Ripley County, IN tax sales
How tax lien certificate sales work in Ripley County, seat of Versailles: 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 Ripley County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Ripley County Auditor and Ripley County Treasurer
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Late October to early November, beginning at 10:00 AM local time. The 2025 notice is headed "NOTICE OF REAL PROPERTY TAX SALE, Ripley County Indiana, Beginning 10:00 AM Local Time, October 30, 2025, Commissioners' Room" and states "Such sale will be held on 10/30/2025 at the Commissioners' Room and that sale will continue until all tracts and real property have been offered for sale." The prior notice set the sale for November 1, 2024 at the same time and place.
Registration and deposit
Register through SRI Services at https://www.sriservices.com/. The 2025 notice states: "If you are interested in bidding on the tax sale for an Indiana county, you may register online at https://sriservices.com/. This registration is good for all counties that SRI services. You need to register only once for all counties. Make sure to bring the completed form with you to each sale." Bidders without internet access may register the morning of the sale. Bring the registration form and a W-9, which print from the registration site, and arrive at least 30 minutes before the 10:00 AM start to be assured of a bid number. Under IC 6-1.1-24-5.1, a business entity that seeks to register must provide a Certificate of Existence or Foreign Registration Statement under IC 5-23 from the Secretary of State to the Ripley County Treasurer.
This sale is conducted in person, not as an online auction. The notice places it in the Commissioners' Room, which the county lists as the Board of Commissioners' meeting location in the Ripley County Annex Building at 102 W. First North Street, Versailles. The notice adds that "At the discretion of local officials, the tax sale may switch to an online format," in which case the public auction is conducted as an electronic sale under IC 6-1.1-24-2(b)(10) at www.zeusauction.com starting on the same date and time, and "All location updates will be posted at www.sriservices.com prior to the tax sale." Confirm the format with the county before the sale date. Inventory is small: the 2025 notice certified 30 parcels and the 2024 notice certified 26. Nothing sells below the statutory minimum, and the notice states "Minimum bid amounts are prescribed by law and are subject to change prior to the auction date." A complete property list may be obtained at www.sriservices.com or in an alternative form on request. In person at the Commissioners' Room, administered for the county by SRI Services (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)
Ripley County Annex Building, 102 West First North Street, Versailles, IN 47042. Mailing address: P.O. Box 176, Versailles, IN 47042.
Official websiteNotes for Ripley County
- The Auditor compiles and certifies the delinquent list and signs the sale notice. The 2025 notice is signed "Amy Copeland, Auditor, Ripley County, Indiana" and dated 09/16/2025. The Auditor's duties page states the office "is required to compile annually on July 1 lists of real estate on which tax is delinquent preliminary to its posting and offering at public sale."
- Both offices control what reaches the block. The notice states "The Auditor and Treasurer specifically reserve the right to withhold from the sale any parcel which has been listed in error, or which otherwise becomes ineligible for sale either prior to 10/30/2025 or during the duration of the sale."
- Redemption deadlines in the 2025 notice: the period of redemption expires Friday, October 30, 2026 for certificates sold at the tax sale, and may expire Friday, February 27, 2026 for certificates struck to the county.
- Redemption pricing in the notice: 110 percent of the minimum bid if redeemed within six months of the sale, 115 percent if redeemed more than six months after the sale, plus the amount by which the purchase price exceeded the minimum bid and 5 percent per annum interest on that overbid amount.
- Judgment timeline for the 2025 cycle: the county applied for judgment on or after 10/13/2025, with any defense filed in Ripley County Superior Court and served on the Auditor and Treasurer before 10/13/2025.
- Stale link caution: the Auditor's Tax Sale Information page points to an SRI portal at tsm.sriservices.com, a hostname that no longer resolves. The Treasurer's page links to the working site at https://www.sriservices.com/, which is also the address named in the sale notice itself.
- The sale notice says subsequent notices can be found at www.ripleycounty.in.gov/advertisements/, but that page currently lists budget and claims documents rather than tax sale notices. The tax sale advertisement PDFs are reachable through the county site search and the Auditor's tax sale page.
- The county's separate /auction/ page is a surplus equipment auction run by the Ripley County Technology office and is unrelated to the tax lien sale.
- Ripley County Auditor contact for redemption figures and Form 137B: 812-689-6311, fax 812-689-3006, Ripley County Annex Building, 102 W. First North Street, P.O. Box 235, Versailles, IN 47042. The Auditor's tax sale page states that tax sale redemption amounts can be given by calling the office, and that a Form 137B cannot be filed with the Auditor's Office until 30 days after the tax sale.
- Form 137B cost caps listed by the Auditor: $475 for attorney's fees and the cost of giving notice under IC 6-1.1-25-4.5, and $250 for the cost of a title search or examining and updating the abstract of title.
- Ripley County Treasurer is Lisa Vestal. Office hours for both the Treasurer and the Auditor are Monday through Friday, 8am to 4pm.
- Zeus Auction (www.zeusauction.com) is operated by SRI and redirects bidders to the SRI sale search site, so both addresses lead back to the same vendor that administers the county's sale.
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 Ripley County, Indiana sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Ripley County follows Indiana's tax lien state system.
When is the Ripley County tax certificate sale?
- Late October to early November, beginning at 10:00 AM local time. The 2025 notice is headed "NOTICE OF REAL PROPERTY TAX SALE, Ripley County Indiana, Beginning 10:00 AM Local Time, October 30, 2025, Commissioners' Room" and states "Such sale will be held on 10/30/2025 at the Commissioners' Room and that sale will continue until all tracts and real property have been offered for sale." The prior notice set the sale for November 1, 2024 at the same time and place.. 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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