State Foreclosure Law Library

nebraska

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Nebraska — Tax & Mortgage Foreclosure

Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited primary sources before acting. Last verified: 2026-06-01.

Reader orientation (Nebraska is a post-Tyler reform state). Nebraska is a tax-lien-certificate state: the county treasurer sells a certificate of purchase at an annual round-robin / random auction (no premium bidding) for the delinquent taxes. The certificate earns 14% per annum statutory interest (§45-104.01). After a 3-year redemption window, the holder historically had two exit routes: (1) apply to the treasurer for a tax deed (which captured the owner’s entire equity for only the tax debt), or (2) judicially foreclose the lien (a sheriff/clerk auction that can generate distributable surplus). The tax-deed route was the equity-theft engine struck down nationally by tyler-v-hennepin-county (2023). Nebraska’s response is two-layered: the Nebraska Supreme Court held private tax-deed holders liable in inverse condemnation for retained equity (continental-resources-v-fair-2024, nieveen-v-tax-106-2024), and the Legislature enacted LB 727 (2023) adding a statutory surplus-to-former-owner payment (Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1838) plus a $25,000 cap that forces larger-equity parcels into judicial foreclosure instead of a deed (§77-1837). Do not assume a deed-state cash auction with simple “excess proceeds”; in Nebraska the surplus mechanics are statute-specific and recently rebuilt.

0. Identity & Classification

  • Recording unit: county (count: 93)
  • Tax sale type: tax lien certificate (“certificate of purchase”) maturing into either a treasurer’s tax deed or a judicial foreclosure — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1818 (certificate of purchase / perpetual lien), §77-1837 (deed vs. foreclosure), §77-1902 (foreclosure).
  • Tax foreclosure process: both — administrative treasurer’s-deed track (§77-1831, §77-1837) and a judicial lien-foreclosure track in district court (§77-1902). Post-LB 727, the deed route is only available when 110% of assessed value less the redemption amount is ≤ $25,000; otherwise the holder must foreclose (§77-1837).
  • Mortgage foreclosure process: both — judicial mortgage foreclosure, and non-judicial power-of-sale under the Nebraska Trust Deeds Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. ch. 76, art. 10 (§76-1005).
  • Selling authority: county treasurer (tax-certificate sale and treasurer’s deed) — §77-1807; sheriff / court (judicial foreclosure sale); trustee (Trust Deeds Act sale).
  • Statutory home: Neb. Rev. Stat. ch. 77, art. 18 (Real Property Taxes — Sale) §§77-1801–77-1863 and art. 19 (Foreclosure of Tax Liens) §77-1902 et seq.; ch. 76, art. 10 (Trust Deeds) §76-1005.
  • Tyler v. Hennepin compliance: reformed_post_Tyler. Nebraska’s pre-2023 tax-deed scheme allowed equity forfeiture; after tyler-v-hennepin-county, the Nebraska Supreme Court held in continental-resources-v-fair-2024 and nieveen-v-tax-106-2024 that a former owner has a protected interest in equity above the tax debt and that the private tax-deed holder is liable for just compensation, and the Legislature enacted LB 727 (2023) creating a statutory surplus payment (§77-1838) and a $25,000 deed cap (§77-1837).

1. Tax Sale Mechanics

  • What is sold: a certificate of purchase (tax lien). “The purchaser acquires a perpetual lien of the tax on the real property,” and may add subsequently paid taxes to the lien — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1818.
  • Bidding method: round-robin / random allotment, not premium bidding or interest bid-down. Registered bidders are assigned numbers by a random generator and select parcels in turn (one parcel per round) for the full delinquent amount; this is conducted under §77-1807 (“delinquent tax sale; how conducted”) — confirmed by official county procedures (Otoe County; Douglas County).
  • Interest / penalty: statutory 14% per annum on the certificate amount and on subsequently paid taxes, from date of purchase/payment to date of redemption — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1824 (cross-referencing the rate in §45-104.01, currently 14%).
  • Minimum bid composition: the delinquent taxes + interest + advertising and costs for which the parcel is liable — §77-1807 (offered for the amount of taxes, interest, and costs due).
  • Sale frequency / typical month: annual, on the first Monday of March; the treasurer prepares the list 4–6 weeks before the sale — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1802, §77-1807.
  • Venue / platform: predominantly in-person at the county treasurer’s office (round-robin); larger counties (e.g., Douglas/Lancaster) publish detailed registration procedures — platform/venue is a county operational fact (see county pages). (Douglas County tax sale).
  • Registration / deposit: bidders must register and pay a registration fee by a county deadline (commonly the Thursday before the first Monday in March) — county procedures under §77-1807 (Otoe County).
  • Subsequent taxes (“subs”): the certificate holder may pay later-year delinquent taxes and add them to the lien, earning the same 14% — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1818, §77-1824.

