Lake County tax sales, Indiana

Verified

Lake County states plainly on its treasurer page that the tax sale itself is conducted entirely online, with no in person sale, and that bidding and the property listing are handled through the county online tax sale vendor. The county charges a $100.00 annual paddle fee, which is distinct from a refundable bidding deposit. After payment is received for the lien, the Lake County Auditor issues the tax sale certificate. Unverified flags: the official notice read does not state a payment method or a payment deadline beyond the statute, and the official treasurer pages read do not publish a dated 2026 commissioners certificate sale, so neither fact is stated as verified here.

Selling office: Lake County Treasurer

Next sale: 2026 Treasurer Tax Sale, September 4 to September 8, 2026, completed. The 2026 treasurer sale already ran. The county notice states the public auction begins on September 4, 2026 at 5:30 PM local time on www.zeusauction.com, and the county treasurer sale flyer states the sale runs Friday, September 4, 2026 through Tuesday, September 8, 2026. No later dated treasurer sale is published in the sources read.

As of November 9, 2026, the 2026 Lake County treasurer sale, September 4 to September 8, 2026, is complete. No parcel count from an official source is published in the sources read, so no count is given here.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	2026 Treasurer Tax Sale, September 4 to September 8, 2026, completed
The sale	The Lake County Treasurer sells tax sale certificates in an electronic sale on ZeusAuction beginning September 4, 2026 at 5:30 PM local time. The auditor serves as clerk of the sale.
The list	The treasurer page states that all parcels with a balance due for taxes and special assessments from the prior year spring installment are eligible for the treasurer tax sale. The auditor and treasurer applied on or after August 18, 2026 for a court judgment and order for sale.
Registration	The registration period began July 22, 2026 at 8:30 AM and closed August 14, 2026 at 5:30 PM. Bidders complete Form W-9 and the IC 6-1.1-24-5.3 registration statement electronically through the auction site.
Bidding and the certificate	Bidding starts at the statutory minimum bid and the sale is to the highest bidder subject to redemption. After payment is received, the auditor issues the tax sale certificate, a lien, not a deed.
Redemption	The owner may redeem within one year after the date of sale under IC 6-1.1-25-4 by paying the IC 6-1.1-25-2 amount to the county treasurer. Vacant and abandoned list property under IC 6-1.1-24-1.5 has no right of redemption.
Unsold parcels	Properties that do not sell at the treasurer sale have a certificate issued to the Lake County Board of Commissioners, which may offer the certificates at a commissioners tax sale under IC 6-1.1-24-6.1.
Format	Online only: Lake County conducts its treasurer tax sale as an electronic sale on ZeusAuction at www.zeusauction.com, the SRI Incorporated auction site the county notice names.
Selling office	Lake County Treasurer

Sources: Lake County Treasurer, Lake County Tax Sale Notice 2026. Lake County Treasurer, Tax Sale Information and Eligibility. Lake County Treasurer, 2026 Lake County Treasurer Tax Sale flyer. Indiana Code IC 6-1.1-24, iga.in.gov. Indiana Code IC 6-1.1-25, iga.in.gov. Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and parcels are pulled up to sale day.

Research Lake County parcels before you bid

A sale list gives you the parcels, the date, and the opening terms. It does not give you the owner, the value, or the rest of the picture: liens, foreclosure status, and parcel history. PropertyRadar is the data platform for that layer. It carries owner records, assessed and market values, foreclosure and tax data, and property history for parcels across Lake County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How Indiana tax lien sales work

Unpaid taxes become a lien, and the treasurer certifies the list. A parcel becomes eligible when taxes or special assessments from the prior year spring installment or before are delinquent. Under IC 6-1.1-24-1 the county treasurer certifies the delinquent list to the county auditor on or after January 1 of the sale year and not later than fifty one days after the first tax payment due date in that year, and the auditor and treasurer then apply for a court judgment and order for sale.
The treasurer sells, and the auditor keeps the record. Under IC 6-1.1-24-5(e) the county treasurer sells the parcel at public auction to the highest bidder, subject to the right of redemption, and under IC 6-1.1-24-5(g) the county auditor serves as clerk of the sale. The treasurer may run the sale by electronic means under IC 6-1.1-24-5(i), and most counties in this set sell online in the fall through SRI Incorporated on ZeusAuction. Marion County is the exception in this set: it sells on GovEase.
Bidding opens at the minimum bid, and the overbid leaves the deal. The minimum bid under IC 6-1.1-24-5(e) is the delinquent taxes and special assessments, the taxes and assessments due in the year of sale, penalties, sale costs, and any unpaid costs from a prior sale. The purchaser pays the full bid immediately to the treasurer under IC 6-1.1-24-7; the minimum bid portion is applied to the taxes and costs, and anything paid above it goes to the tax sale surplus fund.
Redemption pays fixed percentages, not a bid rate. Under IC 6-1.1-25-2 the redeemer pays 110 percent of the minimum bid if the parcel is redeemed within six months of the sale, or 115 percent if it is redeemed after six months and within the year, plus the overbid itself with interest at 5 percent per year, plus later taxes the purchaser paid with interest at 5 percent per year, plus the notice and title costs the statute allows. Nothing in Indiana is bid down or bid up: the percentages are the same in every county.
Some parcels sell with no redemption at all, and unsold certificates go to the commissioners. A parcel on the county vacant and abandoned list under IC 6-1.1-24-1.5 has no right of redemption after its sale. For an ordinary parcel the deed is earned on deadlines: the notice under IC 6-1.1-25-4.5 within six months, and the petition for a tax deed under IC 6-1.1-25-4.6 within three months after the redemption year expires. Parcels nobody bids on pass to the county executive under IC 6-1.1-24-6 and are offered again at a commissioners certificate sale under IC 6-1.1-24-6.1, at a price below the original minimum bid, with a redemption period of only 120 days.

