{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-134.128","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 134.128","heading":"Process for sale of certificate of delinquency by clerks to persons not listed","body":"in KRS 134.127(1)(a).\n(1) The sale of certificates of delinquency by county clerks to persons other than those\nlisted in KRS 134.127(1)(a) shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of\nthis section.\n(2) The department shall promulgate administrative regulations to establish a process\nfor the purchase and sale of certificates of delinquency to third parties. The process\ndeveloped by the department shall:\n(a) 1. Establish an annual statewide schedule for the sale of certificates of\ndelinquency in each county. The schedule shall be published on the\ndepartment's website at least ten (10) days prior to the first sale. The sale\nin each county shall be administered by the county clerk.\n2. The sale in each county shall be scheduled at least ninety (90) days but\nnot more than one hundred thirty -five (135) days after the unpaid tax\nclaims are filed by the sheriff with the county clerk, unless the\nprovisions of subpa ragraph 3. of this paragraph apply. The department\nmay stagger the schedule so that sales are conducted on different dates\nand times in different counties.\n3. A county clerk who:\na. Due to the assessment schedule established by the department,\nanticipates receiving certificates of delinquency relating to\nunmined coal, oil, or gas reserves, or any other mineral or energy\nresources assessed separately from the surface real property\npursuant to KRS 132.820 too late to be included in the annual sale\nscheduled during the timeframes established by subparagraph 2. of\nthis paragraph; and\nb. Wants to include those certificates in the annual sale for the year in\nwhich the certificates of delinquency are created;\nmay submit a request to the department to hold the annual sale for that\ncounty up to one hundred ninety -five (195) days after the bulk of the\nunpaid tax claims are filed by the sheriff with the county clerk in\naccordance with KRS 134.122;\n(b) Except as provided in KRS 134.127(1)(a), prohibit the payment of any newly\nfiled certificates of delinquency by a third party prior to the scheduled annual\nsale of certificates of delinquency for that year for that county;\n(c) Prohibit the payment of any certificates of delinquency:\n1. Involved in bankruptcy litigation in which the county attorney or\ndepartment has filed a claim;\n2. Involved in other litigation initiated by the county attorney or the\ndepartment, or in which the county attorney or department responds or\nfiles a claim;\n3. Under a payment plan that has been agreed to by the taxpayer and the\ncounty attorney or the department, and on which the payment agreement\nis in good standing; or\n4. Related to property included in a tax delinquency diversion program\nestablished under KRS 99.727 and on the protected list required under\nKRS 134.504(10);\n(d) Establish a process to be used by county clerks in determining the order in\nwhich interested third -party purchasers may select and pay available\ncertificates of delinquency a t the annual sale. The process shall, at a\nminimum:\n1. Be uniform in all counties to the extent practicable;\n2. Establish a process, if there is more than one (1) purchaser registered to\npurchase certificates of delinquency at the sale, that allows all int erested\npurchasers an opportunity to purchase certificates of delinquency on an\nequitable basis. The sale shall not be structured in such a manner to\nallow one (1) third party to purchase all of the certificates of\ndelinquency if there are other properly r egistered third parties that are\nalso interested in purchasing certificates of delinquency;\n3. Establish fairness for all participants by prohibiting the participation of\nmultiple related entities, or multiple individuals representing related\ninterests as separate entities in the selection process at an annual sale.\nThe department shall define \"related entities\" and \"related interests\" as\npart of the regulatory process; and\n4. Establish a process to be used by county clerks in identifying, verifying,\nand selling priority certificates of delinquency. The process shall:\na. Require third -party purchasers to submit a list of priority\ncertificates of delinquency to the county clerk up to ten (10) days\nbefore the annual sale so that the clerk may identify and allo cate\npriority certificates of delinquency to third -party purchasers prior\nto the annual sale;\nb. Require that all priority certificates of delinquency allocated to a\nthird-party purchaser prior to the annual sale be removed from the\nannual sale;\nc. Allow a ny third -party purchaser holding a certificate of\ndelinquency on a parcel of property from a prior year to submit a\npriority list and purchase any priority certificates of delinquency to\nwhich the third -party purchaser is entitled, notwithstanding that\nthe third-party purchaser may be related to another third -party\npurchaser participating in the sale; and\nd. Give priority to the third -party purchaser holding a certificate of\ndelinquency from the most recent tax year if more than one (1)\nthird party holds an  outstanding