Howard County, IN tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Howard County, IN tax sale, one of 3,131 counties in 51 states. Indiana sells tax lien certificates paying up to 15%, redeemable for 1 year. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Oct 12, 2026.
How tax lien sales work in Howard County, seat of Kokomo: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Indiana tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next certificate sale
- Annual, in October.
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- Register online with SRI at sriservices.com ahead of the sale.
- County office
- 765-456-2213
On this page
How Howard County sells delinquent taxes
From lien to deed
Indiana holds no general public tax deed auction. Once the redemption period runs out, the certificate holder files a verified petition in the same court that entered the judgment of sale, and the court directs the county auditor to issue the deed. That petition must be filed no later than three months after the redemption period expires, or the purchaser's lien terminates. One narrow exception exists: real property a county, city, or town executive has certified as vacant or abandoned is auctioned separately, and there the county auditor deeds fee simple title straight to the highest bidder with no right of redemption.
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Howard County Treasurer and Howard County Auditor
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual, in October.
- Registration
- Register online with SRI at sriservices.com ahead of the sale.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Register online with SRI at sriservices.com ahead of the sale. The county notice states the registration "is good for all counties that SRI services" and that you "need to register only once for all counties." Print the registration form and the W-9 from the registration site and bring both on the morning of the sale. Bidders without internet access may register the morning of the sale. Arrive at least 30 minutes before the 10:00 AM start to be assured of a bid number before bidding opens. Under IC 6-1.1-24-5.1, a business entity that seeks to register must provide the Howard County Treasurer with a Certificate of Existence or Foreign Registration Statement from the Indiana Secretary of State.
Sale format and venue
Howard County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Howard 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.
Confirm the advertised parcel list
Use Howard County 2026 Notice of Real Property Tax Sale, with the certified delinquent parcel list 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
Sale day
Annual, in October. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the Howard County Treasurer before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use the Howard County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Howard County
4 checks
Confirm the parcel list before pricing
Open Howard County 2026 Notice of Real Property Tax Sale, with the certified delinquent parcel list. 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
Register online with SRI at sriservices.com ahead of the sale. The county notice states the registration "is good for all counties that SRI services" and that you "need to register only once for all counties." Print the registration form and the W-9 from the registration site and bring both on the morning of the sale. Bidders without internet access may register the morning of the sale. Arrive at least 30 minutes before the 10:00 AM start to be assured of a bid number before bidding opens. Under IC 6-1.1-24-5.1, a business entity that seeks to register must provide the Howard County Treasurer with a Certificate of Existence or Foreign Registration Statement from the Indiana Secretary of State.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Indiana due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.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 certificates
Parcels that draw no bid at the treasurer's tax sale pass to the county executive, which acquires a lien for the minimum sale price and receives a tax sale certificate. The county executive may then adopt a resolution and offer those certificates at a separate advertised public sale, often called the commissioners' certificate sale, priced 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. This is a scheduled sale rather than a walk-in list, and redemption on a certificate bought this way is 120 days. Check the county auditor page for the next commissioners' certificate sale date.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Indiana calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Howard County Administration Center, 220 North Main Street, Room 226, Kokomo, IN 46901
Official websiteCounty notes
- The 2026 sale is set for Commissioners' Meeting Room 338 at the Howard County Administration Center, 220 N Main St, Kokomo, and the notice states the sale continues until all tracts and real property have been offered.
- Redemption pricing from the county notice: 110 percent of the minimum bid if redeemed not more than six months after the sale date, or 115 percent of the minimum bid if redeemed more than six months after the sale date, plus the amount by which the purchase price exceeded the minimum bid with 5 percent per annum interest on that overbid. Taxes and special assessments the purchaser pays after the sale are also repaid with 5 percent per annum interest.
- The 2026 notice sets the redemption deadline at Wednesday, October 27, 2027 for certificates sold at the 2026 tax sale. For certificates struck to the county, it says the redemption period may expire Wednesday, February 24, 2027. Certificates sold at the October 2025 sale redeem through Monday, October 19, 2026, per the 2025 notice.
- The minimum bid covers delinquent taxes and special assessments on the parcel, taxes and special assessments due and payable in the year of the sale, all penalties on the delinquencies, 25 dollars for postage and publication costs, other county costs directly attributable to the tax sale, and any unpaid costs due under IC 6-1.1-24-2(c) from a prior tax sale.
- Under a change in Indiana law the notice appears only once in newspapers, and the county directs bidders to the county website for subsequent notices.
- The Auditor and Treasurer reserve the right to withhold from the sale any parcel listed in error or that otherwise becomes ineligible before or during the sale, and minimum bid amounts can change before the auction date.
- Howard County Auditor: 220 North Main Street, Kokomo, IN 46901, main (765) 456-2215, tax line (765) 456-2216. The Auditor signs the sale notice and handles the tax deed side after redemption expires.
- To remove a parcel from the certified tax sale list, the Treasurer accepts cash, cashier's check, and credit cards.
- If a parcel sells for more than the minimum bid and is not redeemed, the owner of record who is divested of ownership when the tax deed issues may have a right to the tax sale surplus.
- The 2026 certified list runs to six pages and about 460 parcels, with minimum amounts ranging from under 200 dollars to over 270,000 dollars.
- Howard County's own domains (howardcountyin.gov, co.howard.in.us) redirect to the state-hosted county site at in.gov/counties/howard.
Indiana rules
- Redemption
- 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.
- Surplus proceeds
- The treasurer applies the payment first to the taxes, assessments, penalties, and costs in the minimum bid, then to other delinquent property taxes, then deposits the remainder in a tax sale surplus fund. The owner of record at the time the parcel was certified for sale, or the purchaser on a redemption, may file a verified claim against that fund. Unclaimed surplus transfers to the county general fund three years after it was received.
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 Howard County, Indiana sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Howard County tax certificate sale?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Howard County tax sale list?
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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