Tax Sale Information

Real Estate Tax Sale



• Each year the County Treasurer must certify to the County Auditor a list of real property on which property taxes or special assessments from the prior year’s Spring installment are unpaid. Any delinquent taxes from last year’s Spring installment that remain unpaid, plus penalties that have accrued on that delinquency, will cause your property to be eligible for tax sale.
• Please note that these are not the same as Sheriff’s Sales. Click here for more information on Sheriff’s Sales.
• The Putnam County Treasurer must certify a list of those properties eligible for the tax sale to the County Auditor no later than fifty-one (51) days after the due date for the Spring installment of taxes. The County Auditor will send a Tax Sale Notice to taxpayers by certified letter informing them of the amount of tax, penalties, and tax sale costs that must be paid to remove their property from tax sale. Taxpayers may pay the amount due up to 4:00pm the day before the tax sale.
• Once a list of the tax sale eligible properties has been certified to the County Auditor, you will be able to view the list. Click the SRI Inc. logo below to access our current list. Properties offered for sale will also be advertised in the Banner Graphic and Hoosier Topics.
• Bidders must register prior to the start of the sale. The minimum bid is the total amount owed on the parcel through the current year. If your bid is accepted, you will pay the bid amount in the County Treasurer’s Office and you will be given a receipt and a Tax Sale Certificate signed by the County Auditor and County treasurer. A Tax Sale Certificate does not convey ownership to the property. Ownership will be conveyed through a Tax Deed issued by the County Auditor pursuant to the statutory requirements. You do not own the property until you receive the deed.

Commissioners’ Certificate Sale

The Board of County Commissioners in Indiana is issued a tax sale certificate of all parcels not sold at the county tax lien sale. By default, the county commissioners are then awarded the lien and hold the same rights as a lien buyer. At no point, however, do the county commissioners pay money for the certificate. At this point, the county commissioners may decide to sell a certificate to the highest bidder for less than the amount previously offered at the tax lien sale based on the minimum bid. The lien buyer of a certificate at a certificate sale will pay the highest bid amount and are then issued a tax sale certificate with the same requirements as parcels purchased at the county tax sale. The main difference between a tax lien sale and a commissioner certificate sale is that the redemption period is 120 days and minimum bids may be reduced.



See Indiana Code 6-1.1-24 and IC 6-1.1-25.

Assignments of Certificates of Sale to Other Political Subdivisions

The county may assign certificates of sale for properties not sold at the county tax sale to other political subdivisions (e.g., cities, towns), and the other political subdivision would then perform all of the steps required of buyers after tax sales and obtain title to the subject parcel through the issuance of a tax deed from the county auditor. Such an assignment refreshes the redemption period and the period of redemption for the subject parcel is 120 days after the date of assignment.

See Indiana Code 6-1.1-24-9.

For more information about the tax sale process, refer to our tax sale vendor’s website at www.sriservices.com or call the Putnam County Treasurer’s Office at 765-653-4510.