Kentucky's annual tax lien season is live. As of July 2, 2026, DeedFlex is tracking 31,414 certificates of delinquency scheduled for sale across 66 Kentucky counties — real, firm sale dates posted by county clerks, with the heaviest weeks landing in July and August (23,741 certificates between them).
This is the single largest wave of live tax-sale inventory on the DeedFlex board right now, and it runs on a schedule: each county clerk publishes one sale date, sells its delinquent certificates that day, and is done until next year. Miss the date, miss the county.
The 2026 calendar at a glance
- July 2026 — 7,229 certificates scheduled
- August 2026 — 16,512 certificates scheduled
- September 2026 — 6,620 certificates scheduled
- October 2026 — 1,053 certificates scheduled
July and August carry the bulk, but the season does not stop at Labor Day — 7,673 more certificates already have September and October dates posted.
Confirmed sale dates in the next few weeks
These are actual county clerk sale dates on the books today, with the number of live certificates on each list:
- July 15 — Letcher (1,490), Kenton (1,338), Clark (456), Nicholas (67)
- July 17 — Lewis (453)
- July 20 — Breckinridge (430)
- July 21 — Trimble (159), Allen (155)
- July 22 — Henry (161), Spencer (107)
- July 23 — Mason (189)
- July 24 — Carroll (148)
- July 28 — Greenup (940)
- July 29 — Owen (642)
The biggest county boards
- Harlan County — 2,173 certificates, first sale August 27
- Perry County — 2,048 certificates, first sale September 8
- Pulaski County — 1,948 certificates, first sale August 6
- Whitley County — 1,780 certificates, first sale September 17
- Letcher County — 1,490 certificates, first sale July 15
- McCracken County — 1,446 certificates, first sale August 21
- Kenton County — 1,338 certificates, first sale July 15
- Greenup County — 940 certificates, first sale July 28
How a Kentucky lien sale actually works
Kentucky is a lien state. You are not bidding on the house — you are buying the certificate of delinquency, i.e. the unpaid tax bill itself. Pay the delinquent amount and the certificate is yours; the owner then owes you the debt plus statutory interest (currently 12% a year) until they redeem. If they never redeem, foreclosure is your remedy — a separate legal process with its own costs.
Entry prices are small compared to deed auctions: the average face value on the live Kentucky lists is about $604 per certificate, and most sales are winner-take-the-paper at face value rather than bid-up auctions.
Two things to get right before sale day: registration and selection. Third-party purchasers must register with the Kentucky Department of Revenue and with the county clerk running the sale — deadlines are typically days to weeks before the sale, and each clerk sets deposit and fee rules. Then comes the real work: most certificates on a 1,000-line county list are not worth buying. Tiny balances, landlocked slivers, condemned structures and stacked prior-year liens all hide in the raw file.
Work the season from one board
All 31,414 live Kentucky certificates are on the board now, scored and filterable by county, sale date and value. Browse the Kentucky board to see what is coming up, and start a 5-day DeedFlex Pro trial to work the full lists — deal sheets, owner research and CSV export included. The July dates are the nearest deadlines on the calendar; the season only runs once a year.