Monroe County, IL tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Monroe 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 Monroe County, seat of Waterloo: 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 January 14, 2027.Thursday · 2027
- Format
- In person
- County office
- 618-939-8681 ext. 213
On this page
How Monroe County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Monroe County Treasurer and Collector
- Frequency
- annual
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Prospective buyers file a Certificate of Registration with the Monroe County Treasurer and Collector, executed under 35 ILCS 200/21-220. The form posted by the office asks for the name in which certificates of purchase are to be issued, mailing address, tax ID number, phone, fax or email, and the authorized agents or employees who may bid and receive certificates. The posted version was prepared for the 2020 tax sale held in January 2022, so confirm the current registration deadline, any registration fee, and deposit terms with the office at 618-939-8681 ext. 213 before the sale.
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
Monroe County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Monroe 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
Monroe County publishes no tax sale list online. The 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. advertises the parcels ahead of the sale rather than posting them, so the list reaches bidders through the county legal newspaper and the office itself. Call 618-939-8681 ext. 213 to ask for the current advertisement.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 January 14, 2027. 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 Monroe County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
There is no online list to price against. Monroe County advertises the parcels before the sale rather than posting them, so get the advertisement from the office on 618-939-8681 ext. 213 and price from the parcel numbers it carries.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
County notes
- The sale is an in-person courthouse sale at 100 S. Main St. in Waterloo. Budget for attending or sending an authorized agent, since the registration form names the agents and employees allowed to bid.
- Registration is a Certificate of Registration filed with the Treasurer and Collector under 35 ILCS 200/21-220. The copy posted on the county site dates from the 2020 tax year sale, so call the office for the current form and cutoff.
- Timing follows the county's installment calendar. For 2025 taxes payable in 2026, installments were due September 18, 2026 and November 6, 2026, with the sale set for January 14, 2027 at 9:00 AM.
- Redemption money goes to the Monroe County Clerk's Office, not the Treasurer, so certificate holders track payoff and interest through the Clerk.
- No delinquent or sale list is posted on the county website. Contact the Treasurer's Office to obtain the list before the sale.
- Parcel and tax lookup is hosted for the county by Fike and Fike, linked from the Treasurer's Parcel Inquiry page.
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 Monroe County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Monroe County tax certificate sale?
How often does Monroe County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
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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