certificate of delinquency on a\nparcel of property;\n(e) Require all potential participants in the sale to register at least one (1) week in\nadvance with the county clerk;\n(f) Require a review of the list of registered participants, either by t he county\nclerk or the department, prior to the sale to ensure that:\n1. All registered participants seeking to pay multiple certificates of\ndelinquency are properly registered with the department as required by\nKRS 134.129; and\n2. No registered participant s or related entities or related interests\nprohibited from separate participation in the annual sale pursuant to the\nprovisions of paragraph (d)3. of this subsection and the administrative\nregulations promulgated thereunder have separately registered to\nparticipate in the annual sale;\n(g) Establish advance deposit requirements for registered participants based upon\nthe maximum amount the registered participant may pay for desired\ncertificates of delinquency;\n(h) Establish a registration fee to be paid to th e clerk. The registration fee paid to\neach county shall not exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250) annually and\nmay be tiered;\n(i) Establish payment requirements, which may include nullification of the\npayment and forfeiture of the advance deposit if a th ird-party purchaser fails\nto produce full payment within the specified time; and\n(j) Establish payment methods.\n(3) Any person who, in any calendar year:\n(a) Pays or plans to pay more than five (5) certificates of delinquency statewide;\n(b) Pays or plans to pay more than three (3) certificates of delinquency in any\ncounty; or\n(c) Invests or plans to invest more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the\npayment of certificates of delinquency on a statewide basis in any calendar\nyear;\nshall register with the department annually as provided in KRS 134.129.\n(4) The department shall be responsible for monitoring the sale of certificates of\ndelinquency.\n(5) (a) At least thirty (30) but not more than forty-five (45) days before the scheduled\nsale date, the county clerk shall cause a notice to be published in accordance\nwith the provisions of KRS Chapter 424. The notice shall list by property\nowner, property address, and if available, parcel number or lot number, all\ncertificates of delinquency avail able for sale. The notice shall provide the\ndate, time, and location of the sale. In addition, the notice shall list, in a\nseparate section, all personal property certificates of delinquency held by the\ncounty clerk.\n(b) As compensation for advertising the  sale, the county clerk shall receive five\ndollars ($5) for each certificate of delinquency and personal property\ncertificate of delinquency advertised. The fee shall be added to the amount of\nthe certificate of delinquency or personal property certificate  of delinquency\nand shall be paid by the person paying the certificate of delinquency or\npersonal property certificate of delinquency.\n(c) The cost of placing the advertisement shall be paid by the county. The cost\nshall be added to the amount of the certi ficate of delinquency or personal\nproperty certificate of delinquency and shall be paid by the person paying the\ncertificate of delinquency or personal property certificate of delinquency. The\ndepartment shall establish a formula that may be used by counti es in\nallocating the advertising costs among the delinquent tax claims. The formula\nshall take into account that a percentage of delinquent tax claims remains\nunpaid.\n(6) Any certificate of delinquency not paid at the annual sale, not subject to a payment\nplan with the department or county attorney, and not known to be in litigation may\nbe paid to the county clerk at any time by any person after the sale, provided that:\n(a) Any person required by KRS 134.129 to register with the department shall\nhold a current certificate of registration at the time of purchase;\n(b) Any person not previously registered with the county clerk during the\ncalendar year shall register with the county clerk and shall pay the registration\nfee established by administrative regulatio n pursuant to subsection (2)(h) of\nthis section; and\n(c) Any person previously registered with the county clerk during the calendar\nyear who has not paid the maximum registration fee for that year shall pay the\nappropriate amount for each certificate of de linquency paid, as established by\nadministrative regulation pursuant to subsection (2)(h) of this section, until\nthe maximum registration has been paid.\n(7) Any certificate of delinquency received by the county clerk too late to be included\nin the annual sale in any year shall be retained by the clerk until the next scheduled\nannual sale. During that time period, the clerk may accept payment on the\ncertificate of delinquency only from those individuals and entities listed in KRS\n134.127(1)(a).","path":["KRS Chapter 134"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56172","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:25Z","sha256":"9e67331b648891f13433fb6deb18dfa36811ac693643e9defb993ce66c7318ba","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-134.127","next":"us-ky/krs-134.129"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}