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Illinois tax lien & tax deed sales

Illinois is a tax-lien state. Each year the county collector applies to the circuit court for a judgment and order of sale, then holds an annual tax sale where investors buy the delinquent tax lien and receive a tax certificate. Bidders compete by offering the lowest penalty percentage, and no bid above 9 percent is accepted. That penalty is charged per six-month redemption period rather than as an annual interest rate, so the effective annual cost to the owner can reach 18 percent. If the owner does not redeem within the statutory period, the certificate holder petitions the circuit court, and under Public Act 104-0553 the court orders a judicial tax deed auction at which the property itself is sold and any surplus above the tax debt goes back to the former owner. The process is governed by Articles 21 and 22 of the Property Tax Code, 35 ILCS 200.

Rules verified Jul 29, 2026 against Illinois Statutes.

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Tax lien certificates

You pay the overdue taxes and receive a certificate. The return is a penalty charged for each redemption period rather than interest that accrues by the day, and bidders compete by accepting a lower penalty. Compare bidding methods to see how that changes what you earn.

Bidding method: Bid down penalty
Maximum rate: 9% per redemption period maximum, bid down at auction
Minimum return: No statutory minimum return; what you earn is set by the penalty rate at the sale
Sale timing: No single statewide month. In counties with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants the collector must apply for judgment and order of sale within 90 days after the second installment due date, and the sale begins on a date within 5 business days after the application date. In Cook County the application is made within 365 days of the second installment due date, and recent Cook sales have been moved by separate statutory deadlines. Check the county collector page for the current cycle.
Certificate life: Expires 4 years after issuance

Read the 9 percent figure as a penalty per redemption period, not as an annual interest rate. Section 21-215 caps the bid at 9 percent of the tax or special assessment and sets no floor, so bidding runs down to 0 percent and a 0 percent certificate returns only what was paid. Section 21-355 then charges that penalty once for the first six months after the sale and adds it again for each further six-month step, which is why a 9 percent bid costs the owner about 18 percent over a full year. Investors accept very low penalties on parcels they intend to take to a tax deed. Certificate life: a certificate is void unless the deed is taken out in the time allowed and recorded within one year after the redemption period expires, so the outside life is roughly four years from the sale on the standard track.

Tax deed sales

A tax deed sale auctions the property itself to the highest bidder. Win, and you can take ownership, but the deed is not clean, insurable title on its own.

Runs after: The redemption period expires without redemption and the circuit court finds the certificate holder complied with the notice and payment requirements. The court then enters an order authorizing a judicial tax deed auction, and the property must be offered at public auction within 120 days of that order. This auction route came in with Public Act 104-0553 and applies to tax certificates issued on or after July 10, 2026, so the first judicial tax deed auctions are not expected before 2027. Certificates issued earlier still run under the older process, where the court directs the county clerk to issue the deed to the petitioner without an auction.
Auction method: judicial public auction (highest bidder)
Run by: Sheriff or a court-appointed private selling officer, under an order of the circuit court. A county acting as trustee runs its own tax deed auctions.
Deposit: Illinois does not fix a statutory deposit percentage. Deposit and payment terms are set in the court's order authorizing the auction and by the selling officer, so read the notice of tax deed auction for each sale. A purchaser who fails to complete the sale forfeits any deposit already made to the county surplus equity fund, and the court orders a new auction of the property.
Balance due: Set by the court's order and the published terms of the auction rather than by statute. The selling officer issues a receipt showing the amount bid, the amount paid, and the amount still owed, and issues a certificate of judicial tax deed auction only on payment in full. The sale is then subject to confirmation by the court before the county clerk issues the deed.
Surplus proceeds: Any amount by which the winning bid exceeds the minimum bid is surplus. Within 30 days after the court confirms the sale the selling officer deposits the surplus with the county treasurer, who notifies everyone who received the Section 22-10 take notice that the owner at the time of the sale may file a claim for it. A county running its own tax deed auction deposits surplus with the treasurer within 30 days of the sale and notifies interested parties within 60 days. Separately, a previous owner who lost equity through a tax deed can claim an award from the county surplus equity fund, capped at the value of the property when the deed issued less mortgages, liens, and the taxes the purchaser paid.

A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.

