Boone County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Boone County, seat of Belvidere: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
Verified Jul 30, 2026 against official county and state sources.
New here? Read how Illinois tax sales work, the difference between a lien and a deed, and redemption periods.
How Boone County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Boone County Treasurer's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Once a year in late October. The Treasurer's tax sale page states "The next Boone County tax sale is scheduled for October 29, 2026" and records that "The 2025 Boone County Annual Tax Sale was held on October 30, 2025." The office also answers "The tax sale only occurs once per year." The Delinquent Tax Collection Process page ties the date to the second installment due date: the newspaper list runs about six weeks after the deadline and the sale is held about eight weeks after the deadline.
Registration and deposit
State law 35 ILCS 200/21-220 requires all tax buyers to register. A printable buyer registration form is posted on the Treasurer's tax sale page, and the county states that a $250 registration fee and a Single Bidder Affidavit must accompany the registration. Registrations must be received in the Boone County Treasurer's Office by the deadline, two weeks (10 business days) before the sale. The fee is applied to purchases at the sale and is refunded if a buyer attends and attempts to bid but buys nothing; it is not refunded to a registrant who does not attend and attempt to bid. Accepted payment at the sale is cash, personal or business check, cashier's check, or money order, and taxes must be paid immediately after the close of the sale.
Boone County runs a traditional in person tax lien sale, not an online auction. The county states: "The sale is conducted in the traditional open outcry format. State law requires that you or your registered representative must be physically present at the sale to bid. The Illinois Property Tax Code does not contain any provision for bidding by mail, phone or internet." No online bidding platform is used, so no platform URL applies here. The sale is held at 9:00 am in the County Board room at the Boone County Administration Campus, 1212 Logan Avenue, Belvidere, IL 61008. Notice of sale plus the delinquent parcel list is advertised once in the Boone County Journal three to four weeks before the sale, and the county posts a copy of the publication on the Treasurer site. A full parcel list in PDF is sold for a $70 fee about 10 days before the sale, with a free updated file the evening before. Buyers purchase a tax lien certificate covering outstanding taxes, penalties and fees, plus roughly $50 in additional sale fees per parcel, and no title transfers at the sale. Boone County acts as trustee for the taxing districts and buys any lien that draws no other bidder under 35 ILCS 200/21-90, and the county does not conduct a scavenger sale. Redemption is handled by the Boone County Clerk's office at 815-544-3103, which accepts only cash, cashier's check, or money order payable to the Boone County Clerk. For scale, the county reported 278 real estate parcels offered and 223 sold to 15 buyers at the 2025 sale, with a weighted average rate of 2.91 percent excluding the trustee. One caution: the Treasurer's own page mixes cycles, listing the 2026 date at the top while an older FAQ line still names the 2025 date, so confirm the exact date and registration deadline with the office before planning a trip.
Tax deed sale
- 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.
- Frequency
- as ordered by the circuit court
- Typical timing
- Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction. Public Act 104-0553 created this route for tax certificates issued on or after July 10, 2026, so the earliest Illinois judicial tax deed auctions fall in 2027, after the 1 year short redemption track runs.
Registration and deposit
Terms of a judicial tax deed auction, including whether it runs online, in person, or both, and what deposit is required, are set in the court's order and published in the notice of tax deed auction. That notice runs once a week for 3 consecutive weeks, starting no more than 45 days and ending no less than 7 days before the auction. Read the notice for each parcel; there is no statewide platform or standing bidder registration.
Bidding opens at the tax deed judgment amount plus 0.75 percent per month since judgment, plus publication and selling officer costs. The petitioning certificate holder is entered as a credit bidder at that minimum. Surplus above the minimum goes to the county treasurer for the former owner to claim.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
Certificates nobody bids on at the annual sale are forfeited to the county as trustee for the taxing districts. The county may then assign a forfeited certificate to any party or sell property it has acquired, which many counties handle through a delinquent tax agent rather than a public counter. Counties may also offer county-held certificates at a scavenger sale with a minimum bid of $250, or half the tax when total liability is under $500. Ask the county collector and the county clerk which program the county runs and who may buy.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Notes for Boone County
- The Boone County Treasurer collects property taxes and conducts the annual tax sale. The office describes the work as "mailing tax bills, recording and depositing tax payments, mailing delinquency notices, publishing delinquent parcels and conducting the annual tax sale on delinquent parcels."
- Redemption runs through the Boone County Clerk and Recorder, not the Treasurer. The Clerk accepts only cash, cashier's check, or money order made payable to the Boone County Clerk.
- Post sale timeline published by the county: the County Clerk notifies the owner of the buyer's lien within about 4.5 months of the sale, the Circuit Court Clerk and Sheriff serve notice of the intent to petition for a tax deed at about 2 years, and the buyer can petition the court for a tax deed at about 2.5 years.
- The county sells mobile home tax liens alongside real estate liens and publishes a separate mobile home sale report.
- The Treasurer site also hosts a Northern Illinois Tax Sale Dates page, but its content is from 2010 and is out of date. It should not be used for current dates.
Illinois statewide rules
- 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.
- Deed 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.
- 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.
Frequently asked questions
Does Boone County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Boone County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the Boone County tax certificate sale?
- Once a year in late October. The Treasurer's tax sale page states "The next Boone County tax sale is scheduled for October 29, 2026" and records that "The 2025 Boone County Annual Tax Sale was held on October 30, 2025." The office also answers "The tax sale only occurs once per year." The Delinquent Tax Collection Process page ties the date to the second installment due date: the newspaper list runs about six weeks after the deadline and the sale is held about eight weeks after the deadline.. Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the Tax Collector before the sale.
How often does Boone County hold tax deed sales?
- as ordered by the circuit court. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.
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