Beattyville · Buying & Closing
If you want to buy a house in Kentucky at a master commissioner sale, the number that decides your risk is not your bid. It is two-thirds of the court-ordered appraisal — because under that line the former owner keeps a six-month right to buy it back out from under you.
What is a master commissioner sale?
A court-ordered public sale of real property, run by the court’s commissioner, after a judgment — most often a foreclosure or a partition of inherited land.
Kentucky draws a line most summaries miss. A sale under an execution is governed by one statute; a sale “under an order or judgment of a court, other than an execution” — the judicial sale a master commissioner conducts — is governed by another. Kentucky Revised Statutes 426.200 is the execution track: land sold to the highest bidder at the courthouse door, with written notice posted at the courthouse door and three other places in the vicinity of the land for fifteen days before the sale. The judicial track starts at Kentucky Revised Statutes 426.520. Get the track wrong and every deadline you have written down is the wrong deadline.
Who sets the appraised value, and how?
Two local appraisers, sworn, before the sale — and the statute’s own words for them are “two (2) disinterested, intelligent housekeepers of the county.”
KRS 426.520 requires that before any real property is sold under a court order or judgment other than an execution, the commissioner have it appraised under oath by two disinterested, intelligent housekeepers of the county, who may be sworn by the officer. If the two disagree, the officer acts as umpire. The appraisal must be in writing, signed by the people who made it, returned to the court that ordered the sale, filed among the papers of the cause before the sale, and entered on the records of the court. That statute carries an effective date of July 12, 2012.
Two practical consequences. First, this is not a lender’s appraisal and not a PVA assessment — it is its own document, created for this sale. Second, because it must be filed before the sale and entered on the court’s records, you can read it before you bid. Anyone bidding at a commissioner sale without having read the appraisal in the case file is bidding blind on the one number that controls redemption.
Bid above two-thirds of the appraisal and you bought a house. Bid below it and, for six months, you bought an option someone else holds.
What is the right of redemption in Kentucky?
If the property does not bring two-thirds of its appraised value, the defendant may redeem it within six months of the sale by repaying the purchase money with ten percent annual interest plus certain post-sale costs.
Kentucky Revised Statutes 426.530 sets it out. Where real property sold under a judgment or order other than an execution does not bring two-thirds of its appraised value, “the defendant and his or her representatives may redeem it within six (6) months from the day of sale, by paying the original purchase money and ten percent (10%) per annum interest thereon,” together with reasonable costs the purchaser incurred after the sale for maintenance or repair — the statute names utility expenses, insurance, association fees, taxes, and the cost of bringing the property up to local nuisance code minimums under KRS 65.8801 to 65.8839.
The redemption money goes to the clerk of the court that rendered the judgment, and on payment the master commissioner conveys the property to the defendant. Meanwhile the statute does not leave the purchaser empty-handed: where the right of redemption exists, “the purchaser shall receive an immediate writ of possession and a deed containing a lien in favor of the defendant, reflecting the defendant’s right to redeem during the statutory period.” That text has been in force since July 15, 2016. So you take possession, and your deed carries a visible lien that expires on its own in six months if nobody redeems.
| If your winning bid is… | Then… |
|---|---|
| Two-thirds of the appraisal or more | No statutory right of redemption arises under KRS 426.530 |
| Less than two-thirds of the appraisal | Six-month redemption right; repayment is purchase money plus 10% per annum plus named post-sale costs |
| Any amount | Deed and writ of possession per KRS 426.530(3); the deed shows the lien while the right exists |
How is the sale advertised?
By newspaper publication, in addition to posted notice, stating the time, place and terms of sale and describing the property.
Kentucky Revised Statutes 426.560 requires that, in addition to the notices already required to be posted, all public sales of property sold under execution, judgment or decree be advertised by publication under KRS Chapter 424, unless the parties agree otherwise. The advertisement must state the time, place and terms of sale and describe the property. The newspaper notice is not required where the appraised value is less than one hundred dollars. The terms of sale matter as much as the date — that is where the deposit percentage and the bond for the balance appear, and they are set case by case.
How a commissioner sale differs from the house you tour on a Saturday
No contingencies, no negotiated repairs, and the condition risk sits entirely with the bidder.
On a conventional purchase you get an inspection period and a repair conversation; see how home inspections work in Kentucky and how earnest money is handled. A commissioner sale gives you the case file, the appraisal, whatever you can see from the road, and the terms read aloud at the sale. Delinquent taxes and the tax bill cycle do not pause for a court sale either — Kentucky property taxes explains the calendar that keeps running. If you want to look at both paths side by side before you commit to one, start on the buying page and we will work out which one fits the house you actually want.
I am your agent, not your lawyer. A commissioner sale is a court proceeding and the case file is the authority; what I do is read the file with you, read the appraisal, and tell you what the two-thirds line means for the bid you were about to make.
Can I inspect the house before a master commissioner sale?
There is no statutory inspection right. Access depends on who is in possession and on the terms set in the case, which is why the court-ordered appraisal and the case file carry so much weight at a judicial sale.
How long is the Kentucky right of redemption?
Six months from the day of sale, and only where the property did not bring two-thirds of its appraised value, under KRS 426.530(1). Redemption is made by paying the original purchase money, ten percent per annum interest, and the post-sale costs the statute lists.
Who appraises the property for a judicial sale?
Two disinterested, intelligent housekeepers of the county, sworn, with the officer acting as umpire if they disagree — the language of KRS 426.520(1). The written appraisal is filed in the case before the sale.
Last updated November 8, 2026.
By Marcos Gil, REALTOR® — Keller Williams Commonwealth · KY Real Estate License No. 296259 · Call or text (859) 310-1209.
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