St. Joseph County, IN tax sales
How tax lien certificate sales work in St. Joseph County, seat of South Bend: 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 St. Joseph County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- St. Joseph County Office of the Treasurer
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual sale held in early September. The Treasurer's Tax Sale Notice page is headed "St. Joseph County Treasurer Tax Sale 2026" and states "Commencing September 1, 2026 @ 9:00 AM thru September 2, 2026 Ending @ 4:00 PM". The published notice reads "Beginning 9:00 AM Local Time, September 1, 2026" and adds that "The properties in the online auction will commence closing in batches at 1:00 PM local time on September 2, 2026", with each parcel's specific closing time posted on the auction site.
Registration and deposit
Register on the auction platform, not with the county. The notice states the registration window "begins on July 27, 2026 and closes on August 31, 2026 at 12:00 PM", and warns that bidders who do not complete the full registration process will not be approved to bid. First become a member of www.zeusauction.com, then register for the St. Joseph County auction specifically. Bidders must complete IRS Form W-9 and agree electronically to the registration statement described at IC 6-1.1-24-5.3(c). A business entity must provide a Certificate of Existence or Foreign Registration Statement from the Indiana Secretary of State to the St. Joseph County Treasurer. Read the rules of sale and payment terms posted on the auction site before bidding.
This is a lien or certificate sale, not a deed sale. The county's Properties for Sale page states plainly that "The St. Joseph County Office of the Treasurer conducts yearly Certificate Sales for parcels of real property that are delinquent for taxes and/or special assessments" and that the public auction is conducted as an electronic sale online at the Zeus Auction Program. The sale runs entirely online across two days, opening September 1 and closing in staggered batches on September 2. The 2026 notice lists 1,519 parcels and was certified by John Murphy, Auditor, St. Joseph County, Indiana, dated July 23, 2026. Redemption pricing per the notice: 110% of the minimum bid if redeemed within six months of the sale date, or 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 annum interest on that overbid, plus 5% per annum on any subsequent taxes the purchaser paid. The notice states the redemption period expires Thursday, September 2, 2027 for certificates sold at the sale, while certificates struck to the county may expire Thursday, December 31, 2026. The Auditor and Treasurer applied for judgment on or after August 14, 2026, and reserve the right to withhold any parcel listed in error. To have a property removed from the sale, payment had to be received by 12:00 PM local time on August 31, 2026 in cash or certified funds payable to the St. Joseph County Treasurer at the County-City Building, 227 W. Jefferson Blvd, Second Floor, Room 209, South Bend, IN 46601. The county contracts SRI Incorporated, which operates the Zeus platform; the Treasurer's page links to SRI for general information, and the notice says a complete property list may also be obtained at www.sriservices.com or in an alternative form on request. The notice does not describe a pre-auction deposit, so confirm current payment terms in the rules of sale before registering. Also note the notice's caution that the county does not warrant the accuracy of street addresses or common descriptions, and that property descriptions may be omitted for parcels appearing on the certified list in consecutive years, so run your own title work.
Register on SRI / ZEUSFrom 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)
County-City Building, 227 W Jefferson Boulevard, 2nd Floor, South Bend, IN 46601. Mailing address: P.O. Box 4758, South Bend, IN 46634
Official websiteNotes for St. Joseph County
- St. Joseph County is Indiana's fourth largest county by population and the seat is South Bend, so the certificate sale is one of the larger annual lien sales in the state. The 2026 list carries 1,519 parcels.
- The 2026 notice states the public auction is conducted as an electronic sale under IC 6-1.1-24-2(b)(10) at www.zeusauction.com. The county's Properties for Sale page cites the same statute with a slightly different subsection, so treat the published notice as controlling.
- Do not confuse three separate sales the county runs. The Office of the Treasurer runs the certificate or tax lien sale on Zeus. The Board of Commissioners disposes of county owned land, including parcels acquired through tax sale, by separate bid solicitation. The St. Joseph County Police Department Civil Division runs the sheriff's sale, which is a mortgage foreclosure process and not a tax sale.
- The Treasurer's page carries a hidden link to a legacy SRI commissioner-sale portal. Rely on the Zeus Auction Program link and the current year notice for the certificate sale.
- The county's main web host blocks automated fetching, so the tax sale notice and parcel list PDF need a normal browser to open. Both were confirmed live at the URLs cited here.
- Treasurer office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The county advises calling ahead during inclement weather. Spring installment was due May 11, 2026 and fall November 10, 2026, which sets the delinquency clock feeding the sale list.
- Confirm the current year's dates on the Tax Sale Notice page before planning a bid. The page is rewritten each year and the registration window closes roughly a day before the sale opens.
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 St. Joseph County, Indiana sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- St. Joseph County follows Indiana's tax lien state system.
When is the St. Joseph County tax certificate sale?
- Annual sale held in early September. The Treasurer's Tax Sale Notice page is headed "St. Joseph County Treasurer Tax Sale 2026" and states "Commencing September 1, 2026 @ 9:00 AM thru September 2, 2026 Ending @ 4:00 PM". The published notice reads "Beginning 9:00 AM Local Time, September 1, 2026" and adds that "The properties in the online auction will commence closing in batches at 1:00 PM local time on September 2, 2026", with each parcel's specific closing time posted on the auction site.. 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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