Behind on Property Taxes in Outagamie or Brown County: The Tax Foreclosure Clock, Step by Step

Every autumn we hear from a few people in the Fox Valley who have just opened a letter from the county treasurer. Sometimes it is the owner, who fell behind after a job loss or an illness and has been paying what they could. Just as often it is a son or daughter who has found a stack of unopened mail at a parent's house in Kaukauna or De Pere and discovered that nobody has paid the property tax for a year or two.

The letter is usually calmer than people expect, and the process behind it is slower than they fear. But it is a real process with fixed dates, and it ends with the county owning the house. This guide walks through exactly how that works in Outagamie County and Brown County, which is where most of our callers' houses are. It covers when a bill becomes delinquent, what the September 1 tax certificate means, how long you have, what the county does at the end, what a 2024 change in Wisconsin law did to the equity in a tax-foreclosed house, and what your realistic options are at each stage.

It is general information about how Wisconsin's statutes and these two counties' treasurers handle delinquent tax, not legal advice about your parcel. Your county treasurer can tell you exactly where your property stands, and if a foreclosure has already been filed, a Wisconsin attorney is worth an hour of your time.

The short version

• Miss the January 31 installment and the whole bill is delinquent. Interest runs at 1% a month from February 1, and anything unpaid after January is owed to the county treasurer, not your city or village.
• On September 1 the county issues a tax certificate on every parcel still unpaid at the close of business on August 31. That starts a two-year redemption period.
• You get a letter within 90 days of the certificate, sent to the owner and address on the tax roll. If that address is a parent's empty house, nobody may read it.
• After two years the county can move to take the house. Outagamie County uses the in rem foreclosure procedure in Wis. Stat. § 75.521. Ask Brown County's treasurer which route applies to your parcel.
• You can pay, pay in part, or sell at any point before the county takes title. The delinquent balance comes out of the sale proceeds at closing.
• Since March 2024, a county that sells a tax-foreclosed house must send the former owner the net proceeds. That is better than the old rule, but it is usually far less than you would get by selling first.

How a Wisconsin property tax bill becomes delinquent

Wisconsin property tax bills go out in December and cover the year just ending. Brown County's treasurer lists the bills as mailed around December 10, with the first installment due January 31 and the second due July 31. Under Wis. Stat. § 74.11, you can pay a real estate tax bill in full by January 31 or in two equal installments by January 31 and July 31. A payment received within five working days of either deadline is not treated as late.

The rule that catches people out

Miss the first installment and you do not just owe that installment late. The statute says that if the first installment is not received in time, the entire amount of the taxes remaining unpaid is delinquent as of February 1. Green Bay's own property tax page puts it plainly: a late first installment cancels the installment option, and interest is charged monthly from February 1 on the unpaid balance.

The City of Appleton runs on four installments

Under § 74.12, a municipality can adopt a schedule of three or more installments, as long as the last is due by July 31. The City of Appleton does. Outagamie County's treasurer lists Appleton's installment dates as the last day of January, March, May and July. Miss one of those and the unpaid principal is charged 1% a month calculated from February. Whatever is still owed after July 31 becomes delinquent and passes to the Outagamie County Treasurer.

Appleton also reaches into Calumet and Winnebago counties. If your parcel is on that side of the line, the same state rules apply, but the delinquent balance goes to that county's treasurer. Your tax bill names the right office.

Who you pay changes on February 1

Payments made by January 31 go to your local treasurer: the city, village or town. After that, under § 74.11(6), payments go to the county treasurer. Outagamie County's treasurer spells it out: for every municipality except the City of Appleton, the second installment and any payment made from February 1 onward is paid to the county, along with all prior years' delinquent taxes. Green Bay's page says the same about Brown County: payments made after the first-installment due date must be paid to Brown County, and every prior year's balance is delinquent and owed to the Brown County Treasurer.

What 1% a month actually costs

Delinquent Wisconsin property tax carries interest of 1% per month or fraction of a month under § 74.47(1). On top of that, a county board may adopt an ordinance adding a penalty of up to 0.5% a month, which would take the total to as much as 1.5% a month. Outagamie County's treasurer describes delinquent charges as 1% interest a month on the unpaid principal. Check the delinquent notice or the county's online tax record for your own parcel, because the rate that applies is the one the county actually charges.

