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Tax Sale Atlas

Warren County, IA tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Warren 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 Warren County, seat of Indianola: 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
Registration is online only at govease.com.
County office
515-690-9240
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Jul 29, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Warren 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
Warren County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Annually in mid-June, on the third Monday, consistent with Iowa Code 446.7.
Registration
Registration is online only at govease.com.
Next expected
on the third Monday in June, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Sale list
2026 Tax Sale Publication List (Warren County delinquent tax list)
When it runs
Annually in mid-June, on the third Monday, consistent with Iowa Code 446.7. The county's 2026 terms state: "The Warren County Treasurer, 301 N Buxton, Ste 102, Indianola Iowa, will hold the 2026 annual Tax Sale online on Monday, June 15, 2026, beginning at 8:30a.m." Adjourned sales for parcels not sold at the annual sale are held daily afterward at the Treasurer's office in the Administration Building.
Registration and deposit

Registration is online only at govease.com. The terms state: "Register online at www.govease.com prior to the tax sale. No in-office, mailed or emailed registrations will be accepted." For the 2026 sale, "Registration will begin Monday, May 18, 2026 at 8:30am and end Friday, June 5, 2026 at 11:59pm." Bidders pay a non-refundable $40.00 registration fee by online E-check and must complete an online W-9 by the registration deadline. All bidders must be 18 or older as of the sale date. Entities other than individuals must obtain a federal tax identification number before registering. GovEase registration and auction-site support is listed at (769) 208-5050 ext. 2 or support@govease.com.

Sale format and venue
Warren County runs a fully online annual tax sale on GovEase. Bidding follows Iowa's bid-down-ownership format: each item opens at a 100% undivided interest and bidders bid downward in whole percentage points from 99% to 1%. Tie bids are resolved by random selection; where there is no tie, the item goes to the lone bidder at the smallest percentage offered. Parcels are offered in numerical sequence by item number within taxing district, with regular and public bidder real estate offered first and mobile home items last. Bids may be uploaded before the sale but are not applied until the sale opens at 8:30 a.m. Winning bidders receive an invoice at close and must initiate an ACH debit immediately for delinquent taxes, special assessments, interest, collection fees, publishing costs, and a $20.00 certificate fee per certificate. Dishonored payments carry a $30.00 fee and a five-business-day cure window before certificates are canceled. Redemption pays the original sale amount plus 2% per month from the month of sale to the month of redemption, with each fraction of a month counted as a whole month. Subsequent taxes must be paid online at iowatreasurers.org through the Tax Sale login module at $0.25 per parcel; payments not made through that portal are omitted from the redemption calculation. Certificate assignment costs a $100 transaction fee. A regular tax sale certificate holder may serve the notice of expiration of right of redemption after one year and nine months from the sale date; a public bidder sale allows service after nine months. The deed issuance fee is $25.00 plus a variable recording fee. The terms document is effective for taxes sold from June 15, 2026 through June 20, 2027. The Treasurer states the doctrine of caveat emptor applies to this tax sale.
Register on GovEase
Source: Terms and Conditions Governing the Annual Tax Sale of June 15, 2026, Warren County Treasurer· Verified Jul 29, 2026

Warren County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Warren 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 2026 Tax Sale Publication List (Warren County delinquent tax list) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Registration is online only 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 Warren County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from 2026 Tax Sale Publication List (Warren County delinquent tax list). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Registration is online only at govease.com. The terms state: "Register online at www.govease.com prior to the tax sale. No in-office, mailed or emailed registrations will be accepted." For the 2026 sale, "Registration will begin Monday, May 18, 2026 at 8:30am and end Friday, June 5, 2026 at 11:59pm." Bidders pay a non-refundable $40.00 registration fee by online E-check and must complete an online W-9 by the registration deadline. All bidders must be 18 or older as of the sale date. Entities other than individuals must obtain a federal tax identification number before registering. GovEase registration and auction-site support is listed at (769) 208-5050 ext. 2 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)

Warren County Treasurer

515-690-9240

301 N. Buxton St., Suite 102, Indianola, IA 50125. Mailing address: PO Box 217, Indianola, IA 50125.

Official website

County notes

  • Warren County runs its annual tax sale on GovEase, not on the iowataxauction.com portal that several other Iowa counties use. The county's own terms name govease.com for both registration and bidding, so confirm the platform on the Treasurer's tax sale page before each year's sale.
  • Registration closes well before sale day. For 2026 the window ran May 18 through June 5 for a June 15 sale, so investors who wait until the week of the sale cannot bid.
  • Iowa's bidding method is bid-down ownership interest, not bid-down interest rate. The return stays at 2% per month by statute and bidders compete by accepting a smaller undivided percentage interest in the parcel, from 100% down to 1%.
  • Subsequent tax payments must be made through the online module at iowatreasurers.org. The Treasurer's office no longer accepts them another way, and payments outside that portal are left out of the redemption calculation.
  • Parcels that do not sell on sale day remain available at adjourned sales held daily at the Treasurer's office at 301 N. Buxton, Suite 102, Indianola. Contact the office for the current adjourned sale schedule.
  • The delinquent tax list is published in the first June edition of The Carlisle Citizen, and parcels are posted for review on GovEase and the county website the week of June 1.
  • Certificate holders must file the 90-day notice of right of redemption affidavit within three years of the sale or the Treasurer cancels the sale with no refund, and must complete the deed request within 90 days after the redemption period expires.

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 Warren 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 Warren County tax certificate sale?

Annually in mid-June, on the third Monday, consistent with Iowa Code 446.7. The county's 2026 terms state: "The Warren County Treasurer, 301 N Buxton, Ste 102, Indianola Iowa, will hold the 2026 annual Tax Sale online on Monday, June 15, 2026, beginning at 8:30a.m." Adjourned sales for parcels not sold at the annual sale are held daily afterward at the Treasurer's office in the Administration Building. 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 Warren County hold tax deed sales?

Warren 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 Warren County tax sale list?

Warren County posts its tax sale list at warrencountyia.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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