Massac County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Massac County, seat of Metropolis: 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 Massac County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Massac County Treasurer's Department (Sarah Bremer, County Treasurer, serving as ex officio County Collector)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Massac County publishes no annual tax sale date online. The Treasurer's Department posts only the current billing calendar: tax bills mailed June 26, 2026, first installment due August 12, 2026, second installment and mobile home taxes due September 22, 2026. The Illinois annual sale follows the second installment delinquency, so expect a late 2026 sale, and call the Treasurer's Department at 618-524-5121 to confirm the date and place. A separate county trustee auction of tax deeded parcels is listed for November 13, 2026 at the Massac County Courthouse, after sales on October 27, 2023, November 1, 2024 and October 31, 2025.
Registration and deposit
No bidder registration packet, deposit schedule, or bidding method is published for Massac County. Register for the annual tax sale directly with the Treasurer's Department at 618-524-5121 or [email protected]. For the county trustee's separate sealed bid auction, Joseph E. Meyer & Associates makes a catalog available about 30 days before the sale and takes bids through an ILTaxSaleBids account, which requires a new user registration with email and password.
No platform is confirmed for the Massac County annual certificate sale, so verify with the Treasurer's Department before planning a bid. The county site carries no tax sale page, no bidder packet, and no delinquent list, and Massac does not appear among the counties announced as using the R.A.M.S. system. Joseph E. Meyer & Associates is the Illinois county trustee and its Massac County page lists a sealed bid real estate auction at the Massac County Courthouse, but that sale moves parcels the trustee already holds by tax deed rather than certificates from the collector's annual sale, and the trustee also offers assignable tax certificates through the same site. Only the Treasurer's Department and, for trustee held parcels, the county trustee run sales here, so treat other lien listing sites as unofficial. The Treasurer's FAQ states that the office handles current year taxes and that past taxes are taken care of in the County Clerk's office, so redemption amounts and payoffs come from the County Clerk at 618-524-5213.
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)
Notes for Massac County
- Sarah Bremer is County Treasurer. Kassy Medley is Chief Deputy Clerk. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, closed 12:00 to 1:00 PM for lunch. Fax is 618-524-1104 and email is [email protected].
- The Treasurer's Department collects current year taxes only. Its FAQ says past taxes are taken care of in the County Clerk's office, so redemption questions go to County Clerk Hailey Miles at 618-524-5213, 1 Superman Square, Metropolis, IL 62960.
- Current billing dates from the Treasurer's page: bills mailed June 26, 2026, first installment due August 12, 2026, second installment and mobile home taxes due September 22, 2026. The annual sale window hangs off the second installment, not a fixed month.
- Neither the Treasurer's page nor the County Clerk's page posts a tax sale notice, bidder registration form, or delinquent parcel list. Payment links go to propertytaxonline.org and govtechtaxpro.com, which are current bill lookup and payment tools, not sale lists.
- Joseph E. Meyer & Associates, the Illinois county trustee, lists a Massac County sealed bid real estate auction on November 13, 2026 at the Massac County Courthouse with a minimum bid of $843 and a catalog about 30 days ahead. Prior sales ran October 27, 2023, November 1, 2024 and October 31, 2025, and results for each are posted free. This is the trustee's disposal of tax deeded parcels, a step after the collector's annual sale.
- Massac County is not listed among the counties announced as using R.A.M.S., the Real-Time Auction Management System used for automated tax sales in many downstate Illinois counties, so no online annual sale platform is confirmed for this county.
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 Massac County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Massac County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the Massac County tax certificate sale?
- Massac County publishes no annual tax sale date online. The Treasurer's Department posts only the current billing calendar: tax bills mailed June 26, 2026, first installment due August 12, 2026, second installment and mobile home taxes due September 22, 2026. The Illinois annual sale follows the second installment delinquency, so expect a late 2026 sale, and call the Treasurer's Department at 618-524-5121 to confirm the date and place. A separate county trustee auction of tax deeded parcels is listed for November 13, 2026 at the Massac County Courthouse, after sales on October 27, 2023, November 1, 2024 and October 31, 2025.. 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 Massac 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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