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Tax Sale Atlas

Clayton County, IA tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Clayton 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 Clayton County, seat of Elkader: 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
GovEase
Registration
Register online at GovEase.
County office
563-245-1807
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Jul 29, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Clayton 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)

GovEase
Run by
Clayton County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Registration
Register online at GovEase.
Next expected
on the third Monday in June, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Sale list
Treasurer tax sale page and terms notice (parcel list published in the Clayton County Press Journal and posted on GovEase)
When it runs
The Treasurer's page states the "Annual Tax Sale takes place on the third Monday in June each year." The 2025 terms notice covers "THE ANNUAL TAX SALE OF JUNE 16, 2025" and says the sale is held "on Monday, June 16, 2025, in the Conference Room at the Clayton County Office Building, 600 Gunder Rd, Elkader, Iowa, beginning at 10:00 a.m." with bidders placing their bids online. An adjourned tax sale is held any business day following the annual sale when bidders are present and parcels remain available.
Registration and deposit

Register online at GovEase. The county terms state that no mailed or emailed registrations are accepted. For the 2025 sale, registration opened Wednesday, May 21, 2025 and closed Thursday, June 12, 2025, with all steps completed by noon on June 12. Bidders pay a non-refundable $40.00 registration fee by ACH debit and complete the online W-9, the GovEase Payment Disclaimer Form, the GovEase Payment Instructions Form, and the GovEase ACH Redemption Account Information Form. Bidders also upload an Iowa Certificate of Existence or trade name filing if applicable and a signed Acknowledgement for Clayton County Tax Sale from the last page of the terms. Bidders must be 18 or older. Entity bidders need a federal tax identification number plus either a designation of agent for service of process on file with the Iowa Secretary of State or a verified trade name statement on file with the Clayton County Recorder. GovEase registration and auction support is listed at (769) 208-5050 or support@govease.com.

Sale format and venue
Clayton County runs a bid-down-ownership-interest lien sale under Iowa Code Chapter 446. The terms notice says delinquent taxes on each parcel are offered starting at a 100% undivided interest and bid downs range in whole percentage points from 99% to 1%, with the certificate awarded to the bidder naming the smallest percentage and ties broken by random selection. The county states it does not use batches. Successful bidders pay all delinquent taxes, special assessments, interest, special assessment collection fees, publishing costs, and a $20.00 certificate fee per certificate, due by 4:00 PM on the date of the sale. The county publishes qualifying unpaid parcels once in an official county publication during the last week of May. The 2025 terms name the Clayton County Press Journal with a June 4, 2025 publication date and say the same listing appears on GovEase, updated nightly, viewable after registering to bid. Sale-day proceedings take place at the Clayton County Office Building at 600 Gunder Rd in Elkader, but all bidding runs online through GovEase. Redemption interest is 2% per month. Subsequent tax payments by certificate holders must be made online through iowatreasurers.org. A regular tax sale certificate must sit unredeemed for one year and nine months before the holder can file the 90-day affidavit toward a tax sale deed, while public bidder parcels advertised for two years carry a nine-month period. The most recent terms document posted by the county at the time of research is the 2025 edition, so confirm the current year's date and registration window with the Treasurer's office before bidding.
Register on GovEase
Source: Clayton County Treasurer, Notice to Tax Sale Purchasers of the Terms and Conditions Governing the Annual Tax Sale (2025)· Verified Jul 29, 2026

Clayton County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Clayton 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 Treasurer tax sale page and terms notice (parcel list published in the Clayton County Press Journal and posted on GovEase) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Register online at GovEase. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    Iowa holds no tax deed auction. Bidding runs on GovEase; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.

  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 Clayton County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Treasurer tax sale page and terms notice (parcel list published in the Clayton County Press Journal and posted on GovEase). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Register online at GovEase. The county terms state that no mailed or emailed registrations are accepted. For the 2025 sale, registration opened Wednesday, May 21, 2025 and closed Thursday, June 12, 2025, with all steps completed by noon on June 12. Bidders pay a non-refundable $40.00 registration fee by ACH debit and complete the online W-9, the GovEase Payment Disclaimer Form, the GovEase Payment Instructions Form, and the GovEase ACH Redemption Account Information Form. Bidders also upload an Iowa Certificate of Existence or trade name filing if applicable and a signed Acknowledgement for Clayton County Tax Sale from the last page of the terms. Bidders must be 18 or older. Entity bidders need a federal tax identification number plus either a designation of agent for service of process on file with the Iowa Secretary of State or a verified trade name statement on file with the Clayton County Recorder. GovEase registration and auction support is listed at (769) 208-5050 or support@govease.com.

  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)

Clayton County Treasurer

563-245-1807

Clayton County Courthouse, 111 High St. NE, Suite 101, Elkader, IA 52043

Official website

County notes

  • Treasurer of record on the tax sale terms notice is Linda Zuercher.
  • Treasurer's office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm at the courthouse.
  • The Treasurer's property tax page states that delinquent taxes as of May 1 are assessed a publication fee and must be advertised for sale at the annual tax sale in June, and that notice of the annual tax sale is mailed no later than May 1.
  • The 2025 terms PDF carries a stray reference to a June 17, 2024 start time in one paragraph while its heading and opening paragraph both state June 16, 2025. Treat the June 16, 2025 date and the third-Monday-in-June rule as controlling and confirm the current year with the office.
  • Parcels remaining unsold for want of bidders after being advertised twice are offered at Public Bidder Sale, and the county is required by Iowa law to purchase the delinquency if no private-sector bidder takes it.

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 Clayton 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 Clayton County tax certificate sale?

The Treasurer's page states the "Annual Tax Sale takes place on the third Monday in June each year." The 2025 terms notice covers "THE ANNUAL TAX SALE OF JUNE 16, 2025" and says the sale is held "on Monday, June 16, 2025, in the Conference Room at the Clayton County Office Building, 600 Gunder Rd, Elkader, Iowa, beginning at 10:00 a.m." with bidders placing their bids online. An adjourned tax sale is held any business day following the annual sale when bidders are present and parcels remain available. Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

How often does Clayton County hold tax deed sales?

Clayton 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 Clayton County tax sale list?

Clayton County posts its tax sale list at claytoncountyia.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.

Iowa tax salesDue diligence guide
Call Clayton County TreasurerOpen auction