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Tax Sale Atlas

Black Hawk County, IA tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Black Hawk County, IA tax sale, one of 2,553 counties in 30 states. Iowa sells tax lien certificates paying up to 24%. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Jul 29, 2026.

How tax lien sales work in Black Hawk 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 Iowa tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next sale
Iowa holds no tax deed auction.
Format
In person
Registration
Registration is on paper with the Treasurer's office, not through an online portal.
County office
319-833-3013
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Jul 29, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Black Hawk County sells delinquent taxes

From lien to deed

Iowa holds no separate tax deed auction. The county treasurer makes out a deed for each parcel sold and unredeemed immediately after 90 days have expired from the date of completed service of the notice of expiration of the right of redemption, once the holder returns the certificate of purchase and pays the deed and recording fees.

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
Black Hawk County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Third Monday in June.
Registration
Registration is on paper with the Treasurer's office, not through an online portal.
Next expected
on the third Monday in June, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Sale list
Delinquent tax list and adjourned tax sale list
When it runs
Third Monday in June. The county states: "The annual Black Hawk County Tax Sale is held on the third Monday in June in the IT Conference Room, Room 204, 316 East 5th Street. The sale begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. each day until all delinquent taxes have been offered for sale." The county tax calendar lists "Annual Tax Sale, 3rd Monday of June (446.7; 446.15)", and the current terms packet sets the sale for Monday, June 15, 2026.
Registration and deposit

Registration is on paper with the Treasurer's office, not through an online portal. Each bidder files a Bidder Registration Form and an IRS W-9 with original signatures, plus a Registration of Authorized Agent form if an agent will bid for them and an Authorization Agreement for Electronic Funds Transfer to receive redemption money by ACH. A returning bidder who registered for the prior year's sale does not need a new W-9 unless the entity is new. The terms packet requires the completed documents to reach the Treasurer's office by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 29, 2026, and a $40 per bidder registration fee must accompany them. Each registered bidder needs its own Social Security or Federal ID number, and only one agent may represent a group at the sale. Full payment is due at the close of the sale or when a bidder finishes purchasing, by personal or business check, money order, or other guaranteed funds, plus a $20 certificate fee for each Certificate of Purchase issued. A dishonored check carries a $30 service fee.

Sale format and venue
Black Hawk County runs its annual tax sale in person, not online. Treasurer staff seat bidders in the IT Conference Room, Room 204, on the second floor of the courthouse at 316 E 5th Street, and each parcel is announced by item number in parcel number order. Every bid is for the exact amount of delinquent taxes, special assessments, interest, fees and costs, so competing bidders bid down the undivided percentage interest they will take in the parcel instead of bidding the price. That bid down is made verbally in 10 percent increments, then in 1 percent increments once 10 percent is reached, with 1 percent the minimum acceptable bid. If bidding stalls or bidders tie at the lowest percentage, the Treasurer's representative uses a random selection process, and the selected bidder must promptly say "sold" or "pass". No auction platform hosts this sale, so treat any third-party site that advertises the Black Hawk County sale with caution and confirm with the Treasurer's office. Some Iowa counties sell certificates through the statewide Iowa Tax Auction site, but Black Hawk County's own terms describe verbal bidding in the courthouse. Parcels offered but unsold at the annual sale move to an adjourned tax sale in the Treasurer's office, Room 140. The current terms packet says that adjourned sale runs daily during business hours, while the county web page describes it as beginning at 8 a.m. on the third Monday of each month, so confirm the current schedule with the office. Delinquencies as of May 1 are published in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier on or about June 1, and the county posts daily PDF updates of the delinquency list on its website. A Delinquent Tax Statement and Tax Sale Notice is mailed in April, and a $4 service fee per parcel applies to delinquencies paid in April or May. In person at the Black Hawk County Courthouse, IT Conference Room 204. No online auction platform is used.
Source: Black Hawk County Treasurer, Tax Sale· Verified Jul 29, 2026

Black Hawk County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Black Hawk 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.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Delinquent tax list and adjourned tax sale list for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Registration is on paper with the Treasurer's office, not through an online portal. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    Iowa holds no tax deed 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 County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Black Hawk County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Delinquent tax list and adjourned tax sale list. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Registration is on paper with the Treasurer's office, not through an online portal. Each bidder files a Bidder Registration Form and an IRS W-9 with original signatures, plus a Registration of Authorized Agent form if an agent will bid for them and an Authorization Agreement for Electronic Funds Transfer to receive redemption money by ACH. A returning bidder who registered for the prior year's sale does not need a new W-9 unless the entity is new. The terms packet requires the completed documents to reach the Treasurer's office by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 29, 2026, and a $40 per bidder registration fee must accompany them. Each registered bidder needs its own Social Security or Federal ID number, and only one agent may represent a group at the sale. Full payment is due at the close of the sale or when a bidder finishes purchasing, by personal or business check, money order, or other guaranteed funds, plus a $20 certificate fee for each Certificate of Purchase issued. A dishonored check carries a $30 service fee.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Iowa due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.

