Calhoun County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Calhoun County, seat of Hardin: 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 Calhoun County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Calhoun County Treasurer Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No sale month or date is posted on the county website. The Treasurer Office duties page states the Treasurer, "Assisted by the County Clerk, conducts an annual sale of delinquent real estate taxes and unpaid special assessments," but the county does not publish the annual sale date online. Call the Treasurer Office at 618-576-9700 Ext. 3 to confirm the current year's date.
Registration and deposit
No bidder registration form, deposit requirement, or bidding procedure is published on the county website. Contact the Treasurer Office directly at 618-576-9700 Ext. 3 for registration requirements and deadlines.
Calhoun County is one of the smallest counties in Illinois and runs a minimal web presence. Its full page sitemap contains no tax sale page, no delinquent list, and no bidder packet. The only official confirmation that a sale exists is the Treasurer's duties page, which says the Treasurer, assisted by the County Clerk, conducts an annual sale of delinquent real estate taxes and unpaid special assessments. No auction platform is confirmed for this county, so verify the format (in person at the courthouse versus an online vendor) with the Treasurer Office before planning a bid. The county's DevNet Wedge parcel lookup at calhounil.devnetwedge.com returns assessment and tax records by parcel, owner, or address, but it publishes no sale list or sale-status flag. Redemption is handled on the Clerk side: the County Clerk & Recorder duties page states "The Clerk collects delinquent tax payments." Treat third-party aggregator pages for this county as unverified; none of them link to a county-run sale page, because the county does not publish one.
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 Calhoun County
- Treasurer: Lisa R. Roth. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm. Fax 618-576-9723, email [email protected] (treasurer_office).
- Official confirmation of the sale, quoted from the Treasurer's duties page: the Treasurer, "Assisted by the County Clerk, conducts an annual sale of delinquent real estate taxes and unpaid special assessments" (treasurer_duties).
- Late-payment cost per the Treasurer FAQ: "Illinois Statutes require a 1 1/2% per month or part of the month penalty for payments made after the due date," and "Payments received without penalties will be returned" (treasurer_faq).
- County Clerk & Recorder: Amy M. Friedel, 301 S. County Rd., Hardin, IL 62047, 618-576-9700 Ext. 2. The Clerk's duties page confirms "The Clerk collects delinquent tax payments" (clerk_office, clerk_duties).
- Parcel research tool: Calhoun County Property Tax Inquiry at https://calhounil.devnetwedge.com/, searchable by parcel number, owner name, site address, or mobile home, with advanced filters by tax code, district, property class, township, and land use. It is a lookup only and carries no sale list (tax_inquiry).
- The county's complete page sitemap was reviewed and contains no tax sale, delinquent list, or bidder registration page, which is why data quality is capped at medium (county_sitemap).
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 Calhoun County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Calhoun County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the Calhoun County tax certificate sale?
- No sale month or date is posted on the county website. The Treasurer Office duties page states the Treasurer, "Assisted by the County Clerk, conducts an annual sale of delinquent real estate taxes and unpaid special assessments," but the county does not publish the annual sale date online. Call the Treasurer Office at 618-576-9700 Ext. 3 to confirm the current year's date.. 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 Calhoun 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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