Each step below is drawn from Indiana statute, not general advice. The exact sale dates, platform, and deposit amounts are set county by county, so confirm the specifics on your county page before you register.
New here? Most beginners start with a certificate (the lien path). The deed steps below apply once you hold a certificate long enough to force a sale, or you bid directly at a tax deed auction. Not sure which is for you? Start with tax lien vs tax deed.
Learn the timeline and lien priority
Indiana property taxes assessed for a year are due in two equal installments on May 10 and November 10 of the following year. A late payment adds a 5 percent penalty if the bill is paid within 30 days of the due date and no prior delinquency exists on the parcel, otherwise 10 percent, and an added 10 percent attaches on the day after each installment due date in later years while the taxes stay unpaid. The state holds a lien on each tract for its property taxes from the assessment date, and that lien is superior to all other liens, which is what makes an Indiana certificate senior collateral. Understand this before you commit any money.
Find the advertised delinquent list
Before the certificate sale, the County Treasurer, with the county auditor serving as clerk of the sale advertises the delinquent parcels. Indiana fixes no calendar month for the sale. The county treasurer certifies the delinquency list to the auditor no later than 51 days after the first tax payment due date, the auditor publishes notice once a week for three consecutive weeks, and the court enters judgment and the order for sale no later than three days before the advertised sale date. Counties set their own sale dates within that chain. Pull that list for your target county and shortlist the parcels worth researching.
Register, deposit, and bid
Register on the county’s certificate-sale platform and fund the required deposit. Bidding runs upward from a statutory minimum bid, and the highest bid wins. Anything you pay above that minimum is a premium, so check how your state treats it before you bid: a premium can earn a different return than the base amount, or none at all. A redeemed certificate pays a flat 10 percent statutory penalty rather than prorated interest. Indiana bids up, not down. The treasurer sells to the highest bidder at public auction, and no parcel may sell for less than the statutory minimum bid, which is the delinquent taxes and special assessments, the taxes due in the year of sale, all penalties, the county's cost of sale, unpaid costs from a prior sale, and reasonable collection expenses. Anything paid above that minimum is the overbid, and the overbid earns only 5 percent per year, so a large premium dilutes the return.
Collect interest or wait out redemption
The return is a flat penalty, not accruing interest. Redemption within six months of the sale pays 110 percent of the minimum bid; redemption after six months and within one year pays 115 percent. The penalty steps rather than prorating, so a certificate redeemed in month two and one redeemed in month five both pay 10 percent. Separately, 5 percent per year accrues on the amount by which the purchase price exceeded the minimum bid and on any taxes and special assessments the buyer pays after the sale. The standard period is one year after the date of the treasurer's tax sale. Several tracks run 120 days instead: a certificate bought at the county executive's certificate sale, a lien the county executive holds that was never sold on, a sale to a purchasing agency qualified under IC 36-7-17 or IC 36-7-17.1, a certificate the county executive assigns to another political subdivision, and a parcel that was not offered at the tax sale at all. Property on the county auditor's vacant and abandoned list carries no right of redemption after its sale. A county treasurer may also extend redemption by agreement with the owner, in which case the extended period ends one year after the date of that agreement. To redeem, the owner pays 110 percent of the minimum bid if redeemed within six months of the sale, or 115 percent if redeemed after six months and within one year, plus 5 percent per year on the amount the purchase price exceeded the minimum bid, plus all taxes and special assessments the buyer paid after the sale with 5 percent per year on them, plus certified attorney fees and notice costs and title search costs, plus any taxes and penalties that went delinquent after the sale. On a certificate bought at the county executive's certificate sale the payoff is instead the last minimum bid, 10 percent of the price paid for the certificate, notice and title costs, post-sale taxes with 10 percent per year, and the county's costs of that sale. If they redeem, that payoff is your return; if they never do, the certificate becomes your path to the property.
Or buy over the counter
You do not have to wait for an auction. When a parcel draws no bid at the treasurer's tax sale, the county executive acquires a lien for the minimum sale price and the auditor issues it a tax sale certificate, giving the county the same rights as a purchaser. The county executive may then adopt a resolution offering those certificates to the public at a separate advertised sale, and may price them below the minimum bid that failed at the tax sale. Notice runs once a week for three consecutive weeks, with the final advertisement at least 30 days before the sale date. This is a scheduled public sale rather than a walk-in over-the-counter list, and the redemption period on a certificate bought this way is 120 days. Indiana keeps no separate lands-available list. Once a county takes title by tax deed, the county executive may dispose of the property under IC 36-1-11, transfer it to the redevelopment commission, or hold and maintain it for later sale.
One more step: clear the title
Winning a tax deed does not hand you marketable title. Before you can resell to a normal buyer or insure the parcel, you will usually need a quiet title action, which takes months and costs money. Fold that cost into your maximum bid and read what you actually own after a tax deed before you bid. A tax deed also does not wipe out everything: select governmental and municipal liens can survive, and a federal tax lien carries a 120-day IRS redemption right, so check what survives a tax deed too.
New to this? Start with tax lien vs tax deed and the full Indiana walkthrough, then value a parcel with the due diligence guide.
Steps verified Jul 29, 2026 against Indiana statutes.
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.