The interest is figured on the unpaid principal for each month or part of a month, so it climbs steadily rather than compounding. For a sense of scale, here is the statutory 1% rate applied to a made-up $4,000 bill. These are not your figures or anyone's actual bill.

The bigger problem is usually not the interest on one bill. It is that a house that missed one year usually misses the next, and the year after that. By the time the redemption period runs out there are often three tax years on the parcel, plus special charges.

Unpaid water and sewer bills join the tax bill

Municipal utility arrears get certified onto the tax roll as a special charge each November under § 66.0809, and from then on they are collected like tax. Special assessments for things like a new sidewalk or water main can be on the bill too. Under § 74.11(10), a delinquent special charge can make the whole year's real estate tax on that parcel delinquent with it. This is common on an empty house, where nobody is watching the water account. Our guide to selling a house with liens on it covers the utility lien in more detail.

September 1: the tax certificate

This is the date that matters most. Under § 74.57, every year on September 1 the county treasurer issues a tax certificate to the county covering every parcel with real property tax, special charges, special taxes or special assessments still unpaid at the close of business on August 31.

The certificate does three things:

• It starts the redemption period on every parcel it lists.
• It records the earliest date the county may be entitled to a tax deed or its equivalent.
• It stays with the county. Wisconsin counties do not sell tax certificates to investors. Apart from narrow exceptions in the statute, the county may not sell, assign or transfer one. So no outside lien buyer is going to show up with a claim on your house. The county is the only party on the other side.

Two years after the certificate is issued, under § 74.57(2)(b), the county is entitled to do one of three things with any parcel that has not been redeemed: take a tax deed under § 75.14, sue to foreclose the certificate under § 75.19, or foreclose the tax lien by an action in rem under § 75.521.

The notice you are supposed to get, and why heirs often miss it

Within 90 days of issuing the certificate, the county treasurer must mail a notice to each owner of record, as shown in the tax roll, under § 74.59. The notice has to say that taxes are unpaid, that a tax certificate was issued on September 1, and that if they stay unpaid the property will eventually go to the county, no earlier than two years after the certificate. If the treasurer mails it late, the two-year redemption period starts from the date it is actually mailed.

Look at who that notice goes to: the owner and address on the tax roll. When the owner has died, moved into care, or simply moved, the letter goes to an empty house or a forwarding address that expired long ago. This is how families find out about two years of unpaid tax in the same week they find out about the house. Once you are responsible for a property, update the tax-bill mailing address with the county. Outagamie and Brown both offer a mailing-address change through the treasurer's office. If the house came to you through an estate, our guide to selling an inherited house in Wisconsin covers who can sign for it.

The two-year redemption period

"Redeeming" just means paying the delinquent taxes, with interest, penalty and any charges, so the certificate no longer applies to your parcel. Under § 75.01, anyone can redeem before a tax deed is recorded, and redemption before recording voids the deed as to that land.

You do not have to pay it all at once

Both the delinquent-tax statute (§ 74.49) and the redemption statute (§ 75.01(4)) allow partial payments of at least $20, or less if the treasurer agrees. Each payment goes first to charges, then to accrued interest and penalty, then to principal, and interest is then figured only on the principal still unpaid. One caution from the statute itself: partial payments do not extend the redemption period. Paying something every month keeps the balance from growing as fast. It does not stop the clock.

What the two years look like on a calendar

Outagamie County's treasurer puts the same point in plain language: once taxes are delinquent for three or more years, the property becomes eligible for foreclosure.

What the county does at the end: in rem foreclosure

Outagamie County's treasurer says it sells properties acquired through in rem foreclosure under § 75.521. "In rem" means the case is against the property itself, not against you personally. No personal judgment is entered for the taxes. Brown County's treasurer also handles delinquent taxes and foreclosures. Counties can choose among the routes the statute allows, so ask the treasurer which one applies to your parcel. Here is how the in rem route runs.

