Crawford County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Crawford County, seat of Robinson: 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 Crawford County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Crawford County Treasurer, serving as ex officio County Collector. The county's bidder registration form is signed "Rikki Callaway, Crawford County Treasurer/Collector", and the published delinquent tax notice is issued by the "County Collector of the County of Crawford".
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Early to mid November. The county's most recently posted bidder registration form is headed "ANNUAL SALE OF LANDS, LOTS, & PARCELS FOR DELIQUENT REAL ESTATE TAXES 2023 LEVY & PRIOR YEARS SALE COMMENCES NOVEMBER 3rd, 2025 @2:30pm." The county's published delinquent tax notice for an earlier cycle set that sale on "the 12th day of November", beginning "at 1:00 p.m. and be continued for day to day until all lands are sold or offered for sale." Crawford County posts one sale document at a time, so confirm the current year's date and time with the Collector's office before planning a trip.
Registration and deposit
Registration is by paper form filed with the County Collector. The county's form states that all bidders "must complete and sign this registration" and that it "must be received in the office of the Collector at least ten (10) business days prior to the first day of the sale" (October 20, 2025 for the November 3, 2025 sale). Citing 35 ILCS 200/21-220, the form requires a registration deposit of $250 in counties under 50,000 inhabitants; that deposit is applied to the amount due on parcels the registrant buys, and is forfeited to the Tax Sale Automation Fund if the registrant does not participate, or attends and does not attempt to purchase. A registrant who cannot participate may notify the collector of a substitute no later than five business days before the sale (October 27, 2025 for the 2025 sale). The form also lists a $100 charge for the tax sale list. Registrants supply the bidder attending, the party bid on behalf of, mailing address, phone, fax, SSN or FEIN, and, for corporations, the state of creation and registered agent.
Crawford County runs its annual tax sale in person, not online. There is no county auction website and no online bidding platform is confirmed for this county, so verify the format with the Collector's office before registering. The county's published notice places the sale "at the Courthouse Annex 100 Douglas Street" in Robinson, the same building as the Treasurer/Collector's office. The registration form states "This tax sale will be RAMS 2", the Randomized Auction Management System used by many downstate Illinois collectors. Under RAMS 2, registered buyers still attend the sale personally (the vendor cites 35 ILCS 200/21-205) and hand over a USB drive holding one file with their percentage bids for every parcel; the lowest percentage bid wins each parcel, and ties are broken by random selection among the lowest bids. Delinquent real estate and mobile home taxes are published in the Robinson Daily News ahead of the sale, and the Collector applies to the Crawford County Circuit Court for judgment and order of sale before the sale date. Mobile home taxes are offered at the same session. Note that the county runs two websites: crawfordcounty.illinois.gov is the current site but warns that some functionality is inactive and points to the legacy site crawfordcountyil.org for the latest documents, so check both when hunting for the current year's sale notice. In person at the Crawford County Courthouse Annex, using the RAMS 2 bid-file system
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)
Crawford County Treasurer and County Collector
Crawford County Courthouse Annex, 100 Douglas Street, PO Box 204, Robinson, IL 62454
Official websiteNotes for Crawford County
- County seat is Robinson. The Treasurer/Collector office sits in the Courthouse Annex at 100 Douglas Street, open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, fax (618) 544-5314, email [email protected].
- The county's own registration form carries an internal year mismatch: the document is titled "2024 PAYABLE 2025 TAX SALE REGISTRATION" while the heading beneath it describes the sale of "DELIQUENT REAL ESTATE TAXES 2023 LEVY & PRIOR YEARS" (the county's spelling). Treat the November 3, 2025 sale date and the October 20, 2025 registration deadline printed on the form as the reliable figures and confirm the tax year with the office.
- Parcel and tax bill lookup runs on Devnet Wedge at https://crawfordil.devnetwedge.com/, useful for checking amounts due before the sale. Current-year tax payments go through payments.municipay.com/il_crawford; that payment portal is not an auction site.
- Searches for "Crawford County treasurer tax sale" surface Crawford County offices in Ohio (treasurer.crawford-co.org), Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kansas, Indiana and Missouri. Only crawfordcounty.illinois.gov and crawfordcountyil.org belong to the Illinois county.
- The most recent delinquent list posted on the official domain covers 2023 payable 2024 and was published February 11, 2025. Fresher lists appear first in the Robinson Daily News, so the newspaper is the earliest public view of the coming sale's parcels.
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 Crawford County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Crawford County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the Crawford County tax certificate sale?
- Early to mid November. The county's most recently posted bidder registration form is headed "ANNUAL SALE OF LANDS, LOTS, & PARCELS FOR DELIQUENT REAL ESTATE TAXES 2023 LEVY & PRIOR YEARS SALE COMMENCES NOVEMBER 3rd, 2025 @2:30pm." The county's published delinquent tax notice for an earlier cycle set that sale on "the 12th day of November", beginning "at 1:00 p.m. and be continued for day to day until all lands are sold or offered for sale." Crawford County posts one sale document at a time, so confirm the current year's date and time with the Collector's office before planning a trip.. 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 Crawford 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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