Carroll County, IA tax sales
How tax lien certificate sales work in Carroll County, seat of Carroll: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
Verified Jul 29, 2026 against official county and state sources.
New here? Read how Iowa tax sales work, the difference between a lien and a deed, and redemption periods.
How Carroll County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Carroll County Treasurer's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual tax sale each June, conducted online. The county's 2026 notice states: "The 2026 annual Tax Sale will be held by the Carroll County Treasurer on Monday, June 15, 2026, in the Carroll County Treasurer's Office on the first floor of the Carroll County Courthouse, 114 E 6th St, Carroll, Iowa, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Bidders will place their bids online." Bidding closes at 10:30 a.m. the same morning. The treasurer's page separately notes the sale "will be held online on Monday, June 15, 2026." An adjourned tax sale runs "any business day following the annual tax sale in which there are bidders present and there are parcels still available for sale." The 2026 terms document states it is effective for taxes sold between June 15, 2026 and June 20, 2027, which places the following annual sale in June 2027.
- Next expected
- on the third Monday in June, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
Registration is online only through GovEase. Per the county terms: "Register online at www.GovEase.com. No mailed or emailed registrations will be accepted. Registration will begin Monday, May 18, 2026, and end Thursday, June 11, 2026. All steps in the registration process must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on June 11, 2026." Bidders also pay a non-refundable $40 registration fee by ACH debit and complete an online W-9. All bidders must be 18 or older as of the sale date. An entity bidder must have a federal tax identification number plus either a designation of agent for service of process on file with the Iowa Secretary of State (515-281-5204) or a verified statement of trade name on file with the Carroll County Recorder (712-792-3328). Registration and auction-site support: 769-208-5050 or [email protected].
Carroll County publishes the delinquent tax list in the Carroll Times Herald (508 N Court St, Carroll, IA 51401, 712-792-3573) the week of May 25, and the same parcels are posted for review on GovEase by Friday, May 30. Viewing the parcel data on the auction site requires a completed registration, so there is no open-access county parcel list. Bidding is Iowa's bid-down-ownership-interest method: each parcel opens at a 100% undivided interest and bids step down in whole percentage points from 99% to 1%, with the certificate awarded to the smallest percentage bid and ties broken by random selection. Carroll County does not use batches, and bids may be uploaded before the sale but are not applied until the 9:00 a.m. open. Winners get an invoice at close and the total is drawn by ACH debit from the account used for the registration fee, covering delinquent taxes, special assessments, interest, collection fees, publishing costs, and a $20 certificate fee per certificate. Certificates arrive roughly 7 to 15 days after the sale. Subsequent taxes must be paid through the online subsequent-tax module at iowatreasurers.org ($0.25 per parcel); payments made outside that module are treated as voluntary and are dropped from the redemption calculation. Redemption carries 2% per month interest on the sale amount and on subsequent payments, with each partial month counted as a full month. Certificate assignment costs $100 per transaction and a Treasurer's tax sale deed costs $25 per parcel. The 90-day notice of right of redemption may be issued after one year and nine months for a regular tax sale parcel, or after nine months for a public bidder parcel (advertised two years, flagged with an asterisk on the published list). Certificates are cancelled if no affidavit of service is filed within three years of the sale. Caution: the shared iowatreasurers.org navigation carries a site-wide "Register And Bid For Tax Sales" link pointing to iowataxauction.com, which is the platform other Iowa counties use. Carroll County's own sale documents and treasurer page both direct bidders to GovEase, so use GovEase for this county.
Register on GovEaseFrom lien to deed
- Run by
- County Treasurer
- Frequency
- none
- Typical timing
- Iowa holds no tax deed auction. The treasurer makes out a treasurer's deed to the certificate holder immediately after 90 days have expired from completed service of the notice of expiration of the right of redemption, once the holder returns the certificate and pays the deed and recording fees.
There is nothing for an investor to bid on at the deed stage in Iowa. The only auction is the June certificate sale. The certificate holder must return the certificate of purchase and remit the deed and recording fees within 90 calendar days after the redemption period expires, or the treasurer cancels the certificate.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
Two routes reach parcels after the June sale. Parcels that remain unsold for want of bidders are carried to adjourned sales, which the treasurer sets at intervals of not more than two months until the next annual sale. Separately, certificates struck to the county at the public bidder sale may be assigned by the county for the total amount due on the date of assignment, or for a compromised amount, under a written agreement filed with the treasurer and a 10 dollar assignment transaction fee. Ask the county treasurer which county-held certificates are available for assignment.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Notes for Carroll County
- Treasurer of record is Lisa R. Wagner, in office since July 1, 2020, per the Carroll County Treasurer page on the Iowa County Treasurers portal.
- The treasurer's office sits on the first floor of the Carroll County Courthouse at 114 E 6th St, Carroll. Mail goes to PO Box 68, Carroll, IA 51401. Property tax counter hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Fax is 712-792-9493 and the treasurer's email is [email protected].
- The county's own domain, carrollcountyiowa.gov, returned HTTP 403 to automated requests during this research, so all facts here come from the treasurer's official page and sale documents hosted on the Iowa County Treasurers portal at iowatreasurers.org.
- The treasurer's page mixes sale-year labels in its own copy, referring to a "2026 Tax Sale" heading, a "2025 Carroll County Tax Sale" sentence, and "registration information for the 2024 tax sale" while linking the 2026 terms document. The signed terms and conditions PDF is the reliable record: it governs the annual tax sale of June 15, 2026.
- Carroll County also links a GovEase investor education PDF from the treasurer page for bidders new to Iowa tax sales.
- Redemptions cannot be made online. The treasurer's payment page states tax sale redemptions must be handled through the office.
Iowa statewide rules
- Minimum return
- No statutory minimum return; what you earn is set by the share of ownership taken at the sale
- Redemption
- A parcel may be redeemed at any time before the right of redemption expires. After one year and nine months from the date of sale, the certificate holder may serve a notice of expiration of the right of redemption on the person in possession, the person in whose name the parcel is taxed, and every mortgagee, contract vendor, recorded lessor, and other party of record. The right of redemption then ends 90 days after that service is complete, which means the affidavit of service has been filed with the county treasurer. Three shortened tracks exist: nine months from a public bidder sale under section 446.18, and three months from an abandoned-property or public nuisance sale under section 446.19A or 446.19B. After the treasurer delivers the deed, redemption is possible only through an equitable action in district court, and only by a person who could have redeemed during the 90-day window.
- Surplus proceeds
- No surplus arises. The deed conveys the parcel to the certificate holder rather than selling it to the highest bidder, so there are no excess proceeds to distribute. Where the winning bid was less than 100 percent, the deed conveys only that undivided percentage interest in the parcel.
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 Carroll County, Iowa sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Carroll County follows Iowa's tax lien state system.
When is the Carroll County tax certificate sale?
- Annual tax sale each June, conducted online. The county's 2026 notice states: "The 2026 annual Tax Sale will be held by the Carroll County Treasurer on Monday, June 15, 2026, in the Carroll County Treasurer's Office on the first floor of the Carroll County Courthouse, 114 E 6th St, Carroll, Iowa, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Bidders will place their bids online." Bidding closes at 10:30 a.m. the same morning. The treasurer's page separately notes the sale "will be held online on Monday, June 15, 2026." An adjourned tax sale runs "any business day following the annual tax sale in which there are bidders present and there are parcels still available for sale." The 2026 terms document states it is effective for taxes sold between June 15, 2026 and June 20, 2027, which places the following annual sale in June 2027.. Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the Tax Collector before the sale.
How often does Carroll County hold tax deed sales?
- none. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.
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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