Linn County, IA tax sales
How tax lien certificate sales work in Linn County, seat of Cedar Rapids: 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 Linn County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Linn County Treasurer
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual tax sale on the third Monday in June. The county's 2026 rules state: "The 2026 Annual Tax Sale will be held by the Linn County Treasurer on Monday, June 15, 2026, at the Linn County Treasurer's Office at 935 2nd St SW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, beginning at 9:00 a.m." Bids upload in advance but do not apply until the sale opens at 9:00 a.m., and the sale closes at 11:00 a.m. the same morning.
- Next expected
- on the third Monday in June, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
Register online at iowataxauction.com. The county states no mailed or emailed registrations are accepted. For 2026 the registration window ran Monday, May 18, 2026 through Thursday, June 11, 2026, with all steps completed by 11:59 p.m. on June 11. Registration requires a non-refundable $37.00 fee paid by ACH debit and an electronically completed W-9. Bidders must be 18 or older as of the sale date. An entity bidder needs 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 Linn County Recorder. Auction site and registration support is listed at (800) 800-9588 or [email protected].
Bidding is fully online through iowataxauction.com even though the sale is legally held at the Treasurer's Office at 935 2nd St SW, Cedar Rapids (the Jean Oxley Public Service Center). Parcels are offered in published order, one at a time, with no batches. Each parcel starts at a 100% undivided interest and bidders bid down in whole percentage points from 99% to 1%; the certificate goes to the smallest percentage bid, and ties at the lowest percentage are broken by random selection. Winners are invoiced at close and the total is drawn by automatic ACH debit from the account used for the registration fee. The total covers delinquent taxes, special assessments, interest, special assessment collection fees, publishing costs, and a $20.00 certificate fee per certificate. Certificates arrive electronically in roughly 7 to 15 days; the original stays in the Treasurer's office. Redemption carries 2% per month against the amount for which the parcel sold, with each fraction of a month counted as a whole month. On a regular tax sale the 90-day Notice of Right of Redemption may issue after one year and nine months; on a public bidder sale (parcels advertised two years) it may issue after nine months. Assignment of a certificate costs $100.00 and that fee is not added to the redemption amount. A Treasurer's tax sale deed costs $25.00 per parcel, and the certificate plus deed fee and recording fees are due within 90 days after the redemption period expires. The Treasurer cancels any certificate where no affidavit of service is filed within three years of the sale. The delinquent tax list was published the week of May 25, 2026 in the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun, and registered bidders could review parcels on the auction site by Friday, May 29, 2026. Subsequent taxes are paid at the office or through the subsequent tax payment option at iowataxandtags.org; payments made outside that process are treated as voluntary and left out of redemption calculations. The 2026 terms apply to taxes sold between June 15, 2026 and June 21, 2027, so confirm the current year's date and registration window with the Treasurer before bidding.
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 Linn County
- Linn County is the second most populous county in Iowa and its seat is Cedar Rapids, so the annual sale list is large: the 2026 delinquent tax list runs to hundreds of numbered items spanning city parcels, rural acreage, and condominium units.
- The Treasurer at the time of the 2026 sale is Brent C. Oleson, whose name appears on both the tax sale rules and the published delinquent tax list.
- The published notice names the Jean Oxley Public Service Center as the sale location; that is the same building as the Treasurer's office at 935 2nd St SW, Cedar Rapids.
- The Treasurer's office also handles tax sale redemptions and issues tax sale deeds, so redemption questions go to the same office and phone number.
- The county posts the tax sale rules and the publication list as PDFs under its Property Tax section rather than on a dedicated tax sale landing page, so check that section each spring for the current year's documents.
- Linn County's fax is listed as (319) 892-5549 and its general email as [email protected] on the tax sale rules.
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 Linn County, Iowa sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Linn County follows Iowa's tax lien state system.
When is the Linn County tax certificate sale?
- Annual tax sale on the third Monday in June. The county's 2026 rules state: "The 2026 Annual Tax Sale will be held by the Linn County Treasurer on Monday, June 15, 2026, at the Linn County Treasurer's Office at 935 2nd St SW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, beginning at 9:00 a.m." Bids upload in advance but do not apply until the sale opens at 9:00 a.m., and the sale closes at 11:00 a.m. the same morning.. 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 Linn 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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