Champaign County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Champaign County, seat of Urbana: 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 Champaign County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Champaign County Treasurer, serving as ex officio Champaign County Collector. The Tax Sale Buyer Package is issued under the name of Byron Clark, County Treasurer, and registrations are returned to the Champaign County Collector's Office.
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Late October, annually. The Treasurer's page states: "The annual tax sale occurs in late October for properties with unpaid tax bills." The Information about Taxes page states: "The annual Tax Sale will be held at Shields-Carter Meeting Room on October 30 at 9:00 AM." The FAQ adds: "If any taxes are unpaid after 4:30 PM, October 29, we will hold a tax sale on October 30." The most recent buyer package covers the tax year 2024 sale, held Friday, October 31, 2025 at 9:00 A.M. Check-in runs 8:30 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. and the sale starts promptly at 9:00 A.M.
Registration and deposit
Register with the County Treasurer's office at least ten business days before the sale, under 35 ILCS 200/21-220. For the tax year 2024 sale, registrations were accepted until 4:30 PM on October 17, 2025; the county's current taxes page sets the cutoff ten business days before the October 30 sale (October 16). Complete the Certificate of Registration in the Tax Sale Buyer Package and enclose a $500 deposit, by separate check drawn on a US bank in US dollars. The deposit is refunded only if the registrant attends and attempts but fails to purchase any parcels offered; there is no refund if the registrant does not attend. An optional $50 tax sale list fee buys the electronic delinquent list in PDF, TXT, or Excel. A registrant who cannot attend may name a substitute bidder in writing by e-mail or fax (by 4:30 PM October 24 for the 2025 sale). Only pre-registered buyers may participate, and the buyer or the agent named on the Certificate of Registration must be present to bid. At check-in each buyer presents a signed check payable to "Champaign County Collector" with the amount left blank.
This is an in-person, live sale at the county administrative center in Urbana, not an online auction. No online bidding platform is used for the annual tax sale, so verify logistics directly with the Treasurer's office before travelling. Bidding is a bid-down-the-penalty format: real estate opens at 9% and mobile home privilege tax opens at 18%, and the certificate goes to the bidder offering the lowest penalty rate, with ties resolved by the R.A.M.S. 2 hardware. The statutory cap on a real estate penalty bid is 9% under 35 ILCS 200/21-215 and 18% for mobile homes under 35 ILCS 516/150. All bids are final and payment is non-refundable; winning buyers pay the County the day of the sale. Four fees are added to each parcel purchased: $20 indemnity, $10 tax sale automation, $60 interest, and $4 county clerk. The delinquent property list is advertised in local newspapers roughly three weeks before the sale and is also sold in electronic format from mid-October for $50; buyers who paid for the list receive an updated parcel list the night before the sale, and must print their own paper copy to bring. Redemption is handled by the Champaign County Clerk (217-384-3722), reachable about two weeks after the sale. The redemption period runs 2.5 years, after which the certificate holder may petition the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court for a tax deed; the county states it does not handle the foreclosure process. For scale, the prior tax year 2023 sale drew 29 registered and 27 participating buyers, offered 1,101 real estate parcels (1,093 sold) and 227 mobile home parcels (21 sold) against $5,780,037.91 of tax value, with winning interest rates ranging from 0.0% to 18.0% and a weighted average of 3.86%. Caution on a separate channel that is easy to confuse with this sale: iltaxsale.com, operated by Joseph E. Meyer & Associates, lists Champaign County properties, but those are sealed-bid surplus and trustee tax deed offerings on parcels the County already acquired after unbid tax sales and the full redemption period, not the annual certificate sale. The county's buyer package says the next surplus property auction has not been scheduled and that its catalog is published about 30 days ahead. The package also references iltax.com for R.A.M.S. information, but that address currently returns only a bare status response rather than an informational page, so it is not usable as a bidder resource. In person at the Shields-Carter Meeting Room, Scott M. Bennett Administrative Center, 102 E. Main Street, Urbana. Bidding is entered on county-supplied Real Time Auction Management Systems (R.A.M.S.) 2 hardware; the sale rules state "You may only bid using the Real Time Auction Management Systems (R.A.M.S.) 2 hardware provided. Use of any other hardware is prohibited."
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)
Champaign County Treasurer and Collector
Champaign County Treasurer, Scott M. Bennett Administrative Center, 102 E. Main Street, Urbana, IL 61801
Official websiteNotes for Champaign County
- Champaign County runs a live, in-person annual tax sale in Urbana. There is no online bidding portal for the certificate sale; bidders attend in person and enter bids on county-supplied R.A.M.S. 2 hardware.
- Registration closes ten business days before the sale and requires a $500 deposit plus a Certificate of Registration and W-9. Walk-up bidding is not allowed, so the deadline is the practical gate on participating.
- Bidding starts at 9% for delinquent real estate taxes and 18% for mobile home privilege taxes, and the lowest penalty bid wins. The tax year 2023 sale cleared at a 3.86% weighted average, so competition compresses rates well below the cap.
- The delinquent list is not posted free online. It runs in local newspapers about three weeks out, and the county sells an electronic version for $50 ordered through the same registration form.
- Redemption runs through the Champaign County Clerk at 217-384-3722, not the Treasurer. The redemption period is 2.5 years, after which the certificate holder petitions the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court for a tax deed. The county does not handle the deed foreclosure process.
- Buyers must be present when subsequent taxes are processed and are responsible for posting them with the County Clerk. The county begins accepting sub-tax payments in mid-September.
- Do not confuse the annual certificate sale with the Joseph E. Meyer & Associates listings for Champaign County on iltaxsale.com. Those are sealed-bid surplus and trustee tax deed offerings on county-acquired parcels, a separate process from the October lien sale.
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 Champaign County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Champaign County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the Champaign County tax certificate sale?
- Late October, annually. The Treasurer's page states: "The annual tax sale occurs in late October for properties with unpaid tax bills." The Information about Taxes page states: "The annual Tax Sale will be held at Shields-Carter Meeting Room on October 30 at 9:00 AM." The FAQ adds: "If any taxes are unpaid after 4:30 PM, October 29, we will hold a tax sale on October 30." The most recent buyer package covers the tax year 2024 sale, held Friday, October 31, 2025 at 9:00 A.M. Check-in runs 8:30 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. and the sale starts promptly at 9:00 A.M.. 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 Champaign 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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