Montgomery County, IL tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Montgomery 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 Montgomery County, seat of Hillsboro: 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) 532-9521
On this page
How Montgomery County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Montgomery County Treasurer and Ex-Officio County Collector
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Late October in past years.
- Registration
- The county publishes no online bidder registration form, deadline or deposit schedule.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
The county publishes no online bidder registration form, deadline or deposit schedule. Because the county now takes delinquent real estate taxes as trustee, the only taxes offered to private buyers at the annual sale are delinquent mobile home taxes; request the bidder terms from the Treasurer's Office at (217) 532-9521 or in person at Room 101 of the Historic Courthouse. For the separate trustee sale of parcels held by the county, bidders create an account on ILTaxSaleBids, buy the county catalog, and submit a sealed bid with payment in full by the stated deadline.
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
Montgomery County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Montgomery 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 Montgomery County trustee sale catalogs, results and assignable tax lien certificate list (Joseph E. Meyer and Associates) 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 county office that runs the sale 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 county office that runs the sale before you go.Confirm with the office
If public notices disagree, call the county office that runs the sale before bidding. Do not rely on a third-party list for final parcel status.
Before you bid in Montgomery County
4 checks
Confirm the parcel list before pricing
Open Montgomery County trustee sale catalogs, results and assignable tax lien certificate list (Joseph E. Meyer and Associates). 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)
Montgomery County Treasurer and Ex-Officio County Collector
Montgomery County Historic Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Square, Room 101, Hillsboro, IL 62049
Official websiteCounty notes
- Beginning with the 2025 payable 2026 tax sale, Montgomery County acquires all delinquent real estate taxes as trustee for the taxing districts under Public Act 104-0553. Only delinquent mobile home taxes are offered to private buyers at the annual sale.
- County-held real estate is resold by sealed bid through Joseph E. Meyer and Associates, the county's delinquent tax agent, with bids filed on ILTaxSaleBids. Recent sealed bid sales ran in mid-August of 2024, 2025 and 2026.
- Redemption is a County Clerk function: (217) 532-9530, payable by cash, certified funds or money order to the Montgomery County Clerk. The Clerk issues the estimate of redemption and mails the take notice after taxes are sold.
- Questions on tax sale procedures and the delinquent list go to the Treasurer's Office at (217) 532-9521. The Treasurer also takes property tax payments through an automated phone line at (217) 627-6183.
- Parcel-level tax data is available on the county's Property Tax Inquiry portal at montgomeryil.devnetwedge.com, a lookup tool rather than a sale list.
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 Montgomery County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Montgomery County tax certificate sale?
How often does Montgomery County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Montgomery 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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