2. Right of Redemption → see right-of-redemption

  • Pre-sale right: the owner may pay delinquent taxes any time before the parcel is struck off at the March sale — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1807 (parcels for which taxes are paid are withdrawn).
  • Post-sale period / runs-from: 3 years from the date of sale is the core redemption window; functionally the right persists until the holder files an application for tax deed (deed track) or files a foreclosure action (judicial track). “The right of redemption expires when the purchaser files an application for tax deed with the county treasurer,” and a redemption is valid only if received before close of business on the day the deed application is received — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1824. The holder cannot apply for the deed until 3 months after the §77-1831 notice and within 9 months after the 3 years expire — §77-1837. (For vacant and abandoned parcels the period shortens to 2 years — §77-1837, §77-1902.)
  • Who may redeem: “The owner or occupant of any real property sold for taxes or any person having a lien thereupon or interest therein may redeem” — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1824.
  • Redemption amount formula: the certificate sum + 14% interest from date of purchase + all subsequently paid taxes with 14% from date of payment + the $150 administrative fee (§77-1818) + issuance/recording fees — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1824.
  • Premium to certificate holder: none beyond statutory 14% interest; Nebraska is a fixed-rate, random-allotment state (no bid-down premium).
  • Procedure: redeem by paying the county treasurer for the certificate holder’s use; the treasurer enters the redemption and notifies the holder — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1824, §77-1825.
  • Extinguishment: the right is extinguished by issuance of a treasurer’s tax deed (§77-1837) or by decree of foreclosure and confirmed sale (§77-1902 et seq.).
  • Special tolling: [needs_verification: a Nebraska statutory tolling provision for minors / persons under disability / SCRA servicemembers in the tax-redemption context was not located in retrieved primary text]. Federal tolling (bankruptcy automatic stay, SCRA) operates independently — see bankruptcy-automatic-stay.

3. Surplus / Excess Proceeds → see surplus-funds, third-party-recovery-rules

  • Belongs to: the former owner (post-LB 727). Nebraska now has a two-track surplus regime:
    • Treasurer’s-deed track (LB 727 surplus): “Within thirty days after recording of the deed, the grantee shall pay the surplus to the previous owner of the property described in the deed.” Surplus = (if the property has been sold) the sale price, or (if not sold) the assessed value at the time of the deed application, minus (i) the amount needed to redeem, (ii) the amount to pay all encumbrances, and (iii) a $500 administrative fee (or reasonable attorney’s fees if judicial foreclosure) retained by the grantee — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1838 (Laws 2023, LB 727, §56).
    • Judicial-foreclosure track: a district-court foreclosure of the tax lien produces a sheriff/judicial sale; proceeds pay taxes/liens in priority and excess is distributed through the court, with redemption available before confirmation — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1902 et seq., §77-1917.
  • $25,000 deed cap (channeling rule): a treasurer’s deed may issue only if “110% of the assessed value … less the amount that would be needed to redeem … is twenty-five thousand dollars or less”; otherwise “the purchaser or his or her assignee shall foreclose the lien … pursuant to section 77-1902” — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1837. This forces higher-equity parcels into the surplus-generating judicial track.
  • Filing venue: LB 727 surplus is paid directly by the grantee to the former owner (no claim form to a treasurer); foreclosure surplus is distributed by the district court — §77-1838; §77-1902 et seq..
  • Claim deadline: the grantee must pay within 30 days of recording (§77-1838); the former owner’s outer limit to sue for unpaid surplus/just compensation is [needs_verification: no specific statutory claim-period for the owner to demand the §77-1838 surplus was located in retrieved primary text].
  • Escheat: [needs_verification: disposition of unclaimed §77-1838 surplus (whether it escheats under the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. ch. 69, art. 13) was not confirmed in retrieved primary text].
  • Documentation required: [needs_verification: the §77-1838 statute commands payment by the grantee rather than a claimant filing; no claimant documentation checklist was located in retrieved primary text].
  • Third-party recovery (surplus-recovery / “finder” agents):
    • fee cap: [needs_verification — see note below];
    • licensing required: [needs_verification];
    • assignment of claim allowed: a certificate of purchase is assignable (the statutes contemplate “the purchaser or his or her assignee” throughout, e.g. §77-1837); whether the former owner’s §77-1838 surplus right is assignable to a recovery agent was not confirmed — [needs_verification];
    • cooling-off / disclosure / prohibited practices: [needs_verification: Nebraska does not appear to have a tax-surplus-specific recovery-agent statute analogous to other states; any limits likely come from the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act finder rules (ch. 69, art. 13) and general consumer-protection law, but the controlling section and any fee cap were not located in retrieved primary text]. Practical note: because LB 727 makes the grantee pay surplus automatically within 30 days, the classic “unclaimed surplus pool” that supports a recovery-agent market is structurally smaller in Nebraska than in cash-auction deed states.
  • Notice to former owner required? Yes — pre-deed notice under §77-1831 (and the certificate-issuance notice under §77-1818); and the grantee must affirmatively pay the surplus to the former owner (§77-1838).

