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Cass County, ND

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Cass County, North Dakota — Tax Sale & Surplus Procedure

Local operations layer. The legal framework (the October-1 tax-lien foreclosure, the absence of a post-deed statutory redemption, the NDCC 57-28-20 excess-proceeds waterfall, statutes, and case law) lives on the parent page → north-dakota. This page covers how Cass County actually runs it. Legal information, not legal advice. Last verified: 2026-06-02.

Cass County (county seat: Fargo; population ~184,533; FIPS 38017) is North Dakota’s most populous county. Like every ND county it follows the tax-deed / forfeiture-to-county model of NDCC ch. 57-28: there is no investor lien certificate. The county auditor forecloses its own tax lien (satisfaction deadline October 1), takes a tax deed, and later resells the forfeited land at a public auction held on the third Tuesday of November at 10:00 A.M. in the Cass County Commission Room. Day-to-day, the auditor’s statutory functions in Cass County are housed in the consolidated Cass County Finance Office (Finance Director / Auditor), which conducts the sale and takes bidder deposits. Excess proceeds above the tax debt belong to the former owner under NDCC 57-28-20 — the state’s pre-Tyler equity-theft repeal (HB 1199, eff. July 1, 2021). See north-dakota §3 for the full surplus framework.

C0. Identity

  • County seat: Fargo
  • Population: ~184,533
  • Recording unit type: county (53 ND counties)
  • FIPS: 38017
  • Parent legal framework: north-dakota
  • Courthouse: Cass County Courthouse, 211 9th Street South, Fargo, ND 58103; mailing address P.O. Box 2806, Fargo, ND 58108-2806. Main line (701) 297-6000. The Sheriff, Auditor/Finance, Treasurer, and Recorder offices are on the first floor; the Clerk of District Court is on the second floor; the State’s Attorney on the fourth. — Source: https://www.casscountynd.gov/our-county/contact-us (Google-crawled snippet retrieved 2026-06-02); https://www.casscountynd.gov/services/location (retrieved 2026-06-02)

C1. Local Tax Sale

North Dakota sells no tax-lien certificate. What follows is the county’s resale of land it has already taken by tax deed (NDCC 57-28-13/15). See north-dakota §1 for the statutory mechanics.

C2. Local Redemption → framework: right-of-redemption

North Dakota has no post-deed statutory redemption period. The owner’s ability to stop the tax deed ends at the October 1 foreclosure, and the county’s resale list reflects parcels on which that deadline has passed. See north-dakota §2 and §2b.

  • Pre-sale satisfaction (functional “redemption”): The former owner has the right to redeem the property up until the time of sale by paying the entire amount of taxes, specials, penalty, and interest against the property. (At the county-resale stage this is a practical “pay-to-pull-from-the-auction” right; the statutory satisfaction window under NDCC 57-28-02/03 closed at the prior October 1.) — Source: https://www.casscountynd.gov/property-taxes/research-property-sales (snippet retrieved 2026-06-02); NDCC 57-28-02, 57-28-03 (https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t57c28.pdf)

  • Where to redeem / pay: Cass County Finance Office / Treasurer, Cass County Courthouse, 211 9th Street South (P.O. Box 2806), Fargo, ND 58108-2806. Phone (701) 241-5600; treasurer@casscountynd.gov. Online tax payment at proptax.casscountynd.gov (credit card / e-check; checkout periodically disabled). — Source: https://proptax.casscountynd.gov/ (retrieved 2026-06-02); https://www.casscountynd.gov/how-do-i/pay-my-taxes-online (snippet retrieved 2026-06-02)

  • Local fees: Full delinquent taxes + special assessments + penalty + interest

    • foreclosure cost ($50 or actual, NDCC 57-28-04(5)). No county-specific redemption surcharge was identified.