Redemption, delinquency, and over-the-counter at a glance

Redemption

Property sold at an Illinois tax sale may be redeemed at any time before the redemption period expires. Public Act 104-0553 set the standard period at 3 years from the date of sale for tax certificates issued on or after July 10, 2026. Certificates issued between January 1, 2024 and July 9, 2026 run on the earlier 2.5 year (30 month) track, and on that track the certificate holder could file a written notice with the county clerk extending redemption to a date no later than 3 years from the sale. A short 1 year period applies when the parcel was, on the date of sale, vacant non-farm property, commercial or industrial property, or improved with a structure holding 7 or more residential units. Certificates the county holds or assigns as trustee run on their own schedule under Section 21-385, and an assignee must file notice within 60 days of assignment setting a redemption deadline no later than 3 years from the assignment.

Pays: Paid to the county clerk. The total is the certificate amount (tax principal, special assessments, interest, penalties, costs, and sale fees), plus the accrued penalty computed in six-month steps at the penalty bid, plus subsequent taxes the certificate holder paid with a 12 percent penalty for each year or portion of a year, plus clerk, circuit clerk, sheriff, publication, title search, and municipal reimbursement fees allowed by Section 21-355.

Delinquency

Illinois property taxes are billed in two installments. The first installment is delinquent on the later of June 1 or the day after the due date printed on the bill, and the second installment is delinquent on the later of September 1 or the day after its printed due date. Unpaid taxes then carry interest of 1.5 percent per month in counties with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants. In Cook County the rate is 1.5 percent per month for tax years before 2023 and 0.75 percent per month for tax year 2023 and after. Property taxes are a prior and first lien on the parcel, superior to all other liens and encumbrances, from January 1 of the levy year until the taxes are paid or the property is sold, which is what makes an Illinois certificate senior collateral.

Over-the-counter

Illinois has no statewide over-the-counter counter. Every tax lien or certificate offered at the annual sale and not sold for want of bidders is forfeited to the county as trustee for the taxing districts. The county may then sell any property it acquired, or assign any tax certificate to any party, including taxing districts, municipalities, land banks, and non-profit affordable-housing developers. Many counties run that assignment program through a delinquent tax agent, so terms, pricing, and whether private investors are served at all are county decisions rather than statutory rights. An assignee must file notice with the county clerk within 60 days setting a redemption deadline no later than 3 years from the assignment. The older route that let anyone apply to the county clerk to buy forfeited taxes no longer applies to forfeitures occurring on or after January 1, 2024.

Counties may also offer county-held certificates at a scavenger sale, advertised alongside the annual sale when the county board orders one by resolution. Scavenger bidding is for cash to the highest bidder with a minimum bid of $250, or half the tax when the total liability is under $500, and the winning bidder takes an assignment of the county's certificate. Separately, a county that takes a tax deed as trustee must offer the parcel at a public tax deed auction within 120 days of recording the deed.

Governing statutes

35 ILCS 200, Articles 21 and 22 35 ILCS 200/21-15 35 ILCS 200/21-75 35 ILCS 200/21-90 35 ILCS 200/21-215 35 ILCS 200/21-250 35 ILCS 200/21-260 35 ILCS 200/21-350 35 ILCS 200/21-355 35 ILCS 200/21-385 35 ILCS 200/22-30 35 ILCS 200/22-40 35 ILCS 200/22-42 35 ILCS 200/22-85

All 102 Illinois counties

Sales are organized by county. Search your city or county, or filter by whether the tax deed sale runs online or in person. Each row shows the certificate-sale platform for quick comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Does Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?: Illinois sells tax liens. The county collector holds an annual tax sale under a court judgment and order of sale, and the winning bidder receives a tax certificate rather than the property. The deed comes later, through a circuit court petition, and under Public Act 104-0553 through a judicial tax deed auction of the property itself.
What rate do Illinois tax certificates pay?: Bidders compete on penalty percentage and no bid above 9 percent is accepted. The penalty is charged per redemption period, not per year: the certificate earns the penalty bid once if redemption happens in the first 6 months, twice in months 6 to 12, three times in months 12 to 18, and so on through month 36. A 9 percent bid costs the owner about 18 percent across a full year. There is no statutory minimum, so a bid can run to 0 percent.
How long is the redemption period in Illinois?: Three years from the date of sale for tax certificates issued on or after July 10, 2026, and one year when the parcel was vacant non-farm, commercial, or industrial property, or held 7 or more residential units, on the date of sale. Certificates issued from January 1, 2024 through July 9, 2026 run on the earlier 2.5 year track, which the certificate holder could extend by notice to the county clerk to no later than 3 years from the sale.

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