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GlossaryTax forfeitureMinnesota law

Three-year tax redemption

2 min read
Short answer
Three years from the tax judgment sale is Minnesota's standard redemption period under Minn. Stat. 281.17. It applies to most property. The old split — five years for homesteads, cabins and township property, three for non-homestead city property — was eliminated in 2014, though outdated sources still describe it.

Three years is Minnesota's standard tax redemption period, running from the tax judgment sale under Minn. Stat. 281.17.

The 2014 change#

This matters because the older rule is still widely published.

Before 2014 there was a split. Five years for homesteads, cabins and property located in a township. Three years for non-homestead property in a city.

That split was removed. Everyone now has three years.

County websites, older guides and a good deal of secondary material still describe the five-year period. It is worth checking anything that states it against the current statute, because an owner relying on five years when they have three loses the property with two years of assumed cushion that does not exist.

Shorter periods#

One year for non-homestead land in a designated targeted community.

Shorter still where the property qualifies as vacant or abandoned under Minn. Stat. 281.173 or 281.174.

Both are exceptions rather than the norm, and both apply to the categories of property most likely to be neglected — which is to say, exactly the properties where the owner is least likely to be tracking the deadline.

When it starts#

From the tax judgment sale, not from the delinquency and not from the judgment.

That sale is the administrative step at which the parcel is sold to the State of Minnesota. Nobody bids, no money moves, and the owner keeps possession. Its whole function is to fix a date.

Three years is a long time and it goes quickly#

The period is generous compared with mortgage foreclosure, where six months is the norm.

What it produces in practice is a false sense of security followed by a compressed panic. An owner who has three years does nothing for two of them, by which point the balance has grown substantially through penalty and interest and the options have narrowed.

The useful move is early. A confession of judgment entered in year one consolidates a smaller balance over the same five to ten years. A property with value can be sold during the redemption period, with taxes paid from the proceeds — but a sale takes months and cannot be started in the final weeks.

It does not end automatically#

The period does not simply expire on the anniversary.

A notice of expiration of redemption must be served first, and the time to redeem then runs to the later of 60 days after service on all parties of record, or the second Monday in May.

That second condition is why Minnesota forfeitures cluster in May rather than spreading across the year — and it is why a parcel list pulled in April looks very different from one pulled in June.

Common questions

Is it still five years for homesteads?
No. That distinction was removed in 2014. Before then homesteads, cabins and township property had five years while non-homestead city property had three. Everyone now gets three, and county websites still describing five years are out of date.
When does the three years start?
From the date of the tax judgment sale — the administrative step at which the parcel is sold to the state. Nobody bids at that sale and the owner keeps possession; its purpose is to fix the date the clock runs from.
Are there shorter periods?
Yes. One year for non-homestead land in a designated targeted community, and shorter periods where the property qualifies as vacant or abandoned under Minn. Stat. 281.173 or 281.174.
Keep reading
Tax judgment
The court judgment entered against a Minnesota parcel for unpaid property taxes, which permits the parcel to be sold to the state and starts redemption.
Property tax delinquency
Unpaid Minnesota property taxes carried past their due date, which begin accruing penalty and interest and start the clock toward forfeiture.
Tax forfeiture
The loss of Minnesota property title to the state for unpaid property taxes, after a tax judgment and a redemption period that is usually three years.