1. The county files a list in circuit court

Once the certificate is old enough (two years in counties the size of Outagamie and Brown), the treasurer files a list of parcels with the clerk of circuit court. The list names each parcel, the last owners and mortgage holders of record, the tax owed, and a petition asking the court to vest title in the county. Filing the list has the same effect as recording a notice of the pending case against each parcel, and it starts the court proceeding.

2. Notice by mail and in the newspaper

The treasurer mails a copy of the petition and the parcel's entry by registered or certified mail to the last known address of each owner and mortgage holder of record. The notice is also published, and it sets a last day for redemption at least eight weeks after the first publication.

3. The last chance to redeem or object

Up to that date, anyone with an interest in the parcel can redeem it. That includes the owner, an heir and a mortgage lender. Redeeming means paying the tax liens listed, interest and penalties, the county's reasonable costs to start the case, and a share of the publication cost. An owner who wants to object instead must serve a verified answer within 30 days after the last redemption date. The statute allows only three grounds: the land was not taxable, the tax was actually paid, or the lien is barred by the statute of limitations. Tax certificates are void 11 years after the end of the year they were dated, under § 75.20. That leaves almost no room to argue. In practice this stage is about paying or selling, not fighting.

4. Judgment

If nobody redeems or answers, the treasurer files an affidavit of default and the court enters judgment. That gives the county the property in fee simple absolute. It bars every former owner, heir and lienholder, and it has the effect of a tax deed. After judgment there is no redemption left to make.

What happens to your equity: the 2024 change

In 2023 the U.S. Supreme Court held in Tyler v. Hennepin County, a Minnesota case, that a county which takes a house for unpaid tax and keeps the surplus over the tax debt has taken property without just compensation. The following year Wisconsin enacted 2023 Wisconsin Act 207, enacted March 22, 2024, which rewrote how counties sell tax-deeded land and what they owe the former owner.

The county must sell, and must pay you what is left

Under the current § 75.36, when the county acquires the property it must notify the former owner by registered or certified mail that they may be entitled to a share of a future sale. When it sells, it subtracts from the price:

• its foreclosure, record-keeping, legal, advertising and title insurance costs, including staff time (a county may use an average-cost estimate);
• maintenance, board-up, clean-up and demolition costs, and other costs needed to sell;
• any broker's commission or other selling costs;
• all the unpaid taxes, interest, penalties, special assessments and special charges.

Special assessments owed to the municipality are paid next. What remains goes to the former owner, minus any delinquent taxes they owe the county on other property, and minus the property tax the parcel would have owed for the year of the sale. Under § 75.36(2m)(b), if that payment is returned or not claimed within one year of being mailed, it becomes unclaimed funds. No interest is paid on it.

How the county sells

Under § 75.69, a county like Outagamie or Brown must advertise the sale and appraised value on its website, and either in the newspaper or on a multiple listing service, within 180 days of acquiring the property (beginning in 2026). At the first attempt it must reject every bid below the appraised value. After that, a property can sell for less with the county board's or its committee's approval. Outagamie County auctions its in rem parcels through an online surplus auction service, in "as is" condition with a minimum bid.

Why selling first almost always leaves you more

Compare the two. If you sell, the delinquent tax and interest come off the top at closing, and you keep the rest the day the deal closes. If the county sells, you also pay its foreclosure, legal, advertising, title and staff costs, any clean-up or board-up, and possibly a commission. The price comes from a public auction of an as-is house with a minimum bid, not from a sale you controlled. And the money arrives months later, if you are at the address on file to receive it. Act 207 turned a total loss into a partial one. It did not make a county sale a good way to sell a house.

The repurchase right, if you live there

Current law also requires every county, by ordinance, to give the former owner of a single-family, owner-occupied house, or their heirs or beneficiaries, a right to buy it back before the county sells it. The price is the county's costs, the year's property tax, and amounts to satisfy other liens. That is in § 75.35(3). A county may extend the right to other properties, but does not have to. It is a genuine safety net for an owner-occupant who can raise the money. It is not a plan, because by then the costs have been added on.

