Wabash County, IN tax sales
How tax lien certificate sales work in Wabash County, seat of Wabash: 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 Wabash County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Wabash County Treasurer, acting jointly with the Wabash County Auditor, who together apply to the Wabash County Circuit Court for the judgment and order of sale. The county contracts SRI Incorporated (SRI Services, Inc.) to administer the sale, mail the statutory notices and run bidder registration.
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Once a year in September, starting at 10:00 AM local time. The county's 2026 notice reads "Beginning 10:00 AM Local Time, September 03, 2026" and "Such sale will be held on 09/03/2026 at the Courthouse - Commissioners' Room 2nd Floor and that sale will continue until all tracts and real property have been offered for sale." The county's 2026 Tax Sale Calendar confirms "Thursday, September 03, 2026 Tax Sale Day Commencing at 10:00 AM" and records the prior sale as "Friday, September 26, 2025." Earlier sales ran September 4, 2024 and September 13, 2023.
Registration and deposit
Register in advance online through SRI at https://sriservices.com/. The county 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 computer access may register the morning of the sale. Bring the registration form and a W9, both printable from the registration site, and arrive at least 30 minutes before the 10:00 AM start to receive a bid number. Under IC 6-1.1-24-5.1 a business entity must supply a Certificate of Existence or Foreign Registration Statement from the Indiana Secretary of State to the Wabash County Treasurer, and every bidder must affirm they owe no delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties or county civil penalties.
Wabash County holds a live in-person tax lien certificate sale at the courthouse, not a routine online auction. The 2026 notice adds a conditional online fallback: "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 the courthouse as the venue unless the county announces a switch, and check the county legal notices page and SRI before travelling. Indiana law now requires the sale notice to be published in newspapers only once, and the county notice directs bidders to www.in.gov/counties/wabash for subsequent notices, so the county site is the primary calendar of record. For the 2026 sale the auditor and treasurer applied for judgment on or after 08/17/2026, and defenses had to be filed with the Wabash County Circuit Court before that date. Redemption on a certificate bought at the tax sale costs 110 percent of the minimum bid if paid within six months of the sale or 115 percent after six months, plus any overbid and 5 percent per annum on the overbid, plus 5 percent per annum on subsequent taxes the purchaser pays. The notice sets the redemption deadline for 2026 certificates as Friday, September 3, 2027, and notes that certificates struck to the county may redeem out by Monday, January 4, 2027. In person at the Wabash County Courthouse, Commissioners' Room on the 2nd floor, administered for the county 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)
Notes for Wabash County
- The Wabash County Treasurer's office is at 1 W Hill Street, Suite 104, Wabash, IN 46992, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, phone (260) 563-0661 Ext. 1259. Brenda K Hegel is listed as Treasurer.
- The Wabash County Auditor, who issues the tax deed and serves as clerk of the sale, is at 1 W Hill St Ste 103, Wabash, IN 46992, phone (260) 563-0661 Ext. 1222.
- Leftover parcels that draw no bid at the annual tax sale move to a separate Commissioners' Certificate Sale run by the Wabash County Commissioners. That notice reads "Beginning 10:00 AM Local Time, March 13, 2026" at the "Courthouse - Commissioners' Room 2nd Floor," with minimum sale prices listed at $200 per parcel and the same conditional switch to an electronic sale at www.zeusauction.com. The prior certificate sale ran March 13, 2025, and the one before that February 7, 2024, so this sale lands in late winter or early spring.
- The county's published 2026 Tax Sale Calendar names SRI as the vendor at every step: the county emails the certified list to SRI in June, SRI mails the certified and first-class tax sale notices, SRI skip traces undeliverable mail, and the county updates "the SRI System" with payments through September 2. Newspaper advertising ran July 15, July 22 and July 29, 2026, and the judge issued the judgment and order of sale August 28, 2026.
- The Treasurer's page also links a live tax list, judgments list and property tax calculator hosted on the county's DataPitStop portal at treasurer.wabashcounty85.us. Those links are served over plain HTTP and the host presents a certificate for datapitstop.us, so they may throw a browser security warning.
- The full parcel list for the current sale is published in the county's own tax sale advertisement PDF on the legal notices page. The notice adds that "A complete property list may be obtained at www.sriservices.com or in an alternative form upon request," and that property descriptions may be omitted under IC 6-1.1-24-3(e) for parcels appearing on the certified list in consecutive years.
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 Wabash County, Indiana sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Wabash County follows Indiana's tax lien state system.
When is the Wabash County tax certificate sale?
- Once a year in September, starting at 10:00 AM local time. The county's 2026 notice reads "Beginning 10:00 AM Local Time, September 03, 2026" and "Such sale will be held on 09/03/2026 at the Courthouse - Commissioners' Room 2nd Floor and that sale will continue until all tracts and real property have been offered for sale." The county's 2026 Tax Sale Calendar confirms "Thursday, September 03, 2026 Tax Sale Day Commencing at 10:00 AM" and records the prior sale as "Friday, September 26, 2025." Earlier sales ran September 4, 2024 and September 13, 2023.. 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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