1. State of the Union for Missouri Tax Liens
Michelle D. McBride, MSA
President, Missouri County Collectors’ Association
Treasurer, National Association County Collectors, Treasurers, and Finance Officers
St. Charles County Missouri Collector of Revenue

2. Missouri Tax Sale Laws Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo)
Chapter 140:
Collection of Delinquent Taxes Generally
112 Counties
Chapter 141:
Delinquent Taxes – First Class Counties and St. Louis City
First Class Charter Counties not electing to operate under Chapter 140
2 Counties: Jackson County (home of Kansas City)
St. Louis County
and St. Louis City

3. County Preferences/Differences (Chapter 140 RSMo)
Number of Years Delinquent before going to Sale
Over-the-Counter Sales by Collector
Lands transferred to County
Sales by Trustee

4. County Preference/Difference (Chapter 140)
“One-year” or “Two-year” or “Three-year” Tax Sale
Section RSMo:
“All real estate upon which the taxes remain unpaid on the first day of January, annually, are delinquent and the county collector shall enforce the lien of the state thereon, as required by this chapter.”
Section RSMo:
“All lands, lots, mineral rights, and royalty interests on which taxes or special assessments are delinquent and unpaid are subject to sale to discharge the lien for the delinquent and unpaid taxes or unpaid special assessments as provided for in this chapter on the fourth Monday in August each year.”
Section RSMo:
“…actions shall be commenced within three years after delinquency…”

5. Tax Sale (Chapter 140 RSMo)
Collector responsibilites:
Pre-Sale Notifications
Publication of Delinquent Lands and Lots
Auction (Fourth Monday of August)
Collector/Investor Interactions:
Collector issues Certificate of Purchase and records the Lien
“Purchaser” complies with Notice Requirements”
“Purchaser” provides reimbursable expenses for Redemption
“Collector” issues Certificate of Redemption and Funds
“Purchaser” calls for the Deed
Collector issues and records the Deed
Investor actions:
Quiet Title Suit Filed

6. Recent Legislative Changes
Changed seven (7) existing sections and
added one (1) new section effective August 28, 2015

7. Section 140.170 RSMo Increased the assessed value from $1000 to $1500
for parcels to be published in a separate listing
that does not contain the legal description and owner names

8. Section RSMo
Any collector, agent of any collector, tax sale purchaser, or agent of any tax sale purchaser performing duties under this chapter shall have the lawful right to enter upon the land of another without being guilty of trespass, if he or she is in the course of providing or attempting to provide notice of a tax sale or tax sale redemption rights and it is necessary to enter upon such land to provide, serve, or post such notice.

9. Former Section RSMo
6. The one-year redemption period shall not apply to third-year tax sales, but the ninety-day redemption period as provided in section shall apply to such sales. There shall be no redemption period for a post-third-year tax sale, or any offering thereafter.
Subsection 6. repealed as redundant language
90-Day Redemption Period for Third-Offering in Section RSMo
No Redemption Period for post-third-year sales in Section RSMo
(Also, “his” changed to “his or her” in Sections , .3, and .4 RSMo)

10. Section 140.340 RSMo 140.340.1 becomes 140.340.1 AND 140.340.2
becomes with minor language change
(his becomes his or her)
becomes with minor language change
is repealed
is repealed

11. Section 140.340.1 RSMo Right to redeem expanded:
Absolute right to redeem any time during the one year after sale
Defeasible right to redeem until the tax sale purchaser acquires the deed
No Redemption required once the Lien of the Certificate of Purchase expires (18 months after sale § RSMo)

12. Section 140.340.2 RSMo Clarifies Amounts to be included in Redemption:
Money named in the Certificate of Purchase
Recording Fee for Certificate of Purchase (CoP)
Recording Fee for Release of Lien created by CoP
Recording Fee for Certificate of Redemption
Statutory Interest
10% per annum on sum paid at sale (excluding Surplus)
8% per annum on subsequent tax paid
Reasonable and customary cost of title search **
“Postage” costs of required notifications **
** Provided incurred after March 1st following the sale
for First and Second Offerings

13. Sections 140.340.3 and .4 RSMo Increment in the subsection number and
addition of “or her” in the text

14. Section RSMo
5. The reasonable and customary costs of sale needed to redeem any land or lot sold for taxes under this section shall be determined by the collector.

