business who must provide this information.
Also, if you provide us with a record check showing closed records and the record shows that you have two or more building or housing code violations, we will need some official documentation indicating the disposition of the case, such as, suspended sentence, otherwise we will have to assume the charges resulted in a guilty finding.
 
Deposit (NO CASH, Money Orders or Cashier’s Check made out to Jackson County Court Administrator only):
  • US Mail to the Civil Process Department, 1305 Locust Street, 2nd floor, Kansas City, MO 64106

Only after you have received your bidder card, you have the option of depositing money on your card. We are only accepting Cashiers Checks or Money Orders, no cash

NOTE: Please include copy of Bidder Registration Application with the Bidder number, so we can ensure that we deposit the monies to the right account and can forward a copy of the receipt to your email or address.

Note: All cashier’s check and money orders need to be made out to the Jackson County Court Administrator.

Publication:

The DLT sale is published in a local publication for four weeks prior to the sale.  The properties listed in the publication are listed in the order they will be called during the auction; however, some property owners may pay their taxes or enter into an agreement with the County to pay their taxes after the list is published, so some properties in the publication will be skipped during the sale as their status has changed.  The auctioneer will read the Suit number (indicated by I or K and the year, followed by the rest of the suit number), Legal description, and the Sale amount.  It is important that you listen carefully to the Suit number and Legal description to ensure you are bidding on the correct property as all sales are final.

The publication for the DLT sale can be purchased at The Daily Record, 920 Main Street, Suite 825, Kansas City, MO 64105 or on-line at https://store.molawyersmedia.com.

Note: Be sure to purchase the DLT sale and not the Petition for sale. Also, the owner may pay their property taxes or enter into an agreement to pay their taxes prior to the sale, and as such, the parcel may be listed, as it is posted four weeks prior to the sale, but not offered during the sale, as it is considered to be redeemed.

DLT Sale:

The Delinquent Land Tax sale is held every year in August to auction properties that were foreclosed on the previous year due to owing back taxes for three or more years.  The DLT sale is generally conducted over two weeks in mid-August.

Independence Sale First Week: On the South courthouse steps at the Eastern Jackson County Courthouse, 308 W. Kansas Avenue, Independence, MO for properties generally located east of I-435 Highway

Kansas City Sale Second Week: On the North courthouse steps at the Jackson County Courthouse, 415 E. 12th Street, Kansas City, MO for properties generally located west of I-435 Highway.

Individuals who wish to bid on properties at the DLT sale must pre-register for the sale and their application be approved at least 10-days prior to the sale (see Bidder Registration link for further information). 

The sale begins at 10 am until noon, breaks for a 30-minute lunch, and resumes at 12:30 pm until 5 pm, and day to day as needed.  It is recommended that you bring water and a lawn chair for your comfort and to stay hydrated during the auction.

The auction will generally proceed as follows:

  • The auctioneer will read the Suit number, legal description, and opening bid for the property.  If you are bidding on a property, you must be recognized by the auctioneer.  There will be spotters to assist, who will be wearing orange safety vests, so you need to ensure that the spotter and or auctioneer recognizes you as one of the bidders. 
  • Generally speaking, the auctioneer will ask the opening bid.  If you don’t hear the auctioneer follow up by saying that they have an opening bid and the amount of your bid, then your bid has not been recognized. 
  • If your bid or someone else’s bid is recognized, the auctioneer will re-state the bid amount and ask for a higher bid until no one else bids on the property.  In this case the last person to have bid on the property will have the highest bid, and the auctioneer will ask, “I have” the amount of the highest bid, and “Do I have any other bids or Do I have (asking a higher amount)?” 
  • If no one else offers a higher bid the property is considered sold and the winning bidder will go to the main table where the auctioneer is located and will show their bidder card (Note: you must have a bidder card to bid on properties as this shows that you have met the legal requirements to bid on properties in the sale). 
  • You will be expected to pay for the property in full at that time by cash, cashier’s check, money order, or by utilizing monies deposited under your bidder registration card.  You will be provided a receipt for the property you purchased.
  • All sales are considered final and sold as is, so it is your responsibility to do your due diligence prior to the sale.

Note: it is your responsibility as the bidder to ensure that you are bidding on the correct parcel and that you have done your research on the property (see Jackson County Collections Department website link Buying Tax Foreclosure Property on the Courthouse Steps for more information). The Civil Process Department, 16th Circuit Court, conducts the auction for the Jackson County Collections Department, and we do not know if there is a house on the parcel or any other information, so please do not wait until you approach the cashier's table to pay for the property to request information regarding the parcel you purchased. 

Confirmation Hearings:

Confirmation hearings are generally held approximately three months after the DLT Sale and are normally held in November and December.  As part of due process, the previous owner or interested party can present evidence as to why the sale should not be confirmed, so until the Judge rules on the case the bidder cannot take possession of the property.  The Judge will also ensure that no property is sold for substantially less than the true value, hear testimony regarding the variance between the winning bid and the appraised value, and the Judge may order the bidder to increase his bid by a specified amount or cancel the sale of the property.

NOTE: If you are acting on your own without an attorney and object to the sale of the property you will need to complete the Objection to Confirmation of Sale and/or Motion to Reconsider Confirmation of Sale form, which can be found on the Civil Process Department and/or Civil Records Department website and you will need to file the document with the Civil Process Department.

Attorney's: Whenever legal counsel becomes involved in the matter the representing attorney shall complete an Entry of Appearance form.

Court Administrator’s Deed:

If the sale of the property is confirmed during the Confirmation Hearing or after a Contested Hearing, a Court Administrator’s Deed will be issued 30-days after the Judge has signed the Confirmation Judgment, as there is a 20-day waiting period for the appeal.  If no appeal is filed within the 20-day time frame the Court Administrator’s Deed can be issued; however, the document requires three signatures, and has to be recorded by the Recorder of Deeds Office.

Evictions:

In the event the property is occupied the purchaser will need to obtain a Writ of Execution for Possession, found on the Civil Process Department website. Once we receive the Writ of Execution for Possession the Civil Process Department will post notification of the pending eviction on the residence and contact the representative listed on the form to schedule the eviction. If you try to evict the person (s) from the residence without obtaining the Writ of Execution for Possession, you may subject yourself to criminal and civil penalties.

Excess Proceeds:

The properties sold at the DLT sale are sold to collect delinquent taxes owed to Jackson County, MO.  If the property sells for more than what is owed in taxes and fees to the County then current record owners(s) or other interested parties, such as, a lien holder may apply for those funds.  The Application for Excess Proceeds can be located on the Civil Process Department and/or Civil Records Department website and must be filed with the Civil Process Department. An Excess Proceeds Hearing will be scheduled and a Judge will determine whether or not to award those funds. 

Legal Representation: In most instances you do not need to hire an attorney; however, certain entities, including associations, partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations cannot represent themselves in Court (see RSMo § 484.020.1). In addition, individuals may desire to have legal counsel assist them in this process. Whenever legal counsel becomes involved in the matter the representing attorney shall complete an Entry of Appearance form.

Searching for Excess Proceeds:

If you wish to search for Excess Proceeds related to Delinquent Land Tax Records you may go to the tab under the 16thCircuit.org Home page entitled, Court Records & Resources. The Delinquent Land Tax link will take you to another site on the website where you may search by: Suit Number, Parcel Number, Property Address, Record Owner, Purchaser Name, or browse All Parcels.

Please note that we only maintain records for Excess Proceeds for the past three years.

Questions:

Please see our link to the Delinquent Land Tax, frequently asked questions, or email DLTemail@courts.mo.gov for any other questions.