  • Repurchase after forfeiture (NDCC 57-28-19): While the county still holds the tax title, the former owner (or the former owner’s parent, spouse, child, or estate representative) may repurchase for the full satisfaction amount plus subsequent taxes/assessments/interest/penalties/costs; cash or 25%-down contract for deed over ≤10 years. A city with delinquent special assessments has a 30-day priority to purchase ahead of the former owner. This is governed by state law (see north-dakota §3); the Cass County Finance Office administers it. needs_verification — a Cass-specific repurchase application form/URL was not retrieved.

  • Mortgage-foreclosure redemption: 60 days after the sheriff’s sale (residential) under NDCC 32-19-18; paid through the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Civil Process Division (see C4). See north-dakota §4.

  • Deviations from state default: None identified beyond the consolidated Finance-Office handling of auditor/treasurer functions.

C3. Local Surplus / Excess Proceeds → framework: surplus-funds

Cass County’s surplus rule is state law, NDCC 57-28-20 (HB 1199, eff. July 1, 2021 — a pre-tyler-v-hennepin-county equity-theft repeal). Excess sale proceeds above taxes, special assessments, penalties, interest, and costs belong to the former record owner, never the county. The county retains the funds only 90 days from the sale before they must be distributed out. See north-dakota §3 / §3b for the full waterfall.

  • Claim filing venue:

  • Claim form: A Cass-County-specific excess-proceeds claim form (name/URL) was not retrieved from a primary source — the live Finance Office pages are behind an edge that blocks automated fetch. North Dakota uses no confirmed statewide form (see north-dakota §3 open question). needs_verification — request the form from the Finance Office.

  • Local deadline notes: 90 days from the date of sale (the county’s statutory retention period, NDCC 57-28-20(1)(a), (3)). An undisputed claim is paid to the former owner; disputed/multiple claims are deposited with the Clerk of District Court (East Central Judicial District) for resolution; if no claim is filed in 90 days the excess moves to the ND unclaimed property administrator (NDCC ch. 47-30.2), which holds it for the owner. — Source: NDCC 57-28-20(3) (https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t57c28.pdf); https://unclaimedproperty.nd.gov/ (retrieved 2026-06-02)

  • Unclaimed-funds list published? No dedicated county excess-proceeds list was identified on Cass County’s site. After the 90-day window, unclaimed excess proceeds are searchable through the state unclaimed-property database at https://unclaimedproperty.nd.gov/. needs_verification — whether Cass posts a county-level surplus/excess list before escheat.

  • Contact: Cass County Finance Office, (701) 241-5600, treasurer@casscountynd.gov.

▸ For Investors / Operators — Cass County sells no lien certificate; the county resells land it already took by tax deed at the third-Tuesday-of-November auction in the Commission Room, cash/check deposited immediately with the Finance Office, and a bidder owing delinquent taxes in any ND county is disqualified. The venue you will work for surplus is the Finance Office (undisputed claims) and the East Central Judicial District Clerk of Court (disputed). See north-dakota §5b for the 57-28-19.1 three-month-possession/no-lis-pendens marketable-title path and §7b for liens that survive (special assessments certified after the notice, severed minerals, IRS § 7425 120-day redemption).

▸ For Former Owners — When the county sells your forfeited land for more than the taxes, special assessments, penalties, interest, and costs, the excess belongs to you under NDCC 57-28-20. The county holds the funds only 90 days from the sale: file the undisputed claim with the Cass County Finance Office (211 9th Street South / P.O. Box 2806, Fargo; (701) 241-5600). Disputed claims go to the Clerk of District Court; unclaimed funds move to the ND unclaimed property administrator (unclaimedproperty.nd.gov), which holds them for you rather than forfeiting them. You (or a parent, spouse, child, or estate representative) may also repurchase the land under NDCC 57-28-19 while the county holds title.

