Vanderburgh County, IN tax sales
How tax lien certificate sales work in Vanderburgh County, seat of Evansville: 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 Vanderburgh County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Vanderburgh County Treasurer's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual, mid to late September. The county pages state: "The 2026 Sale will be held on Wednesday, September 16, 2026 starting at 9:00 AM" and "2026 TAX SALE DATE: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2026", with the sale "online only beginning at 9AM" (CST). Recent sales ran September 24, 2025, September 17, 2024, September 12, 2023 and September 13, 2022. The published 2026 calendar sets July 1 for generating the certified list, July 9 for mailing certified notices, July 30 for the advertisement to appear in the newspaper and on the Auditor's website, and August 28 to apply for judgment.
Registration and deposit
Pre-registration is required and is handled online. The Purchaser FAQ states: "Yes, you do need to register. Please go to https://www.zeusauction.com/ to register and to fill out the Vanderburgh County specific W-9 form. This online registration will be effective for any live tax sale performed by SRI." The county also directs bidders to https://sriservices.com/ for sale information and registration. Winning bidders must pay the full bid amount by Friday, September 18, 2026 (the Treasurer's page says by 12:00 pm CST, the Auditor's page says by 3:00 PM, so confirm the cutoff with the office). Any form of payment is accepted except credit cards and wires, with checks payable to the Vanderburgh County Treasurer.
Vanderburgh County sells tax lien certificates at its annual tax sale under IC 6-1.1-24. The Treasurer certifies the delinquent list to the Auditor on or before July 1 each year, and the Auditor maintains the list of property eligible for sale. The sale is online only and is conducted through SRI Services on the Zeus Auction platform. Bidding opens at 9:00 am CST. Purchasers buy a lien, not the property: the county states "No, you are purchasing a lien to the property." The owner has one year from the sale date to redeem, and for the 2026 sale the county lists September 16, 2027 as the last day to redeem. If a parcel does not sell, the owner has a shorter window (the county lists January 14, 2027 for the 2026 sale) before the county can take ownership. Parcels that did not sell at the tax sale are offered later at a separate Commissioners' Certificate Sale, also online through Zeus Auction: the 2025 Commissioners' Certificate Sale was held online on April 1, 2026 with bidding from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM CST. The 2026 tax sale list was scheduled to be published July 30, 2026. Sales through 2024 were held live at the Old National Events Plaza in Evansville, so older third-party writeups describing an in-person auction are out of date. Note that a legacy SRI registration link still present on the county pages (legacy.sri-taxsale.com) does not load, so register through Zeus Auction instead. For parcel-specific and redemption amounts the county directs callers to the Auditor's Office at (812) 435-5389.
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)
Vanderburgh County Treasurer's Office
1 NW Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Civic Center Complex, Room 210, Evansville, IN 47708
Official websiteNotes for Vanderburgh County
- Treasurer's Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Fax is (812) 435-5341.
- Tax sale payments and bid payments are made payable to the Vanderburgh County Treasurer. The mailing address for payments is Vanderburgh County Treasurer's Office, PO Box 77, Evansville, IN 47701.
- The Auditor's Office (1 NW Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Civic Center Complex, Room 208, Evansville, IN 47708, business line (812) 435-5293) issues the tax deed and hosts the year-by-year tax sale listings, the buyer handout, the W-9 vendor form and Form 137B. Its tax sale contact is (812) 435-5389.
- Delinquent parcels can be viewed on the county's tax sale GIS map, linked from both the Treasurer and Auditor tax sale pages.
- The county's own domains vanderburghgov.org and vanderburghcounty.in.gov redirect to the shared Evansville and Vanderburgh County site at evansvillegov.org, so official county pages live under evansvillegov.org/county/.
- The property tax installment due dates for 2025 payable 2026 are May 11, 2026 and November 10, 2026. Owners must pay in full by 3:00 pm CST on September 15, 2026 to pull a parcel from the 2026 sale, and partial payments do not remove a parcel from the 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 Vanderburgh County, Indiana sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Vanderburgh County follows Indiana's tax lien state system.
When is the Vanderburgh County tax certificate sale?
- Annual, mid to late September. The county pages state: "The 2026 Sale will be held on Wednesday, September 16, 2026 starting at 9:00 AM" and "2026 TAX SALE DATE: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2026", with the sale "online only beginning at 9AM" (CST). Recent sales ran September 24, 2025, September 17, 2024, September 12, 2023 and September 13, 2022. The published 2026 calendar sets July 1 for generating the certified list, July 9 for mailing certified notices, July 30 for the advertisement to appear in the newspaper and on the Auditor's website, and August 28 to apply for judgment.. 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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