Bidders paid $3,200 for 16 properties during a tax lien certificate sale April 16 in the Wayne County Administration Building.
The purchase amounts, though, are not as important as again having the chance to receive property tax payments. Each of 31 properties included in the auction has overdue taxes and failed to sell at a fall tax sale that requires buyers pay the back taxes.
Wayne County’s commissioners previously acquired deeds for offered properties and sold the deeds. They switched this year to the certificate sale because they are not stuck owning the 13 properties that did not sell and will again be offered at a tax sale.
Certificate buyers do not pay the back taxes; however, they now must wait 120 days to see if property owners pay the taxes to redeem the properties, something unlikely but possible. They also must navigate the process, including proper notification and a petition to the courts, to receive deeds.
Andre Tevis of Richmond bought several properties. He said the certificate sale is more like the fall tax sale, because he’ll need to pursue deeds.
“It’s basically the same to me,” he said. “You’ve still got to get lawyers involved and send out letters like the fall sale.”
Tevis said he plans to build on the acquired properties and sell them. He said it’s a money game for him, with minimum bids of $100 for vacant lots and $500 for lots with structures. Ten properties sold for the minimum bid.
Chad Malicoat of SRI, who ran the auction, said that’s the main