If you are behind on your property taxes in Minnesota, the most important thing to know is that you have more time than you might fear, and thanks to a recent change in the law, you no longer automatically lose your equity if the state ends up selling the house. Minnesota’s system is different from most states, so understanding the steps puts you back in control.
We are a cash home buyer, and we work with owners in exactly this spot. This page explains the process in plain language. It is general information, not legal or tax advice, and because Minnesota rewrote key parts of this law recently, you should confirm anything that affects a decision with the county or an attorney.
How Does Tax Forfeiture Work in Minnesota?
Minnesota does not sell your home the moment you fall behind. The process runs in stages, and it is slow by design.
Your taxes become delinquent the first business day of the January after they were due. The county then takes the delinquent parcels to court and obtains a judgment, and the property is essentially claimed for the state, subject to your right to pay it off. Then a redemption period runs, and only if that period ends without payment does the property actually forfeit to the state. Forfeiture is the end of the road, not the first step, and there is a lot of road before it.
How Much Time Do I Have? The Redemption Period
For most homeowners, the redemption period is three years. During that time you keep your home and can stop the whole process by paying the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, and costs. A shorter period applies in a couple of situations, about one year for certain properties in designated targeted neighborhoods, and as little as five weeks for homes that have been abandoned. Because the timeline depends on your property and your county, confirm your exact deadline with the county auditor or treasurer.
Can I Stop It Without Paying Everything at Once?
Often, yes. Minnesota lets you enter a confession of judgment, which means you admit the taxes are owed and agree to pay them off in installments, in many cases over as long as ten years, instead of in a single lump sum. As long as you keep up the payments, the forfeiture is held off. It is one of the most useful and least known tools in the system, and it is worth asking the county about early.
What Happens to My Equity If the House Forfeits and Sells?
This is where Minnesota law recently changed in a big way, and in the homeowner’s favor.
For years, Minnesota kept the entire proceeds when it sold a tax-forfeited home, even the amount above what was owed. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Tyler v. Hennepin County that keeping that surplus is unconstitutional, that the extra value over the tax debt belongs to the former owner. In response, Minnesota passed a new law in 2024 that creates a process to claim it.
Here is how it now works. After a property forfeits, it is offered for sale at a public auction. If it sells for more than the taxes, penalties, interest, and costs, the county mails a claim form to the former owner and other interested parties, and you can file to receive that surplus. Counties generally allow a window of about six months from their notice to submit the claim, and if more than one party claims the same funds, a court sorts out who gets what.
Two important cautions. This surplus claim applies to that first public auction after forfeiture, not to later sales from the county’s inventory, so the timing of the sale matters. And because this law is new and counties are still settling into the details, confirm the exact deadline and process with your county and an attorney. There is also a separate settlement process for properties that forfeited in earlier years, which the county can point you to.
The Practical Takeaway
Even with the new equity protection, the far better outcome is to act before forfeiture, not after. If you sell before the redemption period runs out, the back taxes get paid at closing and you keep your equity directly, instead of losing the house, waiting through an auction, and filing a claim to recover what is left. The single most useful first step is to call the county treasurer or auditor and get your exact payoff and your exact deadline. Once you know those two numbers, your options get a lot clearer, and if you want, we can look at them with you and show you where a cash sale would leave you after the taxes are cleared. Call 715-716-7272.