  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

Two routes reach parcels after the June sale. Parcels that remain unsold for want of bidders are carried to adjourned sales, which the treasurer sets at intervals of not more than two months until the next annual sale. Separately, certificates struck to the county at the public bidder sale may be assigned by the county for the total amount due on the date of assignment, or for a compromised amount, under a written agreement filed with the treasurer and a 10 dollar assignment transaction fee. Ask the county treasurer which county-held certificates are available for assignment.

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Iowa calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)

Black Hawk County Treasurer

319-833-3013

Black Hawk County Courthouse, 316 E 5th Street, Room 140, Waterloo, IA 50703

Official website

County notes

  • The sale is an in-person oral auction at the courthouse in Waterloo. Bidders must attend or send a registered authorized agent; there is no remote or online bidding option.
  • Bidding is bid-down-ownership-interest, not bid-down-interest-rate. The purchase price is fixed at the delinquent amount, and competing bidders reduce the undivided percentage interest they take in the parcel, down to a 1 percent floor.
  • Registration closes well before the sale. The current packet sets a 4:00 p.m. deadline on the Friday roughly two and a half weeks ahead of the June sale date, so plan paperwork early.
  • The Treasurer's office publishes the terms packet under a link labeled with an earlier year, but the document served is the current year's terms. Check the sale date printed inside the packet rather than the link text.
  • Unsold parcels roll into an adjourned tax sale held in the Treasurer's office, Room 140, which gives investors a second path to certificates outside the June sale.
  • The county treasurer is Lynda Hintzman. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

Iowa rules

Max interest rate
24% per year, fixed by statute (not bid down)
Minimum return
No statutory minimum return; what you earn is set by the share of ownership taken at the sale
Redemption
A parcel may be redeemed at any time before the right of redemption expires. After one year and nine months from the date of sale, the certificate holder may serve a notice of expiration of the right of redemption on the person in possession, the person in whose name the parcel is taxed, and every mortgagee, contract vendor, recorded lessor, and other party of record. The right of redemption then ends 90 days after that service is complete, which means the affidavit of service has been filed with the county treasurer. Three shortened tracks exist: nine months from a public bidder sale under section 446.18, and three months from an abandoned-property or public nuisance sale under section 446.19A or 446.19B. After the treasurer delivers the deed, redemption is possible only through an equitable action in district court, and only by a person who could have redeemed during the 90-day window.
Surplus proceeds
No surplus arises. The deed conveys the parcel to the certificate holder rather than selling it to the highest bidder, so there are no excess proceeds to distribute. Where the winning bid was less than 100 percent, the deed conveys only that undivided percentage interest in the parcel.
Governing statute
Iowa Code Chapter 446

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 Iowarules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Black Hawk County, Iowa sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax lien certificates. In Iowa investors buy the lien, not the property; the County Treasurer runs the sale.

When is the Black Hawk County tax certificate sale?

Third Monday in June. The county states: "The annual Black Hawk County Tax Sale is held on the third Monday in June in the IT Conference Room, Room 204, 316 East 5th Street. The sale begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. each day until all delinquent taxes have been offered for sale." The county tax calendar lists "Annual Tax Sale, 3rd Monday of June (446.7; 446.15)", and the current terms packet sets the sale for Monday, June 15, 2026. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

How often does Black Hawk County hold tax deed sales?

Black Hawk County holds its tax deed sale none. Iowa holds no tax deed 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. Iowa's redemption rule: 1 year 9 months from the sale before the notice of expiration can be served, then 90 days after service is complete. Call the County Treasurer 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 Black Hawk County tax sale list?

Black Hawk County posts its tax sale list at blackhawkcounty.iowa.gov. 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 29, 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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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

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Call Black Hawk County Treasurer