Your options, stage by stage

Selling a house with delinquent taxes: how closing handles it

You do not need to find the tax money before you sell. When a Wisconsin house sells, the title company searches the record, pulls a payoff from the county treasurer with a good-through date, and pays it out of the buyer's funds at closing. The mortgage payoff and any other liens are handled the same way. That covers the current year, every delinquent year, special charges, interest and penalty. Your settlement statement shows each line, and you get what is left.

The current year's tax is also settled between buyer and seller at closing, as it is on every sale. The seller pays their share of the year, and the buyer pays the bill when it arrives. Sellers also pay the Wisconsin real estate transfer fee of $3 per $1,000 of the price, as on any sale.

If an in rem case has been filed

You can still sell, but the deal has to close, with the redemption paid, before the last day for redemption in the published notice. Tell any buyer about the filing the first time you speak, and tell the title company too. A title search will find it anyway, and the earlier everyone knows, the more of the remaining time goes into closing rather than discovering the problem.

If you owe more than the house is worth

Add up the delinquent tax, the mortgage, any other liens and the cost of selling. If the total is more than the house will bring, selling may not solve the problem, and we will tell you so. Talk to the treasurer about a partial-payment arrangement, and if a mortgage is behind as well, to a HUD-approved housing counsellor. Our page on facing foreclosure covers the mortgage side, which is a separate process on a separate clock.

Situations we see in the Fox Valley and Green Bay

A parent's house nobody was watching

An older homeowner in Appleton or Green Bay moves into care or dies. The tax bill keeps going to the house, nobody pays it, and the family finds out when they clear the mail. If there is a reverse mortgage, unpaid property tax is also a default under the loan, so there are two problems at once. Our reverse mortgage guide covers that timeline. The first step is the same either way: get the payoff from the county, change the mailing address, and work out who has authority to sign.

The house you already moved out of

You moved for work or into a partner's place, kept the old house meaning to deal with it, and the tax fell behind along with everything else. Our page on selling a house you have already moved out of covers the vacant-house side: insurance, winterizing and the utility account that turns into a special charge.

The rental that stopped paying for itself

A landlord with a duplex in Kaukauna or Ashwaubenon lets the tax slide to cover repairs or a vacancy. A rental is not an owner-occupied single-family home, so the repurchase right in § 75.35(3) may not cover it. That makes selling before judgment matter more. See selling as a tired landlord.

A mortgage lender that paid the taxes for you

If you have a mortgage, the lender has a strong interest in the taxes being paid, because delinquent property tax comes ahead of its loan. Most loans let the lender pay the delinquent tax and add it to what you owe, or treat the unpaid tax as a default. A lender can also redeem in the in rem case as a party with an interest. So sometimes the tax problem has quietly become a mortgage problem. Ask the servicer for a payoff that shows any tax advances.

What to do this week

1. Get the real number. Look the parcel up on the county's online tax records or call the treasurer's office in Appleton (Outagamie) or Green Bay (Brown). Ask for the payoff, the years owed, the certificate date, and whether an in rem list has been filed.
2. Fix the mailing address so the next notice reaches you.
3. Find out the mortgage position if there is one, including any tax advances.
4. Work out whether there is equity: what the house would sell for, minus the taxes, the mortgage, other liens and the cost of selling. A free written offer gives you one side of that sum. Our page on how cash offers are calculated shows the other side.
5. Choose a path while all of them are still open: catch up, pay down, list, or sell as-is.

Where we fit

We buy houses with delinquent property taxes all over Outagamie, Brown and Winnebago counties and the rest of the state, including houses that have sat empty, have years of mail inside, or need more work than a retail buyer would take on. The process is the one on our how it works page: one of us comes and walks the house, we send a written offer showing how the taxes and any other payoffs come out at closing, and we close at a Wisconsin title company on a date that beats the county's. Our On-Time Guarantee stands behind that date.

If the honest answer is that you should pay the treasurer and keep the house, or that listing would net you more, we will tell you that instead. Our page on selling with delinquent property taxes has a shorter overview, and the Wisconsin selling FAQ answers the smaller questions. You can also see the other Wisconsin counties we buy in.

Frequently asked questions