McLean County, IL tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the McLean County, IL tax sale, one of 2,553 counties in 30 states. Illinois sells tax lien certificates paying up to 9%. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Jul 30, 2026.
How tax lien and tax deed sales work in McLean County, seat of Bloomington: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Illinois tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- Tax sale scheduled for November 6, 2026.Friday · 2026
- Format
- In person
- County office
- (309) 888-5180
On this page
How McLean County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- McLean County Treasurer & Tax Collector (the County Treasurer serving as ex officio County Collector)
- Frequency
- annual
- Registration
- Anyone may register.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Anyone may register. Registration forms and a $250 deposit must be received by the Collector's office at least ten business days before the sale, and each tax buyer code must have an IRS Form W-9 on file. Packets come from the office or as a PDF on the Annual Tax Sale page, and may be mailed, emailed to the Treasurer, or faxed, with the fee mailed the same day for electronic submissions. Attendance is mandatory: the $250 is applied to purchases or refunded, but forfeited if a registered bidder does not attend. Only registered bidders may bid, and only one buyer per company.
Sale format and venue
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Sheriff or a court-appointed private selling officer, under an order of the circuit court. A county acting as trustee runs its own tax deed auctions.
- Frequency
- as ordered by the circuit court
- Typical timing
- Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Terms of a judicial tax deed auction, including whether it runs online, in person, or both, and what deposit is required, are set in the court's order and published in the notice of tax deed auction. That notice runs once a week for 3 consecutive weeks, starting no more than 45 days and ending no less than 7 days before the auction. Read the notice for each parcel; there is no statewide platform or standing bidder registration.
Sale format and venue
McLean County tax sale list and auction calendar
For McLean County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.
Get the advertised list
Use Delinquent tax publication, McLean County Treasurer for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
Tax sale scheduled for November 6, 2026. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Sheriff or a court-appointed private selling officer, under an order of the circuit court. A county acting as trustee runs its own tax deed auctions. as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in McLean County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Delinquent tax publication, McLean County Treasurer. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Terms of a judicial tax deed auction, including whether it runs online, in person, or both, and what deposit is required, are set in the court's order and published in the notice of tax deed auction. That notice runs once a week for 3 consecutive weeks, starting no more than 45 days and ending no less than 7 days before the auction. Read the notice for each parcel; there is no statewide platform or standing bidder registration.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Illinois due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in Illinois before you price the title work.Set a walk-away number
Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
unsold liens and deeds
Certificates nobody bids on at the annual sale are forfeited to the county as trustee for the taxing districts. The county may then assign a forfeited certificate to any party or sell property it has acquired, which many counties handle through a delinquent tax agent rather than a public counter. Counties may also offer county-held certificates at a scavenger sale with a minimum bid of $250, or half the tax when total liability is under $500. Ask the county collector and the county clerk which program the county runs and who may buy.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Illinois calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
McLean County Treasurer & Tax Collector
115 East Washington Street, Room M101, P.O. Box 2400, Bloomington, IL 61702-2400
Official websiteCounty notes
- Bidding in McLean County opens at 9 percent rather than the statutory 18 percent maximum, and the lien is awarded to the lowest bidder.
- The sale is fully in person: automated bidding terminals are supplied at the McLean County Government Center, and the county names RAMS Auctions as its automated-sale contractor. No online or remote bidding is offered.
- The parcel list costs $50, is available only to registered tax buyers roughly ten days before the sale, and is delivered by email; printed copies cost $50 plus $5 postage, with updated printouts at $15.
- When no investor bids, the county takes the certificate at 9 percent as trustee for all taxing bodies, and those certificates can later be purchased from the McLean County Clerk.
- Redemption and certificate questions go to the McLean County Clerk at (309) 888-5190; the Treasurer handles the sale itself.
- Subsequent tax payments by certificate holders were accepted from late September through November 5 in the prior cycle, and require County Clerk verification that no redemption has occurred before paying at the Treasurer's office.
- Third-party tax sale listing sites republish McLean County sale details, but the Treasurer's office is the only source for the registration packet and the official parcel list.
Illinois rules
- Redemption
- Property sold at an Illinois tax sale may be redeemed at any time before the redemption period expires. Public Act 104-0553 set the standard period at 3 years from the date of sale for tax certificates issued on or after July 10, 2026. Certificates issued between January 1, 2024 and July 9, 2026 run on the earlier 2.5 year (30 month) track, and on that track the certificate holder could file a written notice with the county clerk extending redemption to a date no later than 3 years from the sale. A short 1 year period applies when the parcel was, on the date of sale, vacant non-farm property, commercial or industrial property, or improved with a structure holding 7 or more residential units. Certificates the county holds or assigns as trustee run on their own schedule under Section 21-385, and an assignee must file notice within 60 days of assignment setting a redemption deadline no later than 3 years from the assignment.
- Deed deposit
- Illinois does not fix a statutory deposit percentage. Deposit and payment terms are set in the court's order authorizing the auction and by the selling officer, so read the notice of tax deed auction for each sale. A purchaser who fails to complete the sale forfeits any deposit already made to the county surplus equity fund, and the court orders a new auction of the property.
- Surplus proceeds
- Any amount by which the winning bid exceeds the minimum bid is surplus. Within 30 days after the court confirms the sale the selling officer deposits the surplus with the county treasurer, who notifies everyone who received the Section 22-10 take notice that the owner at the time of the sale may file a claim for it. A county running its own tax deed auction deposits surplus with the treasurer within 30 days of the sale and notifies interested parties within 60 days. Separately, a previous owner who lost equity through a tax deed can claim an award from the county surplus equity fund, capped at the value of the property when the deed issued less mortgages, liens, and the taxes the purchaser paid.
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 McLean County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the McLean County tax certificate sale?
How often does McLean County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the McLean County tax sale list?
Verified Jul 30, 2026 against official county and state sources.
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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