McCreary County, Kentucky

Sep 30, 2026 · yesterday· 10:00 AM

Tax Lienscheduledvia County site

Parcels

196

225 land-only, 1 withdrawn hidden

Opening bids

$86,216

all parcels priced

Redemption

4015 days

12% flat penalty

Quiet title

$3K–$7K

typically required

KY caveats

Kentucky sells LIENS, not deeds. The expected outcome is the taxpayer satisfying the certificate at 12% per annum, not acquiring the property. Ownership requires a separate judicial foreclosure at additional legal cost, and the maths above treats that cost as if it were quiet title.
THE ADVERTISED PARCEL COUNT OVERSTATES WHAT IS BUYABLE. A third-party purchaser already holding a prior-year certificate on a parcel has first priority, submits a priority list up to ten days before the sale, and every certificate allocated that way is REMOVED from the annual sale (KRS 134.128). On a large county roll a material share of the advertised certificates never reaches open bidding, so an announced count is an upper bound on availability, not inventory.
SECOND REDEMPTION THIS ROW CANNOT EXPRESS. If a foreclosure sale brings less than two-thirds of the appraised value, KRS 426.530 gives the defendant six months from the day of sale to redeem at the purchase money plus 10% per annum plus the purchaser's reasonable post-sale costs. Six months is the current text, amended effective 2016-07-15; older summaries say a year. Bidding above two-thirds of appraisal is what extinguishes this right.
ONE-YEAR TOLLING PERIOD. No action may be brought on a certificate until one year after the taxes became delinquent (1 January), and none at all after eleven years (KRS 134.546). A July purchase therefore sits roughly six months before enforcement can even begin.
Premium-bid sale. The opening figure is taxes, penalties, interest and administrative costs, and bidders bid the price UP; the 12% accrues on the amount paid to the clerk, so a premium is not dead money, but it does lower the effective yield against the certificate's face.
You cannot cherry-pick. Certificates are sold in lots whose size is set by the size of the county's roll — up to 5 for rolls under 500, rising to 50 for rolls of 2,500-7,500, and 2% of the roll per round beyond that — with selection order set by a random drawing at the start of the sale (103 KAR 5:180).
Registration is mandatory and volume triggers obligations. Participants register with the county clerk at least a week ahead; anyone paying more than five certificates statewide, more than three in one county, or more than $10,000 statewide in a calendar year must also register with the Department of Revenue and must offer delinquent taxpayers a monthly installment plan (KRS 134.128; 134.129; 134.490).
Notice duties are continuing, not one-off. Within 50 days of delivery the purchaser must notify the taxpayer by first-class mail with proof of mailing, must repeat that notice at least annually until an action is instituted, and must give 45 days' notice before instituting one (KRS 134.490). These are carrying costs and a source of title risk if missed.
Home-rule cities can differ. Kentucky grants broad home rule under KRS 82.082, and first-class city procedure sits in KRS Chapter 91 rather than Chapter 134. Confirm the selling entity in Louisville and Lexington before assuming county clerk procedure.
quietTitle costs here are a placeholder and have not been reviewed by the operator, and they stand for a judicial foreclosure rather than a quiet title suit. Do not rely on a computed Kentucky max bid until they are set.

McCreary County rulesstate defaults

Sale type: Tax Lien
Redemption period: 1 year from sale (certificate of delinquency)
Investor return: 12% per annum statutory
Governing statute: Kentucky Revised Statutes Ch. 134
Population: 16,824 residents

Notes

County clerk sells certificates of delinquency; third-party purchasers can add fees.

Inherited from Kentucky rather than researched for McCreary: type, redemption, returns, statute, notes.

Parcels — ranked by assessed value over opening bid

Show 225 land-only parcel(s)

Parcel	Address	Opening bid	Assessed	Spread	Status
121-20-03-008.00	43 MICHAEL BURKE RD STNS	$41	—	—	pending
153-00-00-007.00	251 PEEL DOGWOOD RD WC	$41	—	—	pending
122-20-06-001.00	511 SHIRT FACTORY STEARNS	$42	—	—	pending
174-00-00-054.00	338 SMIDDY RD PK	$42	—

Spread is not profit.It compares the opening bid to the county's assessed value, which is not market value — Section 172 of the Kentucky Constitution requires all non-exempt property to be assessed at 100% of fair cash value — the price it would bring at a fair voluntary sale — as of 1 January (see also KRS 132.190). Open a parcel to run the full max-bid analysis, which accounts for the assessment ratio, surviving liens, quiet title, and holding costs.