How bidding works in Lake County

Register online for the ZeusAuction sale. The county notice states the period to register began July 22, 2026 at 8:30 AM and closed August 14, 2026 at 5:30 PM, that a bidder must complete IRS Form W-9 and agree to the registration statement described at IC 6-1.1-24-5.3(c) electronically through the auction web site, and that a business entity must provide a certificate of existence or foreign registration statement to the Lake County Treasurer under IC 6-1.1-24-5.1.

The percentages are fixed, so the overbid sets your real rate. Redemption can pay no more than 115 percent of the minimum bid, and everything above the minimum earns 5 percent. A parcel won at twice its minimum bid returns close to 5 percent overall even if the owner redeems on the best possible day. The disciplined Indiana bid stays at or near the minimum and lets other bidders own the expensive parcels.
The certificate dies on missed deadlines. The notice under IC 6-1.1-25-4.5 is due within six months of the sale and the deed petition within three months after the redemption year ends. Indiana pays the bidder who runs a calendar, and quietly confiscates the position of the bidder who does not.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Deposit, Lake County	Lake County does not publish a separate refundable bidding deposit in the notice read. What it does charge is an annual one hundred dollar ($100.00) paddle fee to participate in Lake County tax sales, described in the county flyer as a $100.00 non refundable paddle fee. A bidder who already paid the fee in 2025 is directed to contact the auditor tax sale department. That paddle fee is the only up front charge stated in the official sources read, and it is not a deposit against bids.
Payment, Lake County	Under IC 6-1.1-24-7 the purchaser pays the amount of the bid to the county treasurer immediately at the sale. The county notice read does not publish a local payment method or a local payment deadline beyond the statute, so no method or deadline is stated here as verified. A purchaser who fails to pay the bid faces the twenty five percent civil penalty in IC 6-1.1-24-8 and the parcel is again offered for sale.
What is sold	A tax sale certificate: a lien on the property for the delinquent taxes, penalties and sale costs. Not the property, not a deed, and no right to enter or use it. A deed exists only at the end of the notice and petition process, after the redemption period expires unredeemed.
The minimum bid	Set by IC 6-1.1-24-5(e): the delinquent taxes and special assessments, the taxes and assessments due and payable in the year of sale, penalties on the delinquencies, an auditor amount for postage and publication and other sale costs, and any unpaid costs from a prior tax sale. Every bid is measured against that floor.
The overbid	Any amount paid above the minimum bid goes to the tax sale surplus fund under IC 6-1.1-24-7; the county does not keep it as taxes. On redemption it is returned to the purchaser with interest at 5 percent per year for sales after June 30, 2014 (IC 6-1.1-25-2). It is the part of the bid that earns the least, and it is most of the bid on a contested parcel.
Redemption money	One hundred ten percent of the minimum bid if the parcel is redeemed not more than six months after the sale, or one hundred fifteen percent if redeemed more than six months but not more than one year after the sale, plus the overbid with 5 percent interest, plus taxes and special assessments the purchaser paid after the sale with 5 percent interest, plus the notice and title costs allowed by IC 6-1.1-25-2(e).
Redemption periods	One year after the date of sale for an ordinary parcel (IC 6-1.1-25-4(a)). No right of redemption at all for a parcel sold from the vacant and abandoned list under IC 6-1.1-24-1.5. One hundred twenty days for a commissioners certificate sold under IC 6-1.1-24-6.1 (IC 6-1.1-25-4(c)). Read the parcel's list status before pricing any of the three.
The deed path	Notice under IC 6-1.1-25-4.5 not later than six months after the sale, or ninety days for a commissioners or county held certificate, then a petition for a tax deed under IC 6-1.1-25-4.6 after the redemption period expires and not later than three months after it expires. Miss either window and the certificate is spent, whatever was paid for it.

Unsold parcels: the commissioners certificate sale

The treasurer page states that properties that do not sell at the treasurer tax sale have a certificate issued to the Lake County Board of Commissioners, which may offer the certificates at the commissioners tax sale following the statutes for the tax sale. Under IC 6-1.1-24-6.1 that sale is by resolution, at a price less than the IC 6-1.1-24-5 minimum sale price plus sale costs, with a one hundred twenty day redemption period from the sale of the certificate under IC 6-1.1-25-4(c). The official treasurer pages read do not publish a dated 2026 commissioners certificate sale, so no date is stated here.

Before you bid

Read the parcel's list status before its rate. A parcel on the vacant and abandoned list sells with no right of redemption at all, which makes it a different purchase from the identical parcel one line up the list. The list a parcel was sold from is part of its price.
Assume the 2026 sale already ran. Indiana's season is September and October for most counties in this set, and every dated 2026 sale here was complete when these pages were checked. Treat this set as the verified 2026 record and the 2027 working map, and confirm the new season's dates with the treasurer.
Model the overbid at 5 percent, not at the headline percentages. The 110 and 115 percent figures apply to the minimum bid only. Run the redemption case with your full bid in the denominator before deciding what a parcel is worth to you.
Set the maximum before the sale opens. The free Max-Bid Calculator below works backwards from your exit value to the highest bid you can pay, with the costs shown.

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New York tax sales · Florida tax deed sales · Texas tax sales · Pennsylvania tax sales · Georgia tax sales · North Carolina tax foreclosure sales · Ohio tax foreclosure sales · Illinois tax lien sales · Michigan tax foreclosure sales · Arizona tax lien sales · California tax defaulted property sales · Colorado tax lien sales · South Carolina tax sales · Tennessee delinquent tax sales