How the Marion County tax sale works

How a house ends up on the list

Property taxes in Marion County are billed twice a year, with payments due in May and November. When a payment is missed, penalties are added. Under Indiana law, a property becomes eligible for the tax sale when taxes, special assessments, penalties or fees from the prior year's spring installment or earlier are still unpaid and total more than $25.

Once a year, the county certifies a list of these properties and advertises them. The list is not only taxes: unpaid city charges like trash and stormwater fees, and costs the city spent on things like mowing or boarding up a vacant house, can end up on the tax bill too.

You can look up your own property on the county's Tax Sale Viewer map, or call the Treasurer's office. Properties come off the list as owners pay, so the list changes almost daily in the weeks before the sale.

How to stop the sale

To stop the sale, you pay the Marion County Treasurer everything that is due: the unpaid taxes, penalties and special assessments, the trash and stormwater fees, and a tax sale administration fee. As posted in September 2026, that fee is $325.

• The 2026 sale. The Treasurer's office lists the 2026 tax sale as an online sale on October 13 to 16, 2026, and lists October 8, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. as the deadline to pay in full to stop it. Dates and rules change every year, so confirm them on the Treasurer's "Stop a Tax Sale" page or by calling (317) 327-4444.
• Payment plans. The Treasurer offers a tax sale payment plan to owners who qualify, but you have to apply well before the sale. For 2026, the last day to apply was August 28. If you are reading this for a later year, call early.
• Partial payments lower what you owe, but the Treasurer's office says they do not stop the sale by themselves.
• How to pay. The Treasurer's page lists the forms of payment it takes for tax sale amounts (cash, certified or cashier's check, or money order; not personal checks). Check the current rules before you go.

What happens at the sale

Bidders compete to buy the lien on your property. The lowest bid the county will take, the "minimum bid," is everything owed plus costs. Anything a bidder pays above that is called the overbid, or surplus.

The winning bidder gets a certificate, not your house. The Treasurer's page tells bidders plainly that they do not have the right to enter the property or act as its owner during the redemption period. If someone who bought the lien shows up and tells you to leave, they are wrong. Call the Auditor's office or an attorney.

If nobody bids, the county can hold the lien itself. In that case the time to redeem is much shorter: the Treasurer's office says the county can apply for a tax deed 120 days after the sale ends.

The redemption period

"Redeeming" means paying back what the lien buyer paid, plus the extra amounts Indiana law adds, so the lien goes away and you keep the house. For a lien sold at the regular tax sale, Indiana law generally gives you one year from the date of the sale. The county treasurer can agree to extend that in some cases if you set up a payment arrangement before the year runs out.

• After a sale, the Treasurer's office says to wait about a week, then contact the Marion County Auditor's office for the amount and to pay. The Auditor's tax sale contact is (317) 327-4646 or MCATaxSale@indy.gov.
• The amount to redeem grows over time. Ask for the exact figure in writing, and ask what it will be on the date you plan to pay.
• The lien buyer may pay later taxes on the property during the year and add them to what you owe. Keep paying your current bills if you can.
• If the year passes without redemption, the buyer can petition the court for a tax deed. Before that happens, you are supposed to get notices. Do not ignore mail from the county or the court.

Surplus money

If the lien sold for more than the minimum bid, the extra goes into the county's tax sale surplus fund. When a property is redeemed, that money generally goes back to the lien buyer as part of the payoff. When it is not redeemed and a tax deed is issued, Indiana law lets the owner of record file a claim with the county for the surplus, generally within three years after the sale.

The rules on who can claim and how much are technical, so ask the Auditor's office. Be careful with companies that offer to "recover" surplus money for a large share of it. Indiana law requires a court's direction before the county pays someone who has a contract with the owner, and you can file the claim yourself.

Your options, in order

1. Pay before the deadline, or get on a plan. If you want to keep the house and can manage the payments, this is almost always the best move.
2. Redeem after the sale. It costs more than paying before, but you keep the house.
3. Refinance or borrow against the house, if you have equity and can qualify.
4. Sell it. You still own the house during the redemption period, so you can sell it. The title company pays the taxes, the redemption amount and any mortgage from the sale, and the rest goes to you. If there is time, listing with an agent may bring more. If time is short or the house needs work, a cash sale can close faster. If anyone buys your house after the tax sale and before a tax deed, Indiana requires a notarized surplus disclosure to be filed with the county auditor first, which protects you.
5. Do nothing. You risk losing the house and most of its value. Almost any of the steps above is better.

Be careful who you trust

Tax sale lists are public, so owners on them often get letters and calls from buyers. Some are fair. Some promise to "stop the tax sale" or offer to let you rent the house back or buy it back later. Indiana has special rules for those deals because they have hurt homeowners. Get any offer in writing, and use our checklist before you sign with any cash buyer, including us. The Treasurer's and Auditor's offices will tell you what you owe for free.