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Wisconsin Tax Deed Sales and Auctions

Wisconsin sells the deed itself, so no statutory investor interest rate applies under Wis. Stat. ch. 74. Tax Sale Atlas holds the sale calendar, auction platform and list locations for all 72 Wisconsin counties, each read from the county’s own official pages and checked against the statute on Sep 10, 2026.

Wisconsin is a tax deed state, and it is a strict one: no tax lien certificate is ever sold to an investor. Read more…

On September 1 each year the county treasurer issues a tax certificate to the county itself on every parcel still unpaid at the close of business on August 31, and s. 74.57(3) bars the county from selling, assigning or otherwise transferring it to a bidder. Two years later, if nobody has redeemed, the county takes a tax deed under s. 75.14, forecloses the certificate like a mortgage under s. 75.19, or forecloses the tax lien in rem under s. 75.521. Every one of those routes puts title in the county. The only event an investor can bid at comes afterward, when the county disposes of land it already owns under ss. 75.35, 75.36 and 75.69, by open or closed bid, at a price that must clear the appraised value on the first offering. Counties call it a tax deed land sale, a county-owned property sale, or a surplus land sale. The governing law is chapter 74 for collection and chapter 75 for land sold for taxes.

Rules verified Sep 10, 2026 against Wisconsin Statutes.

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Sale type: Tax deed
Redemption: 2 years (1 for some)
Auction method: open or closed bid
Over-the-counter: Available

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Tax deed sales

The deed process can lead to property ownership. Confirm the steps below, the interest conveyed, and the title and possession requirements for the parcel. If the parcels you are bidding on are vacant land rather than houses, see what buying land at a tax sale hands you.

Auction method: open or closed bid

Runs afterA statutory clock the county runs against itself, not an application by a certificate holder. More…

On September 1 the county treasurer issues a tax certificate to the county on every parcel unpaid at the close of business on August 31, and within 90 days mails notice to each owner of record. Two years after issuance, if the parcel has not been redeemed, s. 74.57(2)(b) entitles the county to take a tax deed under s. 75.14, to foreclose the certificate by action as in a case of a mortgage under s. 75.19, or to foreclose the tax lien by action in rem under s. 75.521. Before a tax deed issues on the s. 75.14 route the county must serve written notice of application for tax deed on an owner of record, on an occupant where the parcel carries an occupied dwelling or business or agricultural building, and on at least one mortgagee of each unsatisfied recorded mortgage, then wait 3 months. The county board must also pass a resolution ordering issuance. Whichever route the county takes, title lands in the county in fee simple. The investor-facing event comes afterward, when the county sells land it now owns under ss. 75.35, 75.36 and 75.69. Two steps in this sequence look like investor sales and are not: the September 1 tax certificate issued to the county under s. 74.57, and a sale of tax certificate revenues under s. 74.635, which sells a payment stream and conveys no interest in any parcel.

Run byCounty Board of Supervisors, acting through the County Treasurer, the County Clerk, or a committee the board designates by ordinance. More…

In a 1st class city that collects its own taxes under s. 74.87, s. 75.06 gives the city's counterpart officials the same powers, so that city runs its own foreclosures and its own sales rather than the county.

DepositWisconsin fixes no statutory deposit. Section 75.35(2)(am) lets the county board sell its tax-deeded lands in whatever manner and on whatever terms it sets by ordinance or resolution, and s. More…

75.35(2)(d) lets the board delegate that power to a committee, an officer or a department, or hire licensed real estate brokers on commission. Deposits are county rules, not state law. St. Croix County requires a 10 percent deposit by cashier's check or money order with each sealed bid and rejects personal checks. Counties selling through the statewide online auctioneer instead take payment by certified check or wire transfer under the platform's terms. Read the county's own bid packet before you bid.

Balance dueNo statutory deadline. Payment terms are set by the county board under s. More…

75.35(2)(am). On the sealed-bid route the award itself is not immediate: St. Croix County opens bids at a public hearing of its Tax Deed Committee and then sends them to the Administration Committee, and Oconto County presents the closing bids from its online auction to the Administration Committee at that body's monthly meeting. The balance is normally due after that acceptance, which can be weeks after the bid opening. Confirm the county's own schedule before you commit funds.

Surplus proceedsWisconsin returns the surplus to the former owner, and the county treasurer has to go find them. More…

On taking the tax deed the treasurer must notify the former owner by registered or certified mail, at the mailing address on the tax bill, that the former owner may be entitled to a share of the proceeds of a future sale. When the county sells, the treasurer computes net proceeds by subtracting foreclosure, record-keeping, legal, advertising and title insurance costs, the actual maintenance, board-up, clean-up and demolition costs reasonably needed to sell, real estate agent or broker fees, and all unpaid general property taxes, interest, penalties, special assessments, special charges and special taxes. From the net proceeds the treasurer pays any managed forest withdrawal tax and fee, then the taxing jurisdictions' special assessments and special charges, prorated if the money runs short. Anything still remaining goes to the former owner, less any delinquent taxes, interest and penalties that person owes the county on other property. A payment unclaimed one year after mailing becomes unclaimed funds under s. 59.66(2), and no interest is paid on any of it.

Homestead parcelsOwner-occupied homes are treated differently, and the difference can pull a parcel off the list. More…

For single-family, owner-occupied properties the county board must by ordinance give the former owner who lost title, or that person's heirs or beneficiaries, the right to buy the land back before it is sold, on paying the costs and expenses under s. 75.36(3)(a), the property taxes that would have been owed for the year of the purchase, and enough to satisfy any other liens at the time of foreclosure plus the county's repurchase costs. The board may extend the same right to other property types at its option. A sale under that ordinance is exempt from s. 75.69 altogether, so it never reaches a public bid. Counties set their own window. Dane County gives the former owner 60 days from delivery of the treasurer's certified-mail notice. Treat an owner-occupied house on a Wisconsin land sale list as provisional until the repurchase window has closed.

