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Tax Sale Atlas

Lake County, IN tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Lake 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 Lake County, seat of Crown Point: 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
Lake County holds its annual Treasurer tax sale online in early September.
Format
ZEUS
County office
219-755-3760
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Oct 12, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
Look up a sale detail

Lake County Treasurer. SRI / ZEUS. annual

Record quality: high. Last verified: 2026-10-12.

Lake County Notice of Real Property Tax Sale, 2026 (source accessed 2026-10-12)

Recorded reference information. Verify current sale conditions with the county. Read the full sale details.

Link to this detail

How Lake 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)

SRI / ZEUS
Run by
Lake County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Lake County holds its annual Treasurer tax sale online in early September.
Sale list
Lake County Treasurer tax sale page with the SRI property listing link
When it runs
Lake County holds its annual Treasurer tax sale online in early September. The 2026 sale opened at 5:30 PM on Friday, September 4, 2026, with properties closing in batches starting at noon on September 7 and the sale ending Tuesday, September 8, 2026. Registration for that sale ran July 22 through August 14, 2026, and the notice was dated and published July 29, 2026. The county's tax sale information page states sales must be held no later than 171 days after the delinquent list is certified to the Auditor.
Registration and deposit

Registration is online at zeusauction.com, and the county's sale page adds that in-person registration is available through the Tax Sale office at 219-755-3155. Bidders join Zeus Auction, register specifically for the Lake County sale, complete IRS Form W-9 and the statutory registration statement, and upload the signed bidder contract. Business entities must also give the Treasurer a certificate of existence or foreign registration statement from the Secretary of State. The 2026 notice set an annual $100 non-refundable paddle fee, paid by ACH, and a registration window of July 22 through August 14, 2026.

Sale format and venue
Indiana is a lien state under IC 6-1.1-24 and IC 6-1.1-25, and Lake County sells tax lien certificates rather than deeds at this sale. The county states the minimum acceptable bid is everything owed on the parcel through the current year as of the sale date and the lien is sold to the highest bidder. The sale is conducted entirely online, with no in-person sale; SRI administers it and publishes a property listing that can be viewed without an account. Owners can remove a parcel by paying the judgment amount in cash or certified funds at the Treasurer's Office before the posted deadline. For certificates sold at the 2026 sale, the notice states the redemption period expires Wednesday, September 8, 2027. Parcels that do not sell are certified to the Lake County Board of Commissioners and offered later at a separate Commissioners tax sale run on onyxelectronics.com. The 2026 Commissioners sale ran May 4 through May 7, 2026, after registration from February 4 through February 20, and cost $600 to register: a $100 non-refundable paddle fee plus $500 applied toward the minimum bid, payable by cashier's check or money order to the Lake County Treasurer for in-person registration.
Register on SRI / ZEUS
Source: Lake County Notice of Real Property Tax Sale, 2026· Verified Oct 12, 2026

Lake County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Lake 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.

  1. Confirm the advertised parcel list

    Use Lake County Treasurer tax sale page with the SRI property listing link 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.

  2. Register to bid

    Ask the Lake County Treasurer how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.

  3. Sale day

    Lake County holds its annual Treasurer tax sale online in early September. Bidding runs on ZEUS; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use the Lake County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Lake County

  1. Confirm the parcel list before pricing

    Open Lake County Treasurer tax sale page with the SRI property listing link. 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.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Registration is online at zeusauction.com, and the county's sale page adds that in-person registration is available through the Tax Sale office at 219-755-3155. Bidders join Zeus Auction, register specifically for the Lake County sale, complete IRS Form W-9 and the statutory registration statement, and upload the signed bidder contract. Business entities must also give the Treasurer a certificate of existence or foreign registration statement from the Secretary of State. The 2026 notice set an annual $100 non-refundable paddle fee, paid by ACH, and a registration window of July 22 through August 14, 2026.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

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)

Lake County Treasurer

219-755-3760

Building 'A', 2nd Floor, 2293 N. Main Street, Crown Point, IN 46307

Official website

County notes

  • The Treasurer collects the delinquent taxes and conducts the annual tax sale; the Auditor's Tax Sale Department administers registration and redemption, and redemption amounts must be calculated by the Auditor's office at 219-755-3155.
  • The Auditor's Tax Sale Department is at Building 'A', 2nd Floor, 2293 North Main Street, Crown Point, IN 46307, reachable at 219-755-3155 ext 135, open weekdays 8:30am to 4:30pm.
  • The Treasurer's office also keeps counters in Hammond (232 Russell St) and Gary (400 Broadway), but tax sale business runs through Crown Point.
  • Two distinct sales exist: the Treasurer tax sale of tax lien certificates each September on Zeus Auction, and the Commissioners tax sale of certificates on previously unsold parcels each spring on Onyx Electronics.

Indiana rules

Max interest rate
15% of the amount paid maximum, as a flat statutory penalty
Minimum return
10% statutory penalty at redemption
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.
Governing statute
IC 6-1.1-24-5

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.

See the full Indiana rules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Lake County, Indiana sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax lien certificates. In Indiana investors buy the lien, not the property; the County Treasurer runs the sale.

When is the Lake County tax certificate sale?

Lake County holds its annual Treasurer tax sale online in early September. The 2026 sale opened at 5:30 PM on Friday, September 4, 2026, with properties closing in batches starting at noon on September 7 and the sale ending Tuesday, September 8, 2026. Registration for that sale ran July 22 through August 14, 2026, and the notice was dated and published July 29, 2026. The county's tax sale information page states sales must be held no later than 171 days after the delinquent list is certified to the Auditor. Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Indiana's redemption rule: 1 year from the date of sale. Call the Lake County Treasurer as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the Lake County tax sale list?

The recorded official list reference is at lakecountyin.gov. Check whether it covers auction parcels, office information or Lands Available, then obtain the advertised parcel list for the sale you plan to bid on. Confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement.

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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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

Indiana tax salesDue diligence guide
Call Lake County TreasurerOpen auction