C4. Offices & Contacts

OfficeName / DivisionAddressPhoneURL
Auditor / Finance (tax sale, excess proceeds)Cass County Finance Office — Finance Director / Auditor (Sarah Heinle)211 9th Street South / P.O. Box 2806, Fargo, ND 58108-2806(701) 241-5600https://www.casscountynd.gov/our-county/finance-office
Treasurer (tax payment / redemption)Cass County Treasurer (Chad Peterson)211 9th Street South / P.O. Box 2806, Fargo, ND 58108-2806(701) 241-5600https://proptax.casscountynd.gov/
Director of Tax Equalization (assessment)Matt Stanger, Director of EqualizationP.O. Box 2806, Fargo, ND 58108-2806(701) 241-5616https://cass.northdakotaassessors.com/
Clerk of District Court (disputed surplus, quiet title)Clerk of District Court — East Central Judicial District211 9th Street South / P.O. Box 2806, Fargo, ND 58108-2806(701) 451-6940https://www.ndcourts.gov/court-locations/cass-county
Recorder / Register of Deeds (deeds, NDRIN)Cass County Recorder211 9th Street South / P.O. Box 2806, Fargo, ND 58108-2806(701) 241-5620https://www.casscountynd.gov/our-county/recorder
Sheriff (mortgage-foreclosure sheriff’s sales / redemptions)Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Civil Process Division (Sheriff Jesse Jahner)Civil process at 211 9th Street South; Law Enforcement Center 1612 23rd Ave. N., Fargo, ND 58102 / P.O. Box 488, Fargo, ND 58108-0488(701) 241-5800https://www.casscountynd.gov/departments/sheriff/civil-process

Sources:

needs_verification — Cass County consolidates the auditor and treasurer functions in the Finance Office; the named Finance Director/Auditor (Sarah Heinle) and Treasurer (Chad Peterson) come from Google-crawled directory snippets, not a directly fetched live page (the county site blocks automated fetch). Confirm current officeholders by phone.

C5. Local Procedure Notes

  • Consolidated Finance Office: Cass County houses the county-auditor and treasurer statutory functions in a single Finance Office, which both conducts the tax-forfeited-land auction and takes the immediate cash/check deposit from the successful bidder. (Other ND counties often label this the “Auditor/Treasurer.“) — Source: https://www.casscountynd.gov/property-taxes/research-property-sales (snippet retrieved 2026-06-02)

  • In-person auction only: The tax-forfeited sale is conducted live in the Cass County Commission Room on the third Tuesday of November at 10:00 A.M.; no online bidding platform was identified.

  • Appraisal + public hearing before the sale: Cass County’s document library contains a workflow of “Appraisal of tax-forfeited properties” and “Public hearing on tax-forfeited properties” (NDCC 57-28-10/11/12), confirming the county runs the statutory appraisal, objection-hearing, and minimum-price steps before each sale. — Source: https://docs.casscountynd.gov/weblink/0/edoc/4676466/01.%20Appraisal%20of%20tax-forfeited%20properties.pdf and https://docs.casscountynd.gov/WebLink/0/edoc/4133414/03.%20Public%20hearing%20on%20tax-forfeited%20properties.pdf (document titles confirmed via search index, retrieved 2026-06-02)

  • Bid is irrevocable; bidder cannot owe ND delinquent taxes: Two Cass-specific practice notes confirmed on the research-property-sales page (NDCC 57-28-15(7)).

  • Deviations from state default: None identified. Cass County applies NDCC ch. 57-28 as written; the only operational quirk is the Finance-Office consolidation of the auditor/treasurer roles.

C6. Records Access

C8. Title & Quiet Title → framework: north-dakota §5b

  • Title type: Tax deed — Cass County (like all ND counties) takes a tax deed on the forfeited land and conveys a county deed to the auction purchaser (NDCC 57-28-16). North Dakota is not a tax-lien-certificate or redeemable-deed state. See north-dakota §7.

