Newton County, IN tax sales
How tax lien certificate sales work in Newton County, seat of Kentland: 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 Indiana tax sales work, the difference between a lien and a deed, and redemption periods.
How Newton County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Newton County Treasurer's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Once a year in the fall. The county's Notice of Real Property Tax Sale for the 2025 sale opens "NOTICE OF REAL PROPERTY TAX SALE Newton County Indiana Beginning 09:00 AM Local Time, October 16, 2025 Commissioners' Room" and repeats that "Such sale will be held on 10/16/2025 at the Commissioners' Room and that sale will continue until all tracts and real property have been offered for sale." SRI's Indiana sale search lists Newton County's next tax sale on 09/28/2026 at 09:00 AM in the Commissioners' Room. The sale date moves year to year, so confirm it with the Treasurer before planning a trip.
Registration and deposit
Register with SRI at sriservices.com. The county notice states that one SRI registration is good for every Indiana county SRI services and that you register only once for all of them. Print the registration form and the W-9 from the SRI registration site and bring both on the morning of the sale. Bidders without internet access may register the morning of the sale. The notice asks bidders to arrive at least 30 minutes before the start time to be sure of getting a bid number. Under IC 6-1.1-24-5.1, a business entity that wants to register to bid at the Newton County tax sale must give the Newton County Treasurer a Certificate of Existence or Foreign Registration Statement from the Indiana Secretary of State.
Newton County runs a live, in person certificate sale rather than an online auction. SRI Incorporated administers registration and bidding for the county, and both the 2025 and the 2026 entries in SRI's Indiana sale calendar are flagged in person. The county notice keeps one contingency open: "At the discretion of local officials, the tax sale may switch to an online format. If those measures are taking place, the public auction will be conducted as an electronic sale under IC 6-1.1-24-2 (b) 10 at www.zeusauction.com commencing on the same date/time listed above. All location updates will be posted at www.sriservices.com prior to the tax sale." Treat Zeus as a fallback venue only and check sriservices.com in the week before the sale. The notice names the venue only as the "Commissioners' Room" and gives no street address. Worth knowing before you drive: the Treasurer and Auditor sit in the Newton County Courthouse at 201 N 3rd St, Kentland, while the Commissioner's Office sits in the Newton County Government Center at 4117 S 240 W, Morocco. Call the Treasurer to confirm which building the sale room is in. The Treasurer and Auditor act jointly. Both apply to the Newton County Superior #1 Court for the judgment and the order to sell, both reserve the right to withhold a parcel listed in error, and the Auditor issues the tax deed. The 2025 notice set the judgment application date at 09/29/2025, about two and a half weeks ahead of the sale, and any defense had to be filed with that court and served on both offices before the same date. Redemption terms in the notice: 110% of the minimum bid if redeemed within six months of the sale, 115% of the minimum bid if redeemed after six months, plus the amount by which the purchase price exceeded the minimum bid, plus 5% per year interest on that overbid, plus 5% per year on any taxes and special assessments the certificate holder pays after the sale. The 2025 notice set the redemption deadline at Friday, October 16, 2026 for certificates sold in the sale, and stated the period may expire Friday, February 13, 2026 for certificates struck to the county. Minimum bids fold in a $35 postage and publication charge plus other county costs directly attributable to the sale. Two list cautions. First, under IC 6-1.1-24-3(e) the county may omit property descriptions for parcels that appear on the certified list in consecutive years, so the advertised list reads thinner than the actual offering, and the notice says a complete list is available from SRI or from the county on request. Second, the county's own Tax Sale Parcels link is keyed to the sale ID of the prior year's sale, so re-filter the SRI search by state and county to pull the current year's parcels. In person at the Newton County Commissioners' Room, administered by SRI Incorporated
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.
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.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Newton County Treasurer's Office
(888) 663-9866 ext. 1300 (local line listed as 219-474-6081)
201 N 3rd St, Kentland, IN 47951
Official websiteNotes for Newton County
- The Treasurer's Office lists preparing the annual real estate tax sale among its duties, and the county describes tax sale properties as sold through the Newton County Auditor and Treasurer's offices.
- Newton County is a small, heavily rural county, and the 2025 certified list ran mostly to vacant farm and lake-area parcels described by section, township and range rather than by street address. The notice warns that the county does not warrant the accuracy of the street address or common description, and that a misstatement in the key number or street address does not invalidate an otherwise valid sale.
- The Auditor's Office publishes no county-specific bidding rules of its own. Its Tax Sale Rules page points readers to Title 6, Article 1.1, Chapters 24 and 25 of the Indiana Code.
- No 2026 notice was posted on the county site as of late July 2026. Indiana notices are advertised shortly before the sale, so the notice for a late-September 2026 sale would be expected in August.
Indiana statewide 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 Newton County, Indiana sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Newton County follows Indiana's tax lien state system.
When is the Newton County tax certificate sale?
- Once a year in the fall. The county's Notice of Real Property Tax Sale for the 2025 sale opens "NOTICE OF REAL PROPERTY TAX SALE Newton County Indiana Beginning 09:00 AM Local Time, October 16, 2025 Commissioners' Room" and repeats that "Such sale will be held on 10/16/2025 at the Commissioners' Room and that sale will continue until all tracts and real property have been offered for sale." SRI's Indiana sale search lists Newton County's next tax sale on 09/28/2026 at 09:00 AM in the Commissioners' Room. The sale date moves year to year, so confirm it with the Treasurer before planning a trip.. Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the Tax Collector before the sale.
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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