Wis. Stat. § 75.35 — WI Code / Chapter 75 / Section 75.35
Sale of tax-deeded lands; purchase of adjacent lands.
Status: in_force

(1) Definition. In this section “tax-deeded lands” means lands which have been acquired by a county through enforcement of the collection of delinquent taxes by tax deed, foreclosure of tax certificate, deed in lieu of tax deed, action in rem under s. 75.521 or other means.

(2) County required to arrange for the sale of tax-deeded lands.

(ag) If a property or the county is subject to s. 66.1006 , the county shall publish the notice under s. 75.69 (1) no later than 240 days after the date of approval from the department of natural resources or, beginning in 2026, no later than 180 days after the date of such approval.

(am) Subject to this section and ss. 75.36 and 75.69 , any county shall have the power to sell and convey its tax-deeded lands in such manner and upon such terms as the county board may by ordinance or resolution determine.

(c) Any conveyance by land contract or deed or satisfaction of mortgage shall be executed by the county clerk under the clerk’s hand and the seal of the county.

(d) The county board may delegate its power to manage and sell tax-deeded lands to a committee constituted of such personnel and in such manner and compensated at such rate as the county board may by ordinance determine, provided that the compensation and mileage of county board members serving on such committee shall be limited and restricted as provided in s. 59.13 (2) , or the county board may delegate the power of acquisition, management and sale of tax-deeded lands or any part of such power to such officer and departments of the county as the county board may by ordinance determine. Such ordinance shall prescribe the policy to be followed in the acquisition, management and sale of tax-deeded land and shall prescribe generally the powers and duties of such committee, officers, departments, employees and agents. The county board is authorized to sell and convey its tax-deeded lands by open or closed bid or to engage licensed real estate brokers and salespersons to assist in selling such lands and pay a commission for such service and to advertise such sale in such manner as it deems proper. The county board may appropriate such sums of money as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.

(e)

1. Any county acting either by its board or by delegated authority as provided in this section may sell and convey tax-deeded lands to the former owner or owners thereof before or after publication of the notice required par. (ag) and without complying with s. 75.69 .

2. A conveyance under subd. 1. shall not operate to revive any tax certificate lien or any other lien whatsoever which was cut off and rendered void by the tax deed, foreclosure of tax certificate, deed in lieu of tax deed, action in rem under s. 75.521 or other means by which the county acquired title to such land, nor shall it revive the lien of any tax certificate or tax dated subsequently to the date on which the county acquired its title. The enactment into statute law of the provisions of this paragraph shall not be deemed an expression of legislative intent that the prior common law of this state was otherwise than as herein provided.

(f) If special assessments, as defined in s. 75.36 (1) , levied on the tax-deeded land have not been settled in full under s. 74.29 or otherwise paid to the taxing jurisdiction that levied the special assessments, the taxing jurisdiction may purchase the tax-deeded land by notifying the county of its intent to do so at any time within one year after the period of redemption has expired but prior to the date upon which the tax-deeded land is sold to another person by the county. The amount for which the tax-deeded land may be purchased shall be the sum of the following:

1. All expenses incurred by the county to obtain marketable title to the property, except that the time of county employees and officers may not be included in those expenses. The county may establish a reasonable estimate of the average cost to obtain marketable title to property which it may use instead of determining the actual costs for any parcel sold by the county.

2. All amounts of unpaid general property taxes, special assessments, special charges and special taxes levied against the property sold, including interest and penalties imposed under s. 74.47 previously paid to taxing jurisdictions by the county.

3. Any withdrawal tax and any withdrawal fee due under s. 77.84 (3) (b) .

4. Any unpaid special assessments or special charges that were not levied by the taxing jurisdiction purchasing the tax-deeded land. The county shall pay any amounts received under this subdivision to the taxing jurisdiction which levied the special assessment or special charge.

(3) Right of former owner to repurchase. The county board shall, for single-family, owner-occupied properties, and may, at its option, for all other properties, by ordinance provide that prior to the sale of tax-deeded lands, the former owner who lost his or her title through delinquent tax collection enforcement procedure, or his or her beneficiaries, as defined in s. 851.03 , or heirs, as defined in s. 851.09 , shall have the right to purchase such lands by paying the county for all costs and expenses incurred as provided under s. 75.36 (3) (a) , plus the amount of property taxes that would have been owed on the property for the year during which the purchase occurs if the county had not acquired the property and plus amounts to satisfy any other liens at the time of the foreclosure including the county’s costs associated with the repurchase. Any sale under such ordinance is exempt from any or all provisions of s. 75.69 .

(4) Purchase of adjacent lands. A county may purchase lands adjacent to tax-deeded lands in cases where the county board determines that such purchase will improve the salability of such tax-deeded lands or will create access to streets or highways for lands lacking such access.

(7) Liability precluded. Absent fraud, no county is liable for acts or omissions associated with the sale of property under this section, including the process by which the property is sold.

History: 1987 a. 27 , 378 ; 1989 a. 104 ; 1993 a. 184 ; 1995 a. 201 ; 2003 a. 228 ; 2023 a. 207 .