Oklahoma Back-Tax Countdown: When Could Your Land Go to the Tax Resale?

What is the timeline from unpaid taxes to the June resale?

Taxes are due November 1 and late on January 1. The next spring or summer, the county lists the land in the newspaper. Three years after the due date, the land qualifies for the resale, held the following June. So unpaid 2023 taxes lead to the June 14, 2027 resale.

Swipe →

*Interest on that year’s unpaid tax at 1.5% a month from January 1, if nothing was paid. Later years add their own tax and interest. Estimates only; confirm with your county treasurer.

1. November 1. Taxes are due. Pay all, or half before January 1 and the rest before April 1 (68 O.S. § 2913). A bill of $25 or less must be paid in full before January 1.
2. January 1. Unless at least half was paid, the whole year is delinquent and interest starts. If you paid the first half, the rest goes delinquent on April 1. If a county’s tax rolls are filed late, the first payment is not delinquent until 30 days after they are filed (§ 2913(F)).
3. April to September of the next year. The treasurer publishes the delinquent list for two weeks and mails the record owner a notice of the amount owed (68 O.S. § 3106).
4. November 1, three years later. The taxes have been unpaid three years (68 O.S. § 3105).
5. About mid-May. The resale list comes out, then four weeks of newspaper notice, and certified mail to the record owner and mortgage holders at least 30 days before the sale (68 O.S. § 3127).
6. Second Monday of June. The county tax resale. A county that sells online starts at a time the treasurer sets during that week (68 O.S. § 3125).

Do not count on the mail. The law requires these notices, but it also says failure to receive them does not invalidate the sale (68 O.S. §§ 3106, 3127). They go to the record owner in the assessor’s records, so if you moved, or the land is still in a late relative’s name, nobody may see them. Read what happens if you never got the resale notice, and if the land came to you through a death, selling inherited land.

Dates for every county: the 2027 Oklahoma tax resale calendar.

How much interest do Oklahoma back taxes add?

One and a half percent a month on the unpaid tax, which is 18% a year. A part month of more than half counts as a full month. Interest stops once it equals the tax itself. By the first June resale, the oldest year has usually added about 61.5% in interest, plus costs.

Swipe →

41 months is about how late the oldest year is when its first June resale comes. Interest stops at 100% of the tax, after about 67 months. The $1,000 tax is a made-up example.

The rule is 68 O.S. § 2913(D). If the delay was not your fault, ask the treasurer about a waiver: treasurers may waive penalties or interest incurred through no fault of the taxpayer (§ 2913(G)).

What the table leaves out. Your payoff also carries the newspaper publication fee and $5 plus postage for the mailed notice (68 O.S. § 3106). The land is sold for all delinquent taxes, special assessments and costs, not only the oldest year (§ 3105), so ask for a payoff that lists every year and charge. A separate 5% monthly penalty is narrow: it reaches only non-individual owners of property valued over $500,000, in a dependent school district, in a county under 75,000 people, after two or more straight years paid late (§ 2913(E)).

Paying by mail? The treasurer stamps the date a payment arrives, and interest stops on receipt, not on the day you mailed it (§ 2913(F)). Close to the sale, do not rely on the mail.

What should I do if my land is on the countdown?

Call the county treasurer for the exact payoff and deadline, and update your mailing address with the assessor. Then choose: pay everything before the auction starts and keep the land, or sell it before the resale and let the back taxes be paid from the sale at closing.

• Keep it. Pay the delinquent tax, interest and costs any time before the auction starts (68 O.S. § 3113). The owner or anyone with a legal or equitable interest in the land can pay. Some treasurers ask for payment a few days early.
• Sell it. The title company pays the treasurer at closing, and you keep the rest. Start early, because title work takes time. See selling land with back taxes and how to check your land for back taxes.
• Let it go to the resale. The land can sell for as little as the minimum bid: two-thirds of the assessed value or the total owed, whichever is less (68 O.S. § 3129(C)). If nobody bids that much, it usually goes to the county for the amount owed, which leaves no extra money. Any money above what was owed, after any state tax debt attached to the land, is held for the record owner for one year, then goes to the county resale fund: claiming excess resale proceeds.

If you sell to us: We pay all closing costs (title, closing fee, notary, recording and deed stamps), and there is no commission. Only a mortgage, liens or back taxes owed on the land come out of the sale proceeds, paid off by the title company at closing. We buy land with or without the mineral rights. See what you would keep with the net sheet calculator, or check what your land is worth.

Who wrote this. Twin Sun Land Co. is a direct cash buyer of vacant and rural land in all 77 Oklahoma counties. We are one of the options on this page, so we have a stake in the answer. Our mission: Twin Sun Land Company exists to serve landowners: we make selling land simple, transparent, and fair, so every owner walks away with the most value their property can bring. The dates on this page come from Oklahoma law and apply no matter who you sell to.

More help

Last updated Nov 5, 2026. General information, not legal, tax or financial advice.