Stearns County, Minnesota

Oct 15, 2026 · in 14 days

Tax Deedscheduledvia County site

Parcels

9 land-only hidden

Opening bids

—

no parcel list yet

Redemption

None

clear title at sale

Quiet title

$2K–$5K

typically required

What survives this sale

Post-forfeiture state title sale generally clears pre-forfeiture private liens subject to statute; special assessments and post-forfeiture charges may apply per sale terms. Federal interests can survive. Independent title search required.

Stearns County rules

Sale type: Tax Deed
Redemption period: 3 years from judgment (5 years for homestead/ag land)
Investor return: N/A — outright deed transfer
Governing statute: Minnesota Statutes Ch. 280–282
Population: 163,997 residents
Checked: 2026-07

Auction logistics

Format: Online (Public Surplus) — confirm OTC options with county
Frequency: Periodic as parcels forfeit and are approved for sale — monitor Public Surplus and stearnscountymn.gov/tax-forfeited-property
Platform: Public Surplus — Stearns County tax-forfeited property320-656-3900
Deposit rules: Register on Public Surplus; follow county Terms/Conditions of Sale for payment deadlines, funds types, and deed issuance. Sold AS IS. Review interactive map and terms tabs before bidding. Contact Auditor-Treasurer for current OTC pricing if available.

Title risk

State deed helps; quiet title still commonly used for marketable/insurable title before resale or conventional financing.

Offices and records

Tax collector: Stearns County Auditor-Treasurer — Tax-Forfeited Property
Clerk of court: Stearns County Recorder
Property appraiser: Stearns County Assessor
GIS / parcel map: Stearns County interactive tax-forfeited / GIS parcel map

Areas trending up

St. Cloud / downtown and university fringe — Regional employment and SCSU adjacency supporting renter and owner demand
Sartell / Sauk Rapids north corridor — Suburban SF growth with school-driven liquidity north of St. Cloud
Waite Park / west commercial edge — Retail employment density and relative entry multifamily/SF inventory

Notes

Minnesota tax-forfeiture deed system. After statutory forfeiture to the State, Stearns County Auditor-Treasurer offers classified non-conservation parcels. County page states online auctions of tax-forfeited properties via Public Surplus (publicsurplus.com) — align with statewide post-2024 EMV / minimum-bid / surplus-proceeds framework (see MN DOR Red Book, updated Dec 2025). Tabbed county page covers terms/conditions, property lists, and interactive parcel map. Confirm live auction windows and over-the-counter inventory with Auditor-Treasurer before relying on any single sale date.

3 sources

Inherited from Minnesota rather than researched for Stearns: type, redemption, returns, statute.

Parcels — ranked by assessed value over opening bid

Show 9 land-only parcel(s)

Nothing left to show

Every parcel in this sale is hidden: 9 land-only. Land-only means no street address, a house number of zero, or a street with no number; withdrawn parcels are no longer on offer.

Spread is not profit.It compares the opening bid to the county's assessed value, which is not market value — Minn. Stat. § 273.11 subd. 1: "all property shall be valued at its market value." Class rates under § 273.13 are applied afterwards to compute tax capacity and do not reduce the assessed value. The estimated market value is also what § 282.005 uses to set the opening price at a tax-forfeited sale. Open a parcel to run the full max-bid analysis, which accounts for the assessment ratio, surviving liens, quiet title, and holding costs.