Chapter 13: Limitation of Actions · Last amended June 2, 2025 · Last verified August 3, 2026
In one sentenceSection 764 requires a sheriff selling real estate on execution to mail notice to the debtor and known interest holders at least ten days ahead, publish notice for two successive weeks, wait at least thirty days after first publication before the sale, and permits selling through an online auction marketplace.
A.Lands and tenements taken on execution shall not be sold unless the party causing the execution to be issued:
1.Causes a written notice of sale executed by the sheriff containing the legal description of the property to be sold and stating the date, time, and place where the property will be sold and, if the sale is to utilize an online sale marketplace, stating the sale will be conducted through an online auction marketplace, the Internet address where bids may be entered, the date of the sale, and the time when bidding is scheduled to be open, to be mailed, by first-class mail, postage prepaid, to the judgment debtor, any holder of interest of record in the property to be sold whose interest is sought to be extinguished, and all other persons of whom the party causing the execution to be issued has notice who claim a lien or any interest in the property whose interest is sought to be extinguished, at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the sale, if the names and addresses of such persons are known;
2.Causes public notice of the date, time and place of sale to be given by publication for two (2) successive weeks in a newspaper published in the county in which the property to be sold is situated, or in case no newspaper is published in such county, then in a newspaper of general circulation therein and by putting up an advertisement upon the courthouse door and in five other public places in such county, two of which shall be in the township where such lands and tenements lie; provided, that in counties now having a population of one hundred ten thousand (110,000) or more according to the last Federal Decennial Census, the advertisement shall be published in some newspaper published in the city or township where such lands and tenements lie, or if there is no newspaper in such city or township, then in some newspaper published in the county. Notice shall be executed by the sheriff and state the name of any person having an interest in the property to be sold whose interest is sought to be extinguished and whose actual address is unknown, and shall designate the person or persons whose unknown successors are being notified; and
3.Files in the case an affidavit of proof of mailing and of publication or posting.
B.A written notice of sale executed prior to November 1, 1987, by the party causing the execution to be issued but otherwise conforming to the provisions of this section shall, for all purposes, be deemed valid.
C.Such sale shall not be held less than thirty (30) days after the date of first publication of the notice required in paragraph 2 of subsection A of this section. If a purchaser other than the party causing the execution to be issued, when required by the sheriff, fails to post cash or certified funds equal to ten percent (10%) of the amount bid for the property within twenty-four (24) hours of the sale, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, or otherwise fails to complete the sale, the sheriff may accept the next highest bid. Except as otherwise provided for in subsection B of this section, sales for which the provisions of subsection A of this section have not been complied with shall be set aside on motion by the court to which the execution is returnable.
D.The sheriff may determine whether the sale provided for in this section shall utilize an online auction marketplace. All sales of lands and tenements conducted by a sheriff utilizing an online auction marketplace shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Section 4 of this act.
Amendment History
Amended by Laws 2025, c. 413,s. 2, eff. 6/2/2025.
Amended by Laws 1986, HB 1838, c. 227, § 3, eff. 11/1/1986; Amended by Laws 1987, HB 1261, c. 189, § 2,
eff. 11/1/1987.
Plain-English Summary
Section 764 sets the notice a sheriff must give before selling real estate on execution. The party who had the execution issued must mail written notice, with the property's legal description and the sale's date, time, and place, to the judgment debtor and anyone known to hold an interest that the sale would extinguish, at least ten days before the sale.
Public notice has to run alongside that: publication for two successive weeks in a newspaper in the county, or an adjoining county's paper if none is published locally, plus posting at the courthouse door and five other public places, two of them in the township where the land lies. Counties with 110,000 or more people, by the last federal census, need the newspaper notice published in the specific city or township where the land sits. The sale itself can't happen less than thirty days after that first publication, and the party must file an affidavit proving the mailing and publication or posting.
If a winning bidder other than the execution creditor doesn't post ten percent of the bid in cash or certified funds within twenty-four hours, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, the sheriff can move to the next-highest bid. Sales that skip these notice steps get set aside on motion, except for notices the execution party issued before November 1, 1987, which subsection B deems valid regardless. Subsection D lets the sheriff run the sale through an online auction marketplace.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much notice must be given before an Oklahoma sheriff sells real estate on execution?
Mailed notice at least ten days before the sale to the debtor and known interest holders, plus published notice for two successive weeks, and the sale itself can't happen less than thirty days after the first publication.
What happens if the winning bidder doesn't post the required deposit?
If a bidder other than the execution creditor fails to post ten percent of the bid in cash or certified funds within twenty-four hours, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, the sheriff may accept the next-highest bid.
What happens if the sheriff doesn't follow these notice requirements?
The sale gets set aside on motion to the court that the execution is returnable to, unless it falls under the pre-November 1987 grandfather clause in subsection B.
Does the notice requirement change in Oklahoma's larger counties?
Yes. In counties with 110,000 or more people under the last federal census, the newspaper notice must run in a paper published in the specific city or township where the land lies.
Can an Oklahoma sheriff sell real estate through an online auction?
Yes, subsection D allows it, with the mechanics governed by Section 776.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes, enacted by the Oklahoma Legislature.
Last verified August 3, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:notice requirements sheriff sale real estate oklahomahow long before sheriff sale of house oklahoma12 O.S. § 764oklahoma execution sale real property publication