4. Mortgage Foreclosure

  • Process: both. A trust deed may be foreclosed non-judicially by the trustee’s power of sale under the Nebraska Trust Deeds Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. §76-1005), or at the beneficiary’s option, judicially “in the manner provided by law for the foreclosure of mortgages on real property” — §76-1005.
  • Sale officer: trustee (non-judicial power-of-sale) or sheriff (judicial mortgage foreclosure).
  • Timeline (non-judicial Trust Deeds Act): a Notice of Default is recorded, followed by a ~1 month (30-day) cure window, then a Notice of Sale with a statutory period before the trustee’s sale (commonly ~5 months), yielding a total of roughly ~6 months — Nebraska Trust Deeds Act, ch. 76, art. 10 (§76-1005 et seq.). [needs_verification: exact day-counts for the §76-1006/§76-1007 notice-of-default cure period and notice-of-sale period were not re-read from primary text — only the chapter and secondary descriptions were retrieved.]
  • Reinstatement right: the Trust Deeds Act allows the trustor to cure the default (reinstate) before sale by paying the arrears and costs — [needs_verification: precise §76-1006 reinstatement mechanics not re-read from primary text].
  • Redemption after sale: none after a completed non-judicial trustee’s sale — the trustee’s deed terminates the trustor’s interest (Trust Deeds Act, §76-1005 et seq.). In a judicial mortgage foreclosure, redemption runs until confirmation of the sale by the court (Nebraska has no post-confirmation statutory redemption for judicial mortgage foreclosures) — [needs_verification: confirm against Neb. Rev. Stat. ch. 25 execution/confirmation provisions, not re-read from primary text].
  • Deficiency judgment: allowed, but limited. For a non-judicial trustee’s sale, a deficiency action must be brought within 3 months of the sale, and the judgment is capped at the total indebtedness minus the greater of the sale price or fair market value — Neb. Rev. Stat. §76-1013. A deficiency after judicial foreclosure is governed by the general 5-year written-contract limitations period (per Nebraska Supreme Court construction) — §76-1013; see Baird Holm — deficiency SOL.
  • Surplus distribution (mortgage sale): trustee/sheriff applies proceeds to the obligation and costs; surplus is paid to junior lienholders then the trustor/owner — [needs_verification: precise §76-1013(2)/sheriff-sale surplus distribution order not re-read from primary text].

5. Sale Procedure Playbooks

Treasurer (tax-lien) sale — ordered steps → see treasurer-sale

  1. Treasurer prepares the delinquent list 4–6 weeks before, and publishes notice that parcels will be sold at public auction on the first Monday of March — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1802, §77-1807.
  2. Bidders register and pay the fee by the county deadline; the round-robin / random auction is held; the buyer pays taxes+interest+costs and receives a certificate of purchase — §77-1807, §77-1818.
  3. Upon issuance, the purchaser serves the §77-1818 certificate notice on the owner (personal service or certified mail) and a $150 administrative fee is charged to the owner — §77-1818.
  4. The holder may pay subsequent taxes (subs) and earn 14% — §77-1818, §77-1824.
  5. After 3 years (or 2 for vacant/abandoned), the holder serves the §77-1831 notice of intent to seek a deed at least 3 months before applying, on the occupant and the record-title owner found in-state — §77-1831.
  6. Channeling: if 110% assessed value less redemption ≤ $25,000, the holder may apply for a treasurer’s tax deed; otherwise the holder must judicially foreclose — §77-1837.
  7. If a deed issues, the grantee records it and pays surplus to the former owner within 30 days — §77-1838.

