Livingston County, IL tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Livingston 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 Livingston County, seat of Pontiac: 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
- 815-844-2306
On this page
How Livingston County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Livingston County Treasurer, serving as ex officio County Collector (M. Nikki Meier, Treasurer)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- for November 6, 2026 and notes.
- Registration
- Register by mail with the County Collector.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Register by mail with the County Collector. The Treasurer's 2026 packet states "A completed registration form must be received on or before Monday, October 26, 2026", and "All tax buyers MUST include a registration deposit in the amount of $250.00 with their registration form to be eligible to bid at the sale" by check drawn on a U.S. bank in U.S. dollars (35 ILCS 200/21-220). The deposit is applied to purchases, refunded to unsuccessful bidders, and kept by the county if a registrant fails to attend. Buyers must also leave a signed blank check at the Treasurer's office before 11:30 a.m. on sale day (35 ILCS 200/20-25), and new tax buyers must provide a letter of credit that day. Livingston County adopted the single bidder rule by Ordinance 2022-04-22 on April 14, 2022 under 35 ILCS 200/21-205(b-5), and every buyer signs a single bidder affidavit. Mail forms to Livingston County Treasurer, P.O. Box 50, Pontiac, IL 61764.
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
Livingston County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Livingston 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
No link to the county's sale list is on record here. Get the current list from the Livingston County Treasurer rather than relying on a copied one.Register to bid
Ask the Livingston 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 Livingston County Treasurer before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use the Livingston County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Livingston County
4 checks
Confirm the parcel list before pricing
This page has no link to the county's sale list. Ask the Livingston County Treasurer where the list is published and confirm the advertised parcels before you price a bid.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)
Livingston County Treasurer (County Collector)
Historic Courthouse, 112 W. Madison Street, P.O. Box 50, Pontiac, IL 61764
Official websiteCounty notes
- Sale venue is the Livingston County Historical Courthouse at 112 W. Madison Street, Pontiac. From the 2025 payable 2026 sale on, only delinquent mobile home taxes are offered to private buyers, starting at 11:30 a.m.
- Registration deposit is $250 by check on a U.S. bank, applied to purchases, refunded to unsuccessful bidders, and retained by the county if a registrant fails to attend (35 ILCS 200/21-220).
- Single bidder rule in force since April 14, 2022 under county Ordinance 2022-04-22; related bidding entities may not register separately.
- Delinquent real estate taxes are acquired by the county as trustee for the taxing districts under County Board resolution 2026-09-77, and unsold mobile home taxes are assigned to the Livingston County Trustee.
- Redemption and reimbursement of tax buyers is handled by the Livingston County Clerk and Recorder, 112 W. Madison Street, P.O. Box 618, Pontiac, IL 61764, phone 815-844-2006.
- County Tax Agent is Joseph E. Meyer & Associates; its Auction Sale Department is reachable at 800-248-2850 or 618-656-5744 for the surplus deed auction and assignable certificate lists.
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 Livingston County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Livingston County tax certificate sale?
How often does Livingston County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
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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