Confirm marketability and insurance requirements with a title professional. Budget any title-clearing work and delays before relying on a resale. See the due diligence guide, or check what survives a tax deed in Wisconsin.

Redemption, delinquency, and over-the-counter at a glance

Redemption

How longThe redemption right in Wisconsin runs against the county, and it is over before an investor sees the parcel. More…

Issuance of the tax certificate on September 1 starts the clock. Two years later the county may take its deed or start a foreclosure, but the right to redeem does not end on that anniversary: under s. 75.01(1)(b) any person may redeem at any time before the tax deed is presented to the register of deeds and accepted for record, and a redemption before recording makes the deed void as to the land redeemed. On the in rem route under s. 75.521 the county publishes a notice fixing the last day for redemption at least 8 weeks after first publication, and an interested party may instead serve a verified answer within 30 days after that date on the three grounds the section allows. Once the deed is recorded or judgment is entered, redemption is finished. Between the two, at least 6 and not more than 10 months before the redemption period expires, the county treasurer must publish a class 2 notice listing every unredeemed parcel with its amount due and the last day of redemption, which is the public list an investor can watch. Two things can still pull a parcel off a sale list afterward: the minor and incompetency extension in s. 75.03, and the former owner repurchase right in s. 75.35(3).

What the owner paysThe unpaid taxes stated in the tax certificate, plus the interest and any penalty under s. More…

74.47 computed from the accrual date the certificate specifies, plus any other charge the law allows to be added to the certificate after issuance. That works out to 1 percent per month or fraction of a month, plus up to 0.5 percent per month more where the county board has adopted the optional penalty ordinance, so up to 1.5 percent per month or 18 percent a year, uncompounded. Partial payments of $20 or more are allowed and do not extend the period. Where notice of application for tax deed has been served, a later redemption also pays $1.50 for each person served, or the cost of the certified mailings, plus the cost of any publication. On the in rem route the redeeming party also pays the county's reasonable costs of initiating the proceeding and a share of the publication cost.

Delinquency

How it startsReal property taxes are payable in full by January 31 or in two equal installments due January 31 and July 31. More…

Miss the first installment and the entire unpaid balance is delinquent as of February 1; miss the second and the entire unpaid balance is delinquent as of August 1. Interest then runs at 1 percent per month or fraction of a month from the preceding February 1, and any county board, or the common council of a city collecting its own taxes under s. 74.87, may by ordinance add a penalty of up to 0.5 percent per month on top. The combined statutory ceiling is 1.5 percent per month, which is 18 percent a year, and none of it is compounded. That money is retained by the county treasurer for the county. Anyone may clear the delinquency at any time before the tax certificate issues.

Over-the-counter

How to buyWisconsin has no statewide over-the-counter program at a fixed statutory price, and nothing like a state-held certificate to assign. More…

What it has instead is county inventory that stays for sale. Section 75.35(2)(am) lets the county board sell its tax-deeded lands in whatever manner and on whatever terms it sets, and s. 75.35(2)(d) lets it hire licensed real estate brokers on commission. Section 75.69(1) accepts a multiple listing service posting as the required advertisement, so a county parcel can simply sit on the open market until someone buys it. After a parcel has been advertised once and not sold, the county may sell it for any amount, subject to a further class 1 notice and to county board or committee approval where the price is below appraised value. The practical route is to ask the county treasurer or land committee for the current list of unsold county-owned parcels and make a written offer. Approval still runs through the board or its designated committee, so nothing closes across a counter on the day. Counties name the same event differently, so search for all of them: a tax deed land sale, a county-owned property sale, a surplus land sale, or a foreclosed property sale.

What is availableThere is no Lands Available for Taxes list of the Florida kind and no escheat to the state. More…

A county keeps what it does not sell and remains under a duty to keep offering it: a first advertisement within 240 days of acquisition, and within 180 days for property acquired from 2026, with longer clocks for the parcel classes in s. 75.69(1m) in a county of 750,000 or more. A county may petition the circuit court that handled the foreclosure for relief from a deadline on a specific parcel. Land a county holds as county forest land is outside s. 75.69 entirely and is sold under the forestry statutes instead.

Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Wisconsin calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.

All 72 Wisconsin counties

Sales are organized by county. Search your city or county and compare the available sale details. Where deed-sale formats are listed, filter for online or in-person sales. Certificate platforms appear where that sale type is available.

Frequently asked questions

Does Wisconsin sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax deeds only, and not the way most deed states do it. Wisconsin sells no tax lien certificates to investors at all. Under s. 74.57(1) the county treasurer issues the tax certificate to the county itself on September 1, and s. 74.57(3) bars the county from selling, assigning, or otherwise transferring it to a bidder. The county later takes title by tax deed or foreclosure and then sells the land it owns.

Can I buy a Wisconsin tax lien certificate as an investor?

No. There is no auction at which a Wisconsin tax certificate is offered to bidders, and the statute bars the county from transferring one. If a county page appears to advertise a tax certificate sale, read it closely, because it is nearly always describing the September 1 issuance of the certificate to the county itself. A separate statute, s. 74.635, lets a county sell its right to receive tax certificate revenues, but that is a financing transaction over a payment stream and conveys no lien on any parcel and no route to a deed.

What is the Wisconsin sale an investor can actually bid at?

The county land sale under s. 75.69, held after the county already owns the parcel. Counties call it a tax deed land sale, a county-owned property sale, a surplus land sale, or a foreclosed property sale. A county may sell by open or closed bid, so the format ranges from an online auction to a sealed bid opened at a committee meeting to a broker listing on a multiple listing service.

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