Sheriff / judicial (tax-lien foreclosure) — ordered steps → see sheriff-sale

  1. Holder files a foreclosure action in the district court of the county within 9 months after the 3-year (or 2-year vacant) period — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1902.
  2. Court enters decree; redemption is available with subsequent-tax credits — §77-1917.
  3. Sheriff sale, confirmation, and distribution of proceeds (surplus to the owner/junior interests) — §77-1902 et seq.. [needs_verification: exact §77-1903–§77-1916 sale/confirmation/publication day-counts not re-read from primary text.]
  • Notice requirements: publication of the sale list (§77-1802); certificate notice to the owner at issuance (§77-1818); §77-1831 notice served ≥ 3 months before the deed application on the occupant and the in-state record owner (§77-1831).
  • Upset bid / confirmation: no upset-bid mechanism for the treasurer’s-deed track (administrative); judicial foreclosure sales require court confirmation — §77-1902 et seq..
  • Payment terms (tax sale): the buyer pays the full delinquent amount + interest + costs at the sale — §77-1807.
  • Deed issued: treasurer’s tax deed (statutory, no warranties), which is prima facie / presumptive evidence of the regularity of the proceedings — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1837, §77-1842; challenge conditioned by §77-1844.

6. Due Process & Notice → see due-process-notice

  • Standard: Mullane “notice reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise interested parties.” Nebraska implements this with the §77-1818 certificate notice and the §77-1831 pre-deed notice; the Nebraska Supreme Court held the 3-month pre-deed notice window adequate and not a procedural-due-process violation — continental-resources-v-fair-2024 (and the predecessor opinion Continental Resources v. Fair, 311 Neb. 184 (2022)).
  • Required attempts: personal service or certified mail of the §77-1818 notice on the owner (except for county-purchased certificates), and §77-1831 service on the person in actual possession/occupancy and on the record-title owner who can be found in this state — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1818, §77-1831. Under jones-v-flowers, returned mail obligates additional reasonable steps where practicable.
  • Consequence of defective notice: void deed. A misstatement in the statutory notice of the expiration of the time of redemption renders the tax deed void, and the landowner need not show detrimental reliance — adair-holdings-v-johnson-2020 (304 Neb. 720, 936 N.W.2d 517).
  • Leading cases: adair-holdings-v-johnson-2020, continental-resources-v-fair-2024, nieveen-v-tax-106-2024, tyler-v-hennepin-county, jones-v-flowers, mennonite-v-adams, mullane-v-central-hanover.

7. Title & Marketability

  • Deed warranty level: statutory treasurer’s tax deed — no warranties; serves as presumptive/prima facie evidence of the regularity of the listing, sale, and notice — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1837, §77-1842.
  • Marketable immediately? No, not practically. Tax-deed title is clouded by the void-deed risk (defective notice — adair-holdings-v-johnson-2020) and post-Tyler surplus/just-compensation exposure; quiet title is typically needed before resale or insuring.
  • Quiet title required? Commonly yes in practice; statute conditions any challenge to the deed (the challenger must tender taxes etc.) — Neb. Rev. Stat. §77-1844.
  • SOL to challenge the deed: [needs_verification: the specific Nebraska limitations period to bring or defend against a treasurer’s tax deed (e.g., the §77-1843/§77-1844 condition and any limitations bar) was not re-read from primary text].
  • Title insurance availability: Nebraska uses registered abstracters and title insurers; tax-deed coverage is fact-dependent and usually requires quiet title — see NSBA Real Estate Title Standards. [needs_verification: no underwriter-specific tax-deed standard quoted.]
  • Common defects: misstated/omitted §77-1831 redemption-expiration notice (void deed — adair-holdings-v-johnson-2020); failure to pay §77-1838 surplus; equity-takings exposure under tyler-v-hennepin-county / continental-resources-v-fair-2024.

