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Tax Sale Atlas

Union County, IA tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Union 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 Union County, seat of Creston: 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.com.
County office
(641) 782-1710
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Jul 29, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Union 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
Union County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Annually on the third Monday in June.
Registration
Register online at govease.com.
Next expected
on the third Monday in June, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Sale list
Tax sale parcel list posted on the GovEase auction site
When it runs
Annually on the third Monday in June. The county's tax sale explainer states the sale "is administered by the County Treasurer in accordance with Iowa Code Chapter 446 on the third Monday in June." The 2026 terms state the Treasurer "will hold the annual tax sale on Monday, June 15, 2026, in the Treasurer's office beginning at 9:00 a.m." The Treasurer's department page adds that "Delinquent taxes are published in June and subject to the annual June Tax Sale." An adjourned sale is held on any business day after the annual sale when bidders are present and parcels remain unsold.
Registration and deposit

Register online at govease.com. Mailed and emailed registrations are not accepted. For the 2026 sale, registration opened Monday, May 18, 2026 and closed Wednesday, June 10, 2026, with all steps finished by 5:00 p.m. Bidders pay a $40 non-refundable registration fee by ACH, complete an online W-9, and, where applicable, upload an Iowa Secretary of State certificate of existence or certificate of authorization and designation of agent for service of process, plus a verified statement of trade name filed with the Union County Recorder. Entities must hold a federal tax identification number. Bidders must be 18 or older as of the sale date. GovEase registration and auction support is listed at (769) 208-5050 and support@govease.com.

Sale format and venue
Union County sells tax sale certificates, not deeds. Bidding is online through GovEase even though the sale is conducted from the Treasurer's office. The 2026 terms state bidders "will place their bids online" and that anyone attending in person "must supply your own computer," with wireless internet available for bidders using their own laptop. Live floor bids are not accepted. Bidding is a bid-down of the undivided percentage interest: each parcel opens at a 100% undivided interest and bid downs move in whole percentage points from 99% to 1%. The certificate goes to the bidder designating the smallest percentage, and ties are broken by a random selection process. Union County does not use batches, and parcels are offered in published order. Bids can be uploaded before the sale but do not apply until the sale opens at 9:00 a.m. Payment was due by 4:00 p.m. on sale day and covers delinquent taxes, special assessments, interest, special assessment collection fees, publishing costs, and a $20 certificate fee per certificate purchased. The delinquent tax list is published the first week of June in the Creston News Advertiser, 503 W. Adams St., Creston, IA 50801, phone 641-782-2141, and the listing is also carried on iowatreasurers.org and govease.com. For 2026 the terms said published parcels would be reviewable on the auction site by Tuesday, June 2, 2026. Redemption interest runs at 2% per month, and properly reported subsequent tax payments accrue at the same rate. The 90-day notice of right of redemption may be issued one year and nine months after a regular tax sale, or nine months after a public bidder sale, and public bidder parcels are marked with an asterisk on the published list. Original certificates are retained by the Treasurer and a PDF is emailed to the holder. Assignment of a certificate costs $100. The Treasurer cancels a sale if no affidavit of service under section 447.12 is filed within three years, with no refund to the purchaser. The county cites Iowa Code Chapters 445, 446, 447, and 448 and applies caveat emptor to the sale. Confirm the current year's date, registration window, and terms with the Treasurer's office before bidding.
Register on GovEase
Source: Terms and Conditions Governing the Tax Sale of June 15, 2026, Union County Treasurer· Verified Jul 29, 2026

Union County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Union 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 Tax sale parcel list posted on the GovEase auction site for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Register online at govease.com. 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 Union County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Tax sale parcel list posted on the GovEase auction site. 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.com. Mailed and emailed registrations are not accepted. For the 2026 sale, registration opened Monday, May 18, 2026 and closed Wednesday, June 10, 2026, with all steps finished by 5:00 p.m. Bidders pay a $40 non-refundable registration fee by ACH, complete an online W-9, and, where applicable, upload an Iowa Secretary of State certificate of existence or certificate of authorization and designation of agent for service of process, plus a verified statement of trade name filed with the Union County Recorder. Entities must hold a federal tax identification number. Bidders must be 18 or older as of the sale date. GovEase registration and auction support is listed at (769) 208-5050 and 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)

Union County Treasurer

(641) 782-1710

300 N. Pine St., Suite 1, Creston, IA 50801

Official website

County notes

  • The Union County Treasurer is Kelly Busch. The office is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, with driver's license service by appointment only.
  • The county publishes two tax sale documents each year on the Treasurer page: a plain-language "What is a Tax Sale" explainer and the annual terms and conditions, which doubles as the bidder acknowledgment form.
  • Both county tax sale documents are scanned PDFs rather than machine-readable text, so the sale date does not appear in the page's HTML and is easy to miss on a quick scan.
  • The county fax is (641) 782-1709 and the Treasurer's published email is kbusch@unioncountyiowa.gov.
  • Entity bidders needing a designation of agent can reach the Iowa Secretary of State at 515-281-5204 and the Union County Recorder at 641-782-1725, per the county terms.
  • Subsequent tax payments can be made online through the Iowa State County Treasurers Association site at iowatreasurers.org, and must be recorded by 4:30 p.m. on the last business day of the month to accrue that month.

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 Union 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 Union County tax certificate sale?

Annually on the third Monday in June. The county's tax sale explainer states the sale "is administered by the County Treasurer in accordance with Iowa Code Chapter 446 on the third Monday in June." The 2026 terms state the Treasurer "will hold the annual tax sale on Monday, June 15, 2026, in the Treasurer's office beginning at 9:00 a.m." The Treasurer's department page adds that "Delinquent taxes are published in June and subject to the annual June Tax Sale." An adjourned sale is held on any business day after the annual sale when bidders are present and parcels remain unsold. 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 Union County hold tax deed sales?

Union 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 Union County tax sale list?

Union County posts its tax sale list at govease.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 Union County TreasurerOpen auction