Washington County, IN tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Washington County, IN tax sale, one of 2,553 counties in 30 states. Indiana sells tax lien certificates paying up to 15%, redeemable for 1 year. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Jul 30, 2026.
How tax lien sales work in Washington County, seat of Salem: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Indiana tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- Bidders register with SRI at sriservices.com.
- County office
- 812-883-3307
On this page
How Washington County sells delinquent taxes
From lien to deed
Indiana holds no general public tax deed auction. Once the redemption period runs out, the certificate holder files a verified petition in the same court that entered the judgment of sale, and the court directs the county auditor to issue the deed. That petition must be filed no later than three months after the redemption period expires, or the purchaser's lien terminates. One narrow exception exists: real property a county, city, or town executive has certified as vacant or abandoned is auctioned separately, and there the county auditor deeds fee simple title straight to the highest bidder with no right of redemption.
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Washington County Treasurer together with the Washington County Auditor, with SRI Incorporated handling bidder registration and the published property list
- Frequency
- annual
- Registration
- Bidders register with SRI at sriservices.com.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Bidders register with SRI at sriservices.com. The notice says "If you are interested in bidding on the tax sale for an Indiana county, you may register online at https://sriservices.com/. This registration is good for all counties that SRI services," and that bidders without internet access may register the morning of the sale. Bring the completed registration form and a W-9, printable from the registration site, and arrive at least 30 minutes before the 10:00 AM start to be sure of getting a bid number. Under IC 6-1.1-24-5.1 a business entity bidding at the Washington County tax sale must provide a Certificate of Existence or Foreign Registration Statement from the Secretary of State to the Washington County Treasurer.
Sale format and venue
Washington County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Washington 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.
Get the advertised list
Use Notice of real property tax sale with full parcel list (2025) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
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 Washington County Treasurer together with the Washington County Auditor, with SRI Incorporated handling bidder registration and the published property list as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Washington County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Notice of real property tax sale with full parcel list (2025). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Bidders register with SRI at sriservices.com. The notice says "If you are interested in bidding on the tax sale for an Indiana county, you may register online at https://sriservices.com/. This registration is good for all counties that SRI services," and that bidders without internet access may register the morning of the sale. Bring the completed registration form and a W-9, printable from the registration site, and arrive at least 30 minutes before the 10:00 AM start to be sure of getting a bid number. Under IC 6-1.1-24-5.1 a business entity bidding at the Washington County tax sale must provide a Certificate of Existence or Foreign Registration Statement from the Secretary of State to the Washington County Treasurer.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Indiana due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.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 certificates
Parcels that draw no bid at the treasurer's tax sale pass to the county executive, which acquires a lien for the minimum sale price and receives a tax sale certificate. The county executive may then adopt a resolution and offer those certificates at a separate advertised public sale, often called the commissioners' certificate sale, priced below the minimum bid that failed at the tax sale. Notice runs once a week for three consecutive weeks with the final advertisement at least 30 days before the sale. This is a scheduled sale rather than a walk-in list, and redemption on a certificate bought this way is 120 days. Check the county auditor page for the next commissioners' certificate sale date.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Indiana calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
County notes
- The minimum bid is set by statute and covers the delinquent taxes and special assessments on the parcel, the taxes and assessments due and payable in the year of the sale, all penalties on the delinquencies, an auditor-prescribed amount of $85 for postage and publication plus any other costs directly attributable to the tax sale, and any unpaid costs from a prior tax sale under IC 6-1.1-24-2(c). The notice warns that minimum bid amounts are subject to change before the auction date.
- Redemption costs 110% of the minimum bid if paid within six months of the sale and 115% if paid more than six months after the sale, plus the amount by which the purchase price exceeded the minimum bid with 5% per annum interest on that excess, plus any taxes and special assessments the purchaser paid after the sale with 5% per annum interest.
- For the October 8, 2025 sale the notice set the redemption deadline at Thursday, October 8, 2026 for certificates sold at the sale, and stated that for certificates struck to the county the redemption period may expire Thursday, February 5, 2026.
- The county auditor and county treasurer applied for a court judgment on or after 09/19/2025. Any defense to the application had to be filed with the Washington County Circuit Court and served on the auditor and treasurer before that date.
- The Auditor and Treasurer reserve the right to withhold any parcel listed in error or that otherwise becomes ineligible before or during the sale, and the county does not warrant the accuracy of street addresses or common descriptions.
- Under IC 6-1.1-24-3(e) property descriptions may be omitted for parcels that appear on the certified list in consecutive years, so the advertised list can be thinner than the actual inventory.
- Tax deeds and post-sale paperwork run through the Washington County Auditor, Kyra Stephenson, 99 Public Square Suite 103, Salem, IN 47167, phone 812-883-4805. Both offices are open Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm.
Indiana rules
- Redemption
- The standard period is one year after the date of the treasurer's tax sale. Several tracks run 120 days instead: a certificate bought at the county executive's certificate sale, a lien the county executive holds that was never sold on, a sale to a purchasing agency qualified under IC 36-7-17 or IC 36-7-17.1, a certificate the county executive assigns to another political subdivision, and a parcel that was not offered at the tax sale at all. Property on the county auditor's vacant and abandoned list carries no right of redemption after its sale. A county treasurer may also extend redemption by agreement with the owner, in which case the extended period ends one year after the date of that agreement.
- Surplus proceeds
- The treasurer applies the payment first to the taxes, assessments, penalties, and costs in the minimum bid, then to other delinquent property taxes, then deposits the remainder in a tax sale surplus fund. The owner of record at the time the parcel was certified for sale, or the purchaser on a redemption, may file a verified claim against that fund. Unclaimed surplus transfers to the county general fund three years after it was received.
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 Washington County, Indiana sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Washington County tax certificate sale?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Washington 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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