  • Quiet title action:

    • Required? Not statutorily required given NDCC 57-28-19.1’s marketable-title rule (recorded deed + 3 months’ possession + no lis pendens within those 3 months → marketable, challengers limited to a damages claim against the county/city). For a private purchaser from the county, a quiet-title action is commonly used to clear notice/due-process questions and to satisfy title insurers. See north-dakota §5b.
    • Type: Judicial — an action to quiet title under NDCC ch. 32-17.
    • Court: North Dakota District Court, East Central Judicial District, Cass County Courthouse, 211 9th Street South, Fargo, ND 58103; Clerk of District Court (701) 451-6940. — Source: https://www.ndcourts.gov/court-locations/cass-county (snippet retrieved 2026-06-02)
    • Typical timeline: uncontested ~3–6 months; contested 6–18+ months. needs_verification — no Cass-specific tax-deed quiet-title benchmark retrieved (estimate inherited from north-dakota §5b).
    • Typical cost range: ~$2,000–$6,000 uncontested (state district-court civil filing fee $160, effective July 1, 2025, plus attorney/publication; ND courts do not award attorney’s fees in quiet-title actions). needs_verification — estimate; no Cass-specific cost data retrieved. — Source: https://www.ndcourts.gov/district-court/court-fees (cited in north-dakota §5b, retrieved 2026-06-02)

  • Deed seasoning (local notes): The county deed conveys “the entire interest of the county” without warranties (NDCC 57-28-16); the underlying tax deed is “prima facie evidence” of regularity (NDCC 57-28-09). Title underwriters scrutinize ch. 57-28 notice/service compliance and the 57-28-19.1 possession showing; most require a quiet-title judgment or seasoning before insuring a private purchaser’s title without exception. needs_verification — no Cass-specific underwriter policy retrieved.

  • Title insurers active locally: National underwriters active in North Dakota (Stewart Title, Old Republic, First American, Fidelity National) write in the Fargo/Cass market; specific Cass County tax-deed underwriting guidelines require direct inquiry. needs_verification — local agency relationships not individually verified from a primary source.

C9. Purchaser Obligations → framework: north-dakota §10b

North Dakota sells no lien certificate, so there is no investor “subsequent-tax” obligation during a redemption period. The county bears carrying costs while it holds the tax title; once the county deed issues to an auction purchaser, the buyer is the new owner and pays future taxes in the ordinary course.

  • Subsequent / future tax payment office: Cass County Finance Office / Treasurer, 211 9th Street South (P.O. Box 2806), Fargo, ND 58108-2806; (701) 241-5600; online at https://proptax.casscountynd.gov/. — Source: https://proptax.casscountynd.gov/ (retrieved 2026-06-02)

  • Notice to owner procedure: In the tax-deed system the county auditor (Finance Office), not a purchaser, serves the statutory notice of foreclosure of tax lien (sheriff’s personal service for resident owners / residential buildings; certified mail to nonresidents, mortgagees, and lienholders; one publication by August 1) under NDCC 57-28-04/05/06. There is no investor required to give owner-expiration notice. See north-dakota §6.

  • Redemption / satisfaction payment office: Before the county sale, the former owner pays the full tax/specials/penalty/interest amount to the Cass County Finance Office / Treasurer (above) to pull the parcel from the auction. For a mortgage-foreclosure redemption, payment is made through the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Civil Process Division, (701) 241-5800. — Source: https://www.casscountynd.gov/departments/sheriff/civil-process (snippet retrieved 2026-06-02)

  • Occupancy / access during the holding period: NDCC ch. 57-28 is silent on a former owner’s post-forfeiture right to remain; the county holds title pending resale. No Cass-specific possession practice was retrieved. needs_verification.

C10. Local Restrictions → framework: north-dakota §11b

  • Right of first refusal active? No formal county ROFR identified. Under state law, however, a city holding delinquent special assessments has a 30-day priority to purchase a forfeited parcel ahead of the former owner (NDCC 57-28-18/19), and political subdivisions may acquire tax-forfeited land. No Cass-County-specific ordinance exercising a true ROFR was found. See north-dakota §3 / §11b. — Source: NDCC 57-28-18, 57-28-19 (https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t57c28.pdf)