15. Section RSMo
Minors and incapacitated and disabled persons as defined in chapter 475 may redeem any lands belonging to them sold for taxes, within five years of the date of the last payment of taxes encumbering the real estate by the minor, incapacitated or disabled person, the party’s predecessors in interest, or any representative of such person, in the same manner as provided in section for redemption by other persons.
Replaced the word “Infants” with “Minors” and shortened the period of redemption from “one year after the expiration of such disability” to five years from the date of the last payment of taxes.

16. Section RSMo
day requirement on title search removed
last line subsection reference changed from 4 to 5
thru no changes
text deleted and former subsection 9 becomes 8
new language on “acquiring the deed”
Notice outside the United States

17. Section RSMo
Any person purchasing property at a delinquent land tax auction shall not acquire the deed to the real estate, as provided for in section or , until the person meets the requirements of this section, except that such requirements shall not apply to post-third-year sales, which shall be conducted under subsection 4 of section The purchaser shall obtain a title search report from a licensed attorney or licensed title company detailing the ownership and encumbrances on the property. Such title search report shall be declared invalid if the effective date is more than one hundred twenty days from the date the purchaser applies for a collector's deed under section or
Removed the 120-day requirement on the title search.

18. Section RSMo
8. [If the property is redeemed, the person redeeming the property shall pay the costs incurred by the purchaser in providing notice under this section. Recoverable costs on any property sold at a tax sale shall include the title search, postage, and costs for the recording of any certificate of purchase issued and for recording the release of such certificate of purchase and all the costs of the sale required in sections to ] Failure of the purchaser to comply with this section shall result in such purchaser's loss of all interest in the real estate except as otherwise provided in sections and
Removed language for redemption as that is now covered in Section RSMo.

19. Section 140.405.9 RSMo All new language...
9. The phrase "authorized to acquire the deed" as used in this chapter shall mean the date chosen by the tax sale purchaser that is more than the minimum redemption period set forth in section if the tax sale purchaser has complied with the following requirements entitling the purchaser to the issuance of a collector's deed:
(1) Compliance with the requirements of this section to the satisfaction of the collector;
(2) Payment of the recording fee for the collector’s deed as required under section ; 73
(3) Production of the original of the certificate of purchase as required under section , or production of an original affidavit of lost or destroyed certificate approved by the collector as to form and substance; and
(4) Payment of all subsequent taxes required to be paid under section
All new language...

20. Section RSMo
10. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any person except a minor or an incapacitated or disabled person may receive notice under this section in a foreign country or outside the United States:
By any internationally agreed upon means of service that is reasonably calculated to give notice, such as the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents;
If there is no internationally agreed upon means of service, or if an international agreement allows service but does not specify the means, by a method that is reasonably calculated to give notice;
As set forth for the foreign country's acceptable method of service in actions in courts of general jurisdiction;
As the foreign country directs in response to a letter of request;
Unless prohibited by a foreign country's law, by delivering a copy of the notice to the person personally or using a form of mail that requires a signed receipt; or
By any other means not prohibited by international agreement as approved by the collector.
New section to address Notice outside the United States.

21. Section RSMo
… duty of such purchaser … cause a deed to be executed and placed on record … within eighteen months from the date of said sale…”
Reduced the length of time for the Lien created by Certificate of Purchase issued as a result of the Tax Sale from two years to eighteen months.
Change made to bring the lien expiration date in line with the time that interest on amount satisfied at sale stops accruing. (Repealed Section In case the party purchasing said land, his heirs or assigns fails to take a tax deed for the land so purchased within six months after the expiration of the one year next following the date of sale, no interest shall be charged or collected from the redemptioner after that time.)

22. Section RSMo
If no person shall redeem the lands sold for taxes prior to the expiration of the right to redeem, …. on production of… execute a deed… vest in the grantee an absolute estate in fee simple….
First line modified to extend the period of redemption to align with Section RSMo (beyond the previous one year redemption period)