AMM Land Sales (815) 384-6153

Arkansas · AR

Sell your land in Arkansas.

Arkansas is the rare state where delinquent land does not stay with the county. Counties certify it to the Commissioner of State Lands, legal title vests in the state, and one office handles the notice, the redemption and the auction for all seventy-five counties.

Tax sale type
Tax deed
Redemption period
No redemption after sale
Rate on redemption
N/A
Closings handled by
Title company

Figures describe Arkansas generally. Counties administer their own sales and their own calendars — your county treasurer is the only source for a payoff figure or a sale date you can act on.

Local detail

What actually matters about land in Arkansas

One state office runs the tax sale

County collectors certify tax-delinquent parcels to the Commissioner of State Lands, and on certification legal title vests in the State of Arkansas in the Commissioner's care. The office operates under Act 626 of 1983, as amended, and its rules carry the force of law. A parcel cannot be auctioned earlier than one year after certification, and the Commissioner mails notice to the owner of record and to interested parties before the sale. Anyone may redeem, and redeeming does not change ownership — it makes the taxes current. The practical point is that once the parcel is certified, you are dealing with Little Rock rather than your county collector.

Redemption ends before the gavel falls

The Commissioner's rules require redemption payment to be in hand before 4:00 p.m. Central on the last business day before the sale date. Miss it and the parcel sells, and the state issues a Limited Warranty Deed conveying whatever interest it holds — not marketable title, which is why purchasers ordinarily file a quiet title action afterward. There is a ninety-day window after the deed to bring an action contesting the sale, under Ark. Code Ann. § 26-37-203 as amended by Act 1231 of 2013, but that is a litigation period, not a right to redeem. The deadline that matters to an owner is the one before the auction.

Timber is a separate asset on the tract

Arkansas holds roughly 19 million acres of forest, and the U.S. Forest Service puts loblolly and shortleaf pine at about 31 percent of it, oak and hickory at 41 percent. On a wooded tract the standing timber and the dirt price separately, so when the tract was last cut matters as much as its acreage: a pine plantation harvested three years ago sells near bare land value, while the same tract carrying merchantable sawtimber does not. Timberland is also assessed on productivity rather than market value under Amendment 59 of the Arkansas Constitution, which is why the tax bill is a poor proxy for what the tract is worth.

Karst decides what an Ozark lot can hold

The Buffalo, designated in 1972 as the first national river in the country, runs 153 miles out of the Boston Mountains and across the Springfield and Salem Plateaus, and the rock under most of it is karst. Sinkholes, losing streams and cave systems move water fast and filter almost nothing, which is why the watershed has drawn permitting fights — Arkansas has restricted new medium and large hog operations there since 2014. For a small landowner the practical version of that geology is septic. The Arkansas Department of Health permits onsite wastewater systems, and in karst a soil evaluation, not acreage, decides whether the lot takes a conventional system.

Questions

Selling land in Arkansas

Can I still redeem my Arkansas land after it goes to the state?

Yes, up until shortly before the auction — redemption closes at 4:00 p.m. Central on the last business day before the sale date. Once a county certifies a delinquent parcel, legal title vests in the State of Arkansas and the Commissioner of State Lands handles redemption, notice and sale, so that is the office to call rather than your county collector. The sale itself cannot be held sooner than a year after certification. Anyone may redeem, and doing so does not transfer ownership; it brings the taxes current.

Does the timber on my Arkansas land get valued separately?

Yes — on a wooded tract the standing timber is priced apart from the ground, and a recent harvest shows up directly in the number. A pine plantation cut three years ago is close to bare land value; the same acreage carrying merchantable sawtimber is not. Species, age and stocking matter, as does whether there is a road stout enough to get a loaded truck out. Your assessment is not a guide here: Amendment 59 of the Arkansas Constitution has timberland assessed on productivity rather than on what it would sell for.

My parcel is in the Buffalo River watershed. Does that hurt it?

It narrows what can be built there, and that shows up in the price rather than in whether it sells. The watershed sits on karst — sinkholes, caves and losing streams that carry water to groundwater almost unfiltered — so septic approval is the question that decides buildability, and the Arkansas Department of Health runs that permitting off a soil evaluation. The same geology is why Arkansas has restricted new medium and large hog operations in the watershed since 2014. A parcel with a passed soil test and recorded access is worth materially more than one with neither established.

Sources for the figures above

These are secondary references, accurate enough to orient you and not a substitute for the statute or your county. Tax procedure changes; nothing here is legal advice.

Get an offer

Tell us about your Arkansas parcel

The state is filled in already. County and parcel number is enough to start, and AMM Land Sales replies within one business day.

No listing agreement and no obligation. We reply within one business day.