Will County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Will County, seat of Joliet: 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 Will County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Will County Treasurer's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- The Treasurer's Annual Tax Sales page lists the sale as "December 1, 2026" with "Registered Buyer Check-In" from "8:00-10:00 a.m." at the "Will County Office Building." Recent years followed the same pattern: the Tax Sale Information page's date table shows a "TAX SALE" of "12-4-23," and the delinquent taxes were published in the county's designated newspapers on November 5 and 6, 2025 ahead of that year's sale.
Registration and deposit
Buyer registration runs "October 1, 2026 - November 13, 2026" and must be "received by 4:30 PM CT. No Postmarks Accepted." The Treasurer's Tax Buyer Registration page states the "Tax Buyer Registration Packet will be available after October 1, 2026." Registered buyers receive the sale list in the "First week of November," and the deadline to substitute a bidder or withdraw is November 20, 2026. Bidding runs through R.A.M.S. 2: the vendor's own documentation says each registered buyer brings a USB drive holding a file of percentage bids for each parcel, all bids are loaded and processed together, each parcel is awarded to the lowest bid, and ties are broken by random selection. The vendor also cites 35 ILCS 200/21-205, which requires all bidders to personally attend the sale. The Treasurer's Tax Sale Instructions page links a Single Bidder Rule policy and the R.A.M.S. 2 documentation. Subsequent taxes are accepted in office only, beginning September 16, 2026, Monday through Friday 8:30am to 3:30pm.
This is an in-person sale held at the Will County Office Building, not an online auction. No online bidding platform is used; R.A.M.S. 2 is the bid-processing software run at the sale, and Illinois law as cited by the vendor requires bidders to attend personally. The Treasurer sells only the unpaid tax, and its Tax Sale Information page states the property itself is not sold and the office does not report to credit agencies. Redemption is handled by a different office: the Will County Clerk Tax Redemption Department at 302 N. Chicago Street, Joliet, IL 60432, phone 815-724-1880. Parcels that no tax buyer purchases at the annual sale default to the county's delinquent tax agent, Joseph E. Meyer & Associates, which obtains deeds after the redemption period and resells them at a Will County Trustee public auction. That Trustee page describes a sealed-bid format but its posted deadline and catalog dates are from 2022, so confirm the current cycle with the Trustee at 618-656-5744 or the Treasurer before relying on it. Verify the sale date and registration window with the Treasurer each fall, since dates shift year to year. R.A.M.S. 2 (Randomized Auction Management System), used at the in-person sale rather than as an online bidding site
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 Will County
- The Treasurer's Publications page hosts the per-township delinquent tax publication PDFs. For the sale following the 2024 levy, publication dates were November 5, 2025 (Naperville Sun, Free Press Advocate, Braidwood Journal) and November 6, 2025 (Shaw Media / Herald News, Daily Southtown, Farmers Weekly, The Vedette, The Times Weekly), split by township.
- Redemption periods quoted on the county's Tax Sale Information page under 35 ILCS 200/22-5: one year from the date of sale for vacant non-farm property, property with a structure of 7 or more residential units, and commercial or industrial property; two and a half years for residential property with fewer than 6 units and all other property.
- The Treasurer's office fax is 815-740-4695 and the posted email is [email protected]. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.
- The Tax Buyer Registration Packet and the Single Bidder Rule policy are posted as scanned PDFs, so deposit amounts and per-parcel bid mechanics could not be read from them. Request current figures from the Treasurer directly.
- The Will County Clerk's tax sale and forfeiture lookup is linked from the Treasurer's site but the clerk domain did not return readable content when fetched, so it is not cited here.
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 Will County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Will County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the Will County tax certificate sale?
- The Treasurer's Annual Tax Sales page lists the sale as "December 1, 2026" with "Registered Buyer Check-In" from "8:00-10:00 a.m." at the "Will County Office Building." Recent years followed the same pattern: the Tax Sale Information page's date table shows a "TAX SALE" of "12-4-23," and the delinquent taxes were published in the county's designated newspapers on November 5 and 6, 2025 ahead of that year's sale.. 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 Will 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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