8. Case Law (real, verified)

CaseYearTopicHolding (plain English)Source
continental-resources-v-fair-20242024surplus, due_processOn remand from Tyler, the Nebraska Supreme Court held a former owner has a protected interest in equity above the tax debt, and that a private tax-deed holder who took the deed is liable for just compensation (inverse condemnation) — treating the investor as jointly acting with the State by exercising a state-created privilege. Reversed dismissal of Fair’s takings claim. (Earlier opinion Continental Resources v. Fair, 311 Neb. 184 (2022), had upheld the 3-month pre-deed notice against due-process attack.)Nieveen opinion citing “Continental Resources v. Fair, ante p. 391 (2024)” ; Baird Holm ; Nelson Mullins
nieveen-v-tax-106-20242024surplus, due_process317 Neb. 425 (filed Aug. 23, 2024). On reconsideration in light of Tyler, the court held Nieveen — whose unencumbered home was lost to a tax deed for a small tax debt — stated a plausible takings claim against the private deed-holder (Vintage Management, LLC); affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded to value the property and the compensable surplus.Official Neb. opinion 317 Neb. 425
adair-holdings-v-johnson-20202020due_process, redemption, sale_procedure304 Neb. 720, 936 N.W.2d 517. A misstatement in the §77-1831 notice of expiration of the redemption period renders the treasurer’s tax deed void; the landowner need not prove detrimental reliance.FindLaw opinion
tyler-v-hennepin-county2023surplus, due_processA government (or its tax-sale transferee) may not retain surplus equity above the tax debt; doing so is a Fifth Amendment taking. The controlling authority Nebraska reconciled in Fair II / Nieveen II and via LB 727.supremecourt.gov 22-166 ; Justia 598 U.S. 631

Topic-tag coverage: surplus → continental-resources-v-fair-2024, nieveen-v-tax-106-2024, tyler-v-hennepin-county. due_process → adair-holdings-v-johnson-2020, continental-resources-v-fair-2024. redemption → adair-holdings-v-johnson-2020 (notice that controls when redemption ends). sale_procedure → adair-holdings-v-johnson-2020 (deed void for defective §77-1831 procedure).

9. Edge Cases (state-specific notes)

  • tyler-v-hennepin-county / equity-theft — Nebraska is the leading post-Tyler “private investor liability” jurisdiction: Fair II and Nieveen II (2024) hold the private deed-holder, not just the county, liable in inverse condemnation; LB 727 (§77-1838) is the legislative backstop.
  • bankruptcy-automatic-stay — a Chapter 7/13 filing stays issuance of a treasurer’s deed and any foreclosure sale; the tax lien is generally a secured claim. [needs_verification: Nebraska-specific tolling of the §77-1837 9-month deed-application window during a bankruptcy stay not located in retrieved primary text.]
  • federal-tax-lien-redemption — a federal tax lien gives the IRS a 120-day post-sale redemption right under 26 U.S.C. §7425; the IRS would be a “person having a lien” entitled to redeem under §77-1824. [needs_verification: no Nebraska-specific authority on §7425 interaction retrieved.]
  • heirs-property — “owner or occupant … or any person having a lien thereupon or interest therein may redeem,” which reaches heirs/successors — §77-1824.
  • Vacant & abandoned parcels — accelerated 2-year path to deed/foreclosure if the holder determines the parcel meets >2 statutory vacancy criteria — §77-1837, §77-1902.
  • County-purchased certificates — personal service is not required for certificates bought by a county — §77-1818.
  • manufactured-homes — [needs_verification: Nebraska treatment of manufactured-home tax delinquency not retrieved as primary text].

10. Operations

  • Where records live: county treasurer (delinquent list, tax-sale register, certificates of purchase, redemptions, subs — §77-1807, §77-1818); register of deeds (recorded treasurer’s tax deeds); clerk of the district court (tax-lien foreclosures §77-1902, and mortgage/trust-deed foreclosures); county assessor (assessed value used for the §77-1837 $25,000 cap and §77-1838 surplus).
  • Public portals: statutes at nebraskalegislature.gov ch. 77 art. 18; county treasurer tax-sale pages (e.g., Douglas County, Otoe County, Scotts Bluff County); Nebraska Department of Revenue, Property Assessment Division.
  • Typical costs & timelines: investor outlay = delinquent taxes + interest + costs; yield = 14%/yr until redemption; deed/foreclosure path ≈ 3 years + 3-month notice + ≤9-month application window (or ~2 years for vacant/abandoned); grantee must pay surplus within 30 days of recording the deed — §77-1824, §77-1831, §77-1837, §77-1838.
  • Key agencies: County Treasurer (selling authority); Register of Deeds; Clerk of the District Court; County Assessor; Nebraska Department of Revenue Property Assessment Division; Nebraska Attorney General (defends statutory scheme in takings litigation).
  • Useful forms: Certificate of purchase (§77-1818); §77-1831 notice of intent to apply for tax deed; treasurer’s tax deed (§77-1837); foreclosure petition (§77-1902). [needs_verification: statewide standardized form documents not located; forms are largely county-generated.]

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