Coles County, IL tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Coles County, IL tax sale, one of 3,131 counties in 51 states. Illinois sells tax lien certificates paying up to 9%. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Oct 12, 2026.
How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Coles County, seat of Charleston: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Illinois tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next tax deed sale
- Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction.
- Format
- In person
- County office
- (217) 348-0511
On this page
How Coles County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Coles County Treasurer, who serves as both Treasurer and Collector for the county
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Late October each year.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Registration for the October 23, 2026 sale has closed: the Treasurer's calendar set the last day to register as October 9, 2026, and the mobile home buyer registration form gave October 7, 2026. For future sales the county asks for a letter of intent with your name, address, telephone number and your statement of intent to attend the tax sale; a $250.00 deposit that is applied to your purchase, returned if you bid and are unsuccessful, and forfeited if you register and do not attend; and, for buyers new to Coles County, a letter of credit from your financial institution stating the amount approved for purchase. The Treasurer posts the buyer registration form and a Form W-9 for download. A parcel listing mailed 10 days before the sale plus an updated list the day prior costs $100.00, and tax judgment books are available online or for purchase at $50.00.
Sale format and venue
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.
When it 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.
Sale format and venue
Coles County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Coles County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.
Confirm the advertised parcel list
Use Tax sale key dates and buyer requirements as a starting reference. Check which sale or list it covers; a Lands Available or office information page is separate from an auction parcel list. Ask the sale office for the advertised parcels for the auction you plan to attend.Register to bid
Ask the Coles County Treasurer how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the Coles County Treasurer before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use the Coles County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Coles County
4 checks
Confirm the parcel list before pricing
Open Tax sale key dates and buyer requirements. Confirm whether this reference contains the auction parcels or covers a different list. Get the advertised parcel list from the county before you price a bid, and recheck it before the sale.Confirm 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.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Illinois due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in Illinois before you price the title work.Set a walk-away number
Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
unsold liens and deeds
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. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Illinois calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
County notes
- The Coles County Treasurer serves as both Treasurer and Collector. The Collector bills roughly 25,000 real estate tax bills a year and distributes collections to more than 60 taxing districts.
- Starting with the 2025 payable 2026 sale, only delinquent mobile home taxes are offered to private buyers at the annual sale; the county takes delinquent real estate taxes as trustee, per the Treasurer's Notice to All Tax Buyers and the 2026 mobile home buyer registration form.
- Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Coles County Courthouse. Use the South (Jackson Street) entrance, which also has handicapped access.
- Real estate taxes are billed in two equal installments. The 2025/2026 calendar mails bills May 14, 2026, with the first installment due July 1, 2026 and the second due Sept. 1, 2026, and escalating penalties on Aug. 2, Sept. 2 and Oct. 2, 2026.
- Payment cutoffs before the 2026 sale fell on October 7, 2026, the last day the Treasurer accepted a personal check and the last day to pay by e-check or credit card.
- Parcel level assessment and tax data is searchable on the Coles County Property Tax Inquiry portal at colesil.devnetwedge.com.
Illinois 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. Once 30 days have passed 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 Coles County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Coles County tax certificate sale?
How often does Coles County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Coles County tax sale list?
Verified Oct 12, 2026 against official county and state sources.
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 office that runs the sale before you bid.
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