Tax Sale

Hancock County holds an annual Tax Sale and Tax Certificate Sale to sell liens against properties with delinquent property taxes. The 2026 Hancock County Tax Sale will be held online at http://zeusauction.com/.   The online sale will be held on Friday, September 18, 2026, starting at 10 am.  Please find more details here. The auction will be conducted by SRI Inc. To register for this sale, you will need to create an account and then register for the Hancock County sale specifically. For more information regarding the auction system, please contact SRI at 800-800-9588. 

The online sale will be held at 10:00 am EST on Friday, September 18th, 2026. Parcels will be closing in batches. Batches are groups of items with the same closing time. The properties that do not sell the first time through the sale will be offered again in a 'last batch' to give interested buyers one last opportunity to bid. Batch 1 will be open 10:00am - 3:30pm EST. Batch 2 will be open 10:00am - 4:00pm EST. The 'last batch', if applicable, will be open 4:10-4:30pm EST.

For parties who purchase one or multiple parcels, payment requirements will be cash, cashier's check, certified funds, or wire transfer. No personal checks will be accepted. Payments must be received by (noon) 12:00 pm EST Monday, September 21st, 2026. It is the purchaser's responsibility to understand what they are bidding on and the requirements after the tax sale in order to receive a tax deed on the property. It is the responsibility of the purchaser to follow Indiana Tax Sale and Redemption Law which can be found in Indiana Code 6-1.1-24 and 6-1.1-25. 

For information on properties eligible for Sheriff's Sale or Foreclosure Sale, contact the Hancock County Sheriff's Department at 317-477-1147.

Q: Why does a tax sale happen? 
A: Any delinquent taxes or special assessments from last year’s spring installment that remain unpaid will cause your property to become eligible for tax sale. At the point that a parcel is declared eligible for tax sale, all delinquent taxes, penalties, and the tax sale fee must be paid in order to remove the parcel from tax sale. A list of parcels that are eligible for tax sale will be published in the local newspapers. When a parcel goes to tax sale, the minimum bid required will be the total of all delinquencies, the tax sale fee, and the current year taxes. A winning bidder at tax sale is buying a certificate of lien on the parcel, which entitles the buyer to request the court to issue a tax deed to the property after the redemption period has expired. During the redemption period, the lien buyer has no right to enter the property or make any changes to the property. Those rights are granted at the time the court transfers the deed, as described above. During the redemption period the owner of the property continues to have the right to demolish buildings or take any other legally permissible action that they wish to take. The tax sale is a buyer beware sale. It’s the bidder’s responsibility to know what they’re bidding on. It is recommended that you get assistance from a title company or lawyer to do proper research before you bid. For additional information and questions, please contact SRI by visiting their website or calling 800-800-9588.
 
*You CANNOT make online payments for: parcels that have been certified for tax sale, parcels that have been sold at tax sale, parcels that have been sold at certificate sale, and judgements that have been certified to court.