  • Land bank: None identified. No dedicated Cass County or City of Fargo land bank acquiring/holding tax-forfeited parcels for redevelopment was found, consistent with North Dakota’s absence from the national land-bank inventory (see north-dakota §11.b / Meta). needs_verification — confirm no municipal land-bank function exists in Fargo/West Fargo. — Source: Center for Community Progress National Land Bank Map (cited in north-dakota Meta; ND absent, retrieved 2026-06-02)

  • Entity / insider restrictions: The operative local rule is the bidder disqualification for anyone owing delinquent taxes in any ND county (NDCC 57-28-15(7)), confirmed on Cass County’s tax-sale page. Agricultural land remains subject to the state Corporate/LLC Farming Law (NDCC ch. 10-06.1); see north-dakota §11b. No additional Cass-specific entity/insider purchase restriction was identified. — Source: https://www.casscountynd.gov/property-taxes/research-property-sales (snippet retrieved 2026-06-02)

C7. Meta

sources:

needs_verification:

  • Next sale date (Nov 2026) and parcel list — specific 2026 auction date and minimum-sale-price list not retrieved (live page edge-blocked). Statutory third Tuesday = Nov 17, 2026; confirm with Finance Office.
  • Day-of-sale registration mechanics / deposit amount — Cass page confirms cash/check deposited immediately with the Finance Office but not a pre-registration window or deposit percentage.
  • Cass-specific excess-proceeds claim form (name/URL) — not retrieved; request from the Finance Office. ND has no confirmed statewide form.
  • County-level surplus/excess-proceeds list published? — none identified on the county site; unclaimed funds are searchable at unclaimedproperty.nd.gov after escheat.
  • Cass-specific repurchase (NDCC 57-28-19) application form/URL — not retrieved.
  • Current officeholders — Finance Director/Auditor (Sarah Heinle), Treasurer (Chad Peterson) from directory snippets, not a directly fetched live page; confirm.
  • Quiet-title timeline/cost — Cass-specific tax-deed benchmarks not retrieved; ranges inherited from north-dakota §5b.
  • Title insurer local tax-deed underwriting — national underwriters write in ND generally; Cass-specific tax-deed guidelines not verified.
  • Land bank / municipal ROFR in Fargo/West Fargo — none found; confirm absence.
  • Occupancy practice during the county’s holding period — not addressed.

cross_links: north-dakota, tyler-v-hennepin-county, surplus-funds, right-of-redemption, third-party-recovery-rules, treasurer-sale, sheriff-sale, due-process-notice, quiet-title-after-tax-sale, fibelstad-v-grant-county, peplinski-v-county-of-richland, bankruptcy-automatic-stay, federal-tax-lien-redemption, heirs-property, mineral-rights-foreclosure, scra-protections

changelog:

  • 2026-06-02 — Initial autoresearch population. Modules C0–C10 drafted from Cass County official sources (research-property-sales tax-forfeited page, Finance Office property-tax page, 2016 minimum-sale-price list, appraisal + public-hearing workflow docs, proptax portal, Director-of-Equalization site, Recorder/NDRIN, Sheriff civil process, GIS LINK, and the East Central Judicial District / Clerk of District Court), plus NDCC ch. 57-28 and the ND unclaimed-property administrator, with the legal framework inherited from north-dakota. The live casscountynd.gov and ndcourts.gov pages are served behind an Akamai/edge layer that returns 403 to automated fetch; their content was captured from Google-crawled snippets and flagged accordingly. Honest gaps flagged in needs_verification. No fabricated citations.

Legal information, not legal advice. This page summarizes local operational procedures that change frequently. North Dakota forecloses delinquent-tax liens administratively (no investor lien certificate) and returns excess sale proceeds to the former owner under NDCC 57-28-20 (HB 1199, eff. 2021), consistent with tyler-v-hennepin-county (598 U.S. 631 (2023)). Verify all facts — especially the November sale date, bidder/deposit requirements, the 90-day excess-proceeds claim window, and quiet-title requirements — against current official Cass County sources and consult a licensed North Dakota attorney before acting. Last verified: 2026-06-02.

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