Fayette County, IL tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Fayette 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 state rules plus what the county publishes on Oct 6, 2026.
How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Fayette County, seat of Vandalia: 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.
- County office
- 618-283-5022
On this page
How Fayette County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Fayette County Treasurer, serving as ex officio Fayette County Collector
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual sale in early December.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
The county page posts the sale date and time but no registration packet, deposit amount or registration deadline. Request the current bidder registration form and cutoff from the Fayette County Treasurer at 618-283-5022, 221 S 7th St, Room 105, Vandalia, IL 62471. The office asks that tax questions come by phone rather than email.
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
Fayette County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Fayette 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 Assignable tax lien certificates held by Fayette County (Joseph E. Meyer and Associates, $25) 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 Fayette 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. No auction platform is on record here for Fayette County. Confirm the next sale date, the platform or venue and the registration window with the Fayette County Treasurer before you bid.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use the Fayette County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Fayette County
4 checks
Confirm the parcel list before pricing
Open Assignable tax lien certificates held by Fayette County (Joseph E. Meyer and Associates, $25). 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)
Fayette County Treasurer and ex officio County Collector
Fayette County Treasurer's Office, 221 S 7th St, Room 105, Vandalia, IL 62471
Official websiteCounty notes
- Michelle D. Hagy is the Fayette County Treasurer and ex officio County Collector (term 2022 to 2026). Call 618-283-5022 with tax questions; the office asks that they not be emailed.
- For the 2026 cycle, the first installment is delinquent after August 28, 2026 and the second after September 28, 2026, ahead of the December 3, 2026 tax sale. Phone payments are taken at 1-833-681-6500.
- The County Clerk and Recorder, Kara Dugan, lists certificates of delinquent property taxes among the office's duties and is the office to contact on redemption: Fayette County Courthouse, 221 S 7th St, Room 106, Vandalia, IL 62471, 618-283-5000, Monday through Friday 8 am to 4 pm.
- Property records for pre-bid research are available through the county parcel portal at https://il1193.cichosting.com/atasportal/parcelSearch.aspx, linked from the county site.
- Joseph E. Meyer and Associates has held Fayette County sealed-bid trustee sales each fall (11/03/2023, 10/11/2024, 10/03/2025), with results posted free on ILTaxSale.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 Fayette County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Fayette County tax certificate sale?
How often does Fayette County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Fayette County tax sale list?
Verified Oct 6, 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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