Cedar County, IA tax sales
How tax lien certificate sales work in Cedar County, seat of Tipton: 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 Cedar County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Cedar County Treasurer
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual tax sale on the third Monday in June. The Treasurer's tax sale page says the sale is "held annually on the third Monday in June" and is conducted "online at www.iowataxauction.com." The 2026 notice set the sale for Monday, June 15, 2026, with bidding opening at 9:00 a.m. and closing at 10:30 a.m. An adjourned sale is held on any business day after the annual sale when bidders are present and parcels remain available.
- Next expected
- on the third Monday in June, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
Register online at www.iowataxauction.com. The Treasurer accepts no mailed or emailed registrations. For the 2026 sale, registration opened Monday, May 18, 2026 and closed Thursday, June 11, 2026, with every step finished by 11:59 p.m. on the closing date. Bidders pay a non-refundable $40.00 registration fee by ACH debit and complete an online W-9. Entity bidders need a federal tax identification number plus either a designation of agent for service of process on file with the Iowa Secretary of State or a verified trade name statement on file with the Cedar County Recorder. All bidders must be at least 18 years old on sale day. Auction site support is listed at (800) 800-9588 or [email protected].
Bidding is online through the Iowa Tax Auction site, while the Treasurer administers the sale from the office on the first floor of the Cedar County Courthouse in Tipton. The delinquent tax list is published in The Tipton Conservative the week of June 1, and the county page says qualifying unpaid parcels are published in the official county publication once during the last week in May. Registered bidders could review parcels on the auction site by Friday, May 29 for the 2026 sale. Bidding is the Iowa bid-down of undivided interest: each parcel opens at a 100% undivided interest and bids step down in whole percentage points from 99% to 1%, with the certificate going to the smallest percentage bid and ties broken by random selection. Cedar County does not use batches. Winners are invoiced at the close and the total is drawn by ACH debit from the account used for the registration fee, including delinquent taxes, special assessments, interest, publishing costs, and a $20.00 certificate fee per certificate. Certificates arrive in roughly 7 to 15 days. Subsequent taxes must be paid through the subsequent tax payment module at www.iowatreasurers.org, at $0.25 per parcel, or they are treated as voluntary payments and left out of the redemption calculation. Redemption carries 2% per month on the sale amount and on subsequent payments, with any fraction of a month counted as a full month. On regular tax sale parcels the 90 day notice of right of redemption may be issued after one year and nine months; on public bidder parcels, which carry an asterisk on the published list because they were advertised two years, that notice may be issued after nine months. A certificate is canceled if no affidavit of service under Iowa Code section 447.12 is filed within three years of the sale. The Treasurer's deed issuance fee is $25.00 per parcel, and the certificate, deed fee, and recording fees are due within 90 calendar days after the redemption period expires. Assignments carry a $100.00 transaction fee that is not added to the redemption amount.
Register on SRI / ZEUSFrom 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 Cedar County
- Cedar County is a lien state county: the June sale sells tax sale certificates, not deeds, under Iowa Code chapters 446, 447, and 448.
- The county seat is Tipton, and the Treasurer's office sits on the first floor of the Cedar County Courthouse at 400 Cedar St.
- The Treasurer's office lists a fax at 563-886-3340 and the general address [email protected] on its tax sale notice.
- The 2026 terms document states it governs taxes sold between June 15, 2026 and June 20, 2027 and their assignments, so investors should pull the fresh notice each spring.
- Parcel and tax lookups for Cedar County run through the statewide Iowa Treasurers portal at iowatreasurers.org.
- The county's property tax page notes delinquent taxes as of May 1 are assessed a publication fee and must be advertised for the June sale, and that a tax sale notice is mailed to the taxpayer of record no later than May 1.
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 Cedar County, Iowa sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Cedar County follows Iowa's tax lien state system.
When is the Cedar County tax certificate sale?
- Annual tax sale on the third Monday in June. The Treasurer's tax sale page says the sale is "held annually on the third Monday in June" and is conducted "online at www.iowataxauction.com." The 2026 notice set the sale for Monday, June 15, 2026, with bidding opening at 9:00 a.m. and closing at 10:30 a.m. An adjourned sale is held on any business day after the annual sale when bidders are present and parcels remain available.. 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 Cedar 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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