Skip to content
Tax Sale Atlas

Wabash County, IL tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Wabash 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 Wabash County, seat of Mount Carmel: 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
(618) 262-5262
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Jul 30, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Wabash County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
Wabash County Treasurer, serving as ex officio Wabash County Collector
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Late March or early April, at 10:00 a.m. in the courtroom at the Wabash County Courthouse.
When it runs
Late March or early April, at 10:00 a.m. in the courtroom at the Wabash County Courthouse. The Treasurer's county page states "Tax Sale is Friday, April 5, 2024 at 10:00am in the Courtroom." Local coverage of the 2026 cycle reported that "The annual Wabash County tax sale is scheduled for Friday, March 27th at 10 a.m. in the courtroom." The date moves each year with the second installment due date and the court's judgment date, so confirm the current year with the Treasurer's office at (618) 262-5262.
Registration and deposit

Wabash County does not post a bidder registration packet, deposit amount, or registration deadline online. Register with the Treasurer's office as County Collector before the sale and confirm the required forms, deposit, and cutoff by calling (618) 262-5262 or visiting 401 Market St., Mt. Carmel. The registration requirement and the sale terms appear in the pre-sale notice published in the local newspaper.

Sale format and venue
The annual tax sale runs in person in the courtroom at the Wabash County Courthouse, 401 Market Street, Mount Carmel. No online bidding platform is confirmed for this county's annual certificate sale, so verify remote bidding options with the Treasurer's office before planning to bid from out of county. The delinquent list is published in the local newspaper roughly two weeks ahead of the sale; the Treasurer reported that the 2026 real estate and mobile home list "was officially published in the newspaper on Saturday, March 14th," with Thursday, March 26 the last day to pay before the sale. Separately, Joseph E. Meyer & Associates acts as the county's delinquent tax agent and sells Wabash County trustee inventory through sealed bid tax deed auctions plus an assignable tax lien certificate list at iltaxsale.com, with bids submitted at iltaxsalebids.com. That program is the trustee resale of parcels already forfeited to the county, not the annual certificate sale. In person at the Wabash County Courthouse courtroom

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.

Wabash County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Wabash 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

    Wabash 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) 262-5262 to ask for the current advertisement.
  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 Wabash County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    There is no online list to price against. Wabash County advertises the parcels before the sale rather than posting them, so get the advertisement from the office on (618) 262-5262 and price from the parcel numbers it carries.
  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)

Wabash County Treasurer's Office (ex officio County Collector)

(618) 262-5262

401 Market St., Mt. Carmel, IL 62863

Official website

County notes

  • Wabash County has no standalone county government website. The Treasurer's office publishes its notices on its Illinois County Treasurers Association county page, which is the operative online source for sale dates and deadlines.
  • That page was last refreshed for the 2024 cycle and still carries the April 5, 2024 sale notice, so treat any posted date as stale and call the office to confirm the current year.
  • Ahead of the 2026 sale the Treasurer reported 562 delinquent real estate tax bills and 21 delinquent mobile home tax bills for the 2024 payable 2025 cycle, with just over 95 percent of the levy collected.
  • Third party aggregators publish Wabash County sale dates and parcel counts, but the county releases its list through newspaper publication rather than online, so the printed notice or a call to the Treasurer is the only reliable source for the list.
  • The Joseph E. Meyer & Associates sealed bid auctions listed for Wabash County, most recently January 22, 2027 with a $832.00 minimum bid, are trustee tax deed sales of parcels already forfeited to the county. Catalogs post about 30 days before each auction and the assignable tax lien certificate list is sold for $25.
  • Office detail: Treasurer Angela L. Broster; fax (618) 262-4176; email wctreas@yahoo.com; hours Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

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 Wabash County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Wabash County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.

When is the Wabash County tax certificate sale?

Late March or early April, at 10:00 a.m. in the courtroom at the Wabash County Courthouse. The Treasurer's county page states "Tax Sale is Friday, April 5, 2024 at 10:00am in the Courtroom." Local coverage of the 2026 cycle reported that "The annual Wabash County tax sale is scheduled for Friday, March 27th at 10 a.m. in the courtroom." The date moves each year with the second installment due date and the court's judgment date, so confirm the current year with the Treasurer's office at (618) 262-5262. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Collector before the sale.

How often does Wabash County hold tax deed sales?

Wabash 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.

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.

Browse all 102 Illinois counties

Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

Call Wabash County Treasurer's Office