26 U.S.C. § 6338
Section 6338 · Certificate of sale; deed of real property
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 30 court decisions — leading case United States v. Pittman (1971)
Most recently applied in In re Richter (January 2015)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
In the case of property sold as provided in section 6335, the Secretary shall give to the purchaser a certificate of sale upon payment in full of the purchase price. In the case of real property, such certificate shall set forth the real property purchased, for whose taxes the same was sold, the name of the purchaser, and the price paid therefor.
In the case of any real property sold as provided in section 6335 and not redeemed in the manner and within the time provided in section 6337, the Secretary shall execute (in accordance with the laws of the State in which such real property is situated pertaining to sales of real property under execution) to the purchaser of such real property at such sale, upon his surrender of the certificate of sale, a deed of the real property so purchased by him, reciting the facts set forth in the certificate.
If real property is declared purchased by the United States at a sale pursuant to section 6335, the Secretary shall at the proper time execute a deed therefor; and without delay cause such deed to be duly recorded in the proper registry of deeds.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1976—Pub. L. 94–455 struck out “or his delegate” after “Secretary” wherever appearing.
1966—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 89–719 struck out provisions requiring the endorsement of approval as to the form of the deed by the United States Attorney for the district in which the property is situated.
1958—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 85–866 struck out “district” before “attorney”.
Effective Date of 1966 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 89–719 applicable after Nov. 2, 1966, regardless of when title or lien of United States arose or when lien or interest of another person was acquired, with certain exceptions, see section 114(a)–(c) of Pub. L. 89–719, set out as a note under section 6323 of this title.
Effective Date of 1958 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 85–866 effective Aug. 17, 1954, see section 1(c)(2) of Pub. L. 85–866, set out as a note under section 165 of this title.