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Tax Sale Atlas

Montgomery County, IL tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Montgomery 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 state rules plus what the county publishes on Jul 30, 2026.

How tax lien and tax deed sales work in Montgomery County, seat of Hillsboro: 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
Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction.
Format
In person
County office
(217) 532-9521
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Jul 30, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Montgomery County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
Montgomery County Treasurer / Ex-Officio County Collector
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Late October.
Registration
The county publishes no online bidder registration form, deadline or deposit schedule.
Sale list
Montgomery County trustee sale catalog and assignable tax lien certificate list (delinquent tax agent), not the annual sale list
When it runs
Late October. The Treasurer's list of duties reads "Delinquent tax sale at the end of every tax year," and the county's own public calendar has placed the annual tax sale in the last week of October on a Monday every year from 2012 through 2025, including an entry titled "County Treasurer Tax Sale" on October 27, 2025. No 2026 sale date is posted on the calendar yet, so confirm the date with the Treasurer's Office.
Registration and deposit

The county publishes no online bidder registration form, deadline or deposit schedule. The County Clerk's property tax page states that "Any questions on Tax Sale procedures and delinquent property lists prior to the Tax Sale should be addressed to the Montgomery County Treasurer," and its FAQ answers "Where can I get information on tax sales?" with "Contact the Treasurer's Office at (217) 532-9521." Request the bidder terms and registration package from that office or in person at Room 101 of the Historic Courthouse. For the separate trustee sale of parcels left unsold at the annual sale, bidders create an account on ILTaxSaleBids, buy the county catalog, and submit a sealed bid with payment in full by the stated deadline, or file a paper bid at the Treasurer's Office.

Sale format and venue
Two different sales matter to certificate buyers here, and only one of them is the annual tax sale. The annual sale is the certificate sale: the Treasurer, serving as ex officio County Collector, auctions the unpaid taxes, and the County Clerk handles redemption afterward at (217) 532-9530. The county runs that sale in person at the courthouse and posts no online auction portal, no bidder packet and no downloadable delinquent list, so procedures and the pre-sale list come from the Treasurer's Office by phone or in person. The Clerk's page notes that owners are mailed a notice and that a listing of delinquent parcels is published in local newspapers before the sale, and that a tax buyer who pays the following year's taxes does so at 12 percent, with a 2 to 3 year redemption window before a tax deed. Montgomery County appears on the client list for R.A.M.S., the networked laptop bidding system supplied by Joseph E. Meyer and Associates, and that firm announced in 2013 that the county would use it; under R.A.M.S. "Purchasers attend the sale in person and bid via our networked computers," so it is bidding software at a live sale rather than an online auction. The R.A.M.S. schedule page currently lists no Montgomery date, so confirm the format with the Treasurer before travelling. Separately, Joseph E. Meyer and Associates is the delinquent tax agent for most Illinois county boards and resells parcels that went unsold at county tax sales. Its Montgomery County page listed a sealed bid real estate sale on August 14, 2026 with a minimum bid of $838, a $5 digital catalog, a $25 assignable tax lien certificate list and free 2024 and 2025 results, with bids submitted through ILTaxSaleBids. That trustee sale is a separate auction from the county's annual tax sale. In person at the Montgomery County Historic Courthouse, county board room
Source: Montgomery County, Illinois: Treasurer / Ex-Officio County Collector· Verified Jul 30, 2026

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
Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction. Public Act 104-0553 created this route for tax certificates issued on or after July 10, 2026, so the earliest Illinois judicial tax deed auctions fall in 2027, after the 1 year short redemption track 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
Bidding opens at the tax deed judgment amount plus 0.75 percent per month since judgment, plus publication and selling officer costs. The petitioning certificate holder is entered as a credit bidder at that minimum. Surplus above the minimum goes to the county treasurer for the former owner to claim.
Source: Public Act 104-0553 (HB 4537), enrolled text of 35 ILCS 200/22-42 (new), effective July 10, 202635 ILCS 200/22-42· Verified Jul 29, 2026

Montgomery County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Montgomery 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.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Montgomery County trustee sale catalog and assignable tax lien certificate list (delinquent tax agent), not the annual sale list for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.

  3. Sale day

    Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction. 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.

  4. 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 Montgomery County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Montgomery County trustee sale catalog and assignable tax lien certificate list (delinquent tax agent), not the annual sale list. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

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)

Montgomery County Treasurer / Ex-Officio County Collector

(217) 532-9521

Montgomery County Historic Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Square, Room 101, Hillsboro, IL 62049

Official website

County notes

  • Montgomery County has no dedicated tax sale page. The only official references to the annual sale are the Treasurer's duty list ("Delinquent tax sale at the end of every tax year") and the Tax Redemption section of the County Clerk's property tax page ("Every year the Montgomery County Treasurer holds the County's annual Tax Sale to auction off all unpaid taxes for the current year"). A site search of montgomerycountyil.gov for "tax sale" returns only those two pages.
  • The late October timing is drawn from the county's own published calendar, which shows tax sale entries on the last Monday of October in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, several of them reserving the county board room. The calendar carries 2026 events through December but no 2026 tax sale entry, so the date for this year is not yet set publicly.
  • Redemption is a County Clerk function, not a Treasurer function: (217) 532-9530, cash, certified funds or money order payable to the Montgomery County Clerk. The Clerk also issues the estimate of redemption and mails the take notice prepared by the tax buyer.
  • Treasurer fax is (217) 532-2404. Office hours for property tax business are listed by the Illinois county treasurers association as Monday through Friday, 8:00 to 4:00; confirm before visiting.
  • Parcel level tax data is available at the county's DEVNET wEdge portal, montgomeryil.devnetwedge.com, which is a lookup tool rather than a delinquent or sale list.
  • montgomeryco.com appears on some directory listings as the county website but no longer resolves. The live domain is montgomerycountyil.gov. montgomerycountyiltax.com is the county's Catalis online tax payment site, not an auction platform.
  • The root of iltaxsale.com is blocked by the host's security module for automated clients; the working entry point is /new/index.php.

Illinois rules

Max interest rate
9% per redemption period maximum, bid down at auction
Minimum return
No statutory minimum return; what you earn is set by the penalty rate at the sale
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.
Governing statute
35 ILCS 200, Articles 21 and 22

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.

See the full Illinoisrules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Montgomery County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Montgomery County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.

When is the Montgomery County tax certificate sale?

Late October. The Treasurer's list of duties reads "Delinquent tax sale at the end of every tax year," and the county's own public calendar has placed the annual tax sale in the last week of October on a Monday every year from 2012 through 2025, including an entry titled "County Treasurer Tax Sale" on October 27, 2025. No 2026 sale date is posted on the calendar yet, so confirm the date with the Treasurer's Office. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Collector before the sale.

How often does Montgomery County hold tax deed sales?

Montgomery County holds its tax deed sale as ordered by the circuit court. Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Illinois's redemption rule: 3 years from the date of sale, or 1 year for vacant non-farm, commercial, industrial, and 7-or-more-unit residential property. Call 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. as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the Montgomery County tax sale list?

Montgomery County posts its tax sale list at iltaxsale.com. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

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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