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Tax Sale Atlas

Lee County, IA tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Lee 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 Lee County, seat of Fort Madison: 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
County site
Registration
Register online at iowataxauction.com.
County office
(319) 372-3405
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Jul 29, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Lee 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)

Online auction
Run by
Lee County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Registration
Register online at iowataxauction.com.
Next expected
on the third Monday in June, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Sale list
Lee County parcel list on Iowa Tax Auction (registration required)
When it runs
Annually on the third Monday in June, opening at 9:00 a.m. and closing at 10:30 a.m. The county's 2026 notice states: "The 2026 annual Tax Sale will be held by the Lee County Treasurer on Monday, June 15, 2026, in the Supervisor's Board Room at 933 Avenue H, Fort Madison, IA beginning at 9:00 a.m." Adjourned sales follow: "An adjourned tax sale will be held any business day following the annual tax sale in which there are bidders present and there are parcels still available for sale."
Registration and deposit

Register online at iowataxauction.com. The county states that no mailed or emailed registrations are accepted. For the 2026 sale, registration opened Monday, May 18, 2026 and ended Thursday, June 11, 2026, with every step completed by 11:59 p.m. on June 11. Each bidder pays a non-refundable $40.00 registration fee by ACH debit and completes an online W-9. Bidders must be 18 or older as of the sale date. An entity bidder needs 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 statement of trade name on file with the Lee County Recorder. Platform registration support is (800) 800-9588 or support@iowataxauction.com. Confirm the current year's window with the Treasurer before relying on these dates.

Sale format and venue
Bidding is online only. The sale is conducted at the Lee County offices in Fort Madison and a limited number of computers is available there on a first come, first served basis, but the county says all bids must be placed online and live bids will not be accepted. Parcels open at a 100 percent undivided interest and bid downs run in whole percentage points from 99 percent to 1 percent, with ties settled by random selection. Lee County does not use batches. Bids may be uploaded before the sale opens but are not applied until 9:00 a.m. Winners are invoiced at close and an ACH debit for the total pulls automatically from the account used for the registration fee, covering delinquent taxes, special assessments, interest, special assessment collection fees, publishing costs, and a $20.00 certificate fee for each certificate. Returned payments carry a $45.00 service fee and a three business day cure window. Certificates take roughly 7 to 15 days to issue. The delinquent tax list is published the week of May 26 in the Daily Democrat, Daily Gate City, and Pen City Current, and parcels are viewable on the auction site by May 29 once registration is complete. Subsequent taxes must be paid online through iowatreasurers.org at $0.25 per parcel. Assigning a certificate carries a $100.00 assignment transaction fee, and the Treasurer's tax sale deed fee is $25.00 per parcel. Lee County has two county seats, Fort Madison and Keokuk, but the tax sale and the Treasurer's tax sale mailing address are in Fort Madison.
Register on Online auction
Source: Lee County Treasurer, Notice to Tax Sale Purchasers of the Terms and Conditions Governing the Annual Tax Sale of June 15, 2026· Verified Jul 29, 2026

Lee County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Lee 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 Lee County parcel list on Iowa Tax Auction (registration required) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

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

  3. Sale day

    Iowa holds no tax deed auction. Bidding runs on County site; 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 Lee County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Lee County parcel list on Iowa Tax Auction (registration required). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Register online at iowataxauction.com. The county states that no mailed or emailed registrations are accepted. For the 2026 sale, registration opened Monday, May 18, 2026 and ended Thursday, June 11, 2026, with every step completed by 11:59 p.m. on June 11. Each bidder pays a non-refundable $40.00 registration fee by ACH debit and completes an online W-9. Bidders must be 18 or older as of the sale date. An entity bidder needs 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 statement of trade name on file with the Lee County Recorder. Platform registration support is (800) 800-9588 or support@iowataxauction.com. Confirm the current year's window with the Treasurer before relying on these dates.

  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)

Lee County Treasurer

(319) 372-3405

933 Avenue H, P.O. Box 346, Fort Madison, IA 52627

Official website

County notes

  • Lee County runs its annual Iowa Code chapter 446 certificate sale through the Iowa Tax Auction platform, using a bid-down-ownership-percentage format from 100 percent to 1 percent.
  • Bidders may attend in Fort Madison, but every bid must be entered online. The county states that live bids will not be accepted.
  • The current Treasurer is Becky Gaylord. Tax counters in Fort Madison and Keokuk are open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • The county's own domain, leecountyiowa.gov, blocked automated retrieval during this check, so these facts come from the Treasurer's page on the Iowa State County Treasurers Association site and from the county's own 2026 Notice to Tax Sale Purchasers hosted there.

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 Lee 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 Lee County tax certificate sale?

Annually on the third Monday in June, opening at 9:00 a.m. and closing at 10:30 a.m. The county's 2026 notice states: "The 2026 annual Tax Sale will be held by the Lee County Treasurer on Monday, June 15, 2026, in the Supervisor's Board Room at 933 Avenue H, Fort Madison, IA beginning at 9:00 a.m." Adjourned sales follow: "An adjourned tax sale will be held any business day following the annual tax sale in which there are bidders present and there are parcels still available for sale." 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 Lee County hold tax deed sales?

Lee 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 Lee County tax sale list?

Lee County posts its tax sale list at iowataxauction.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 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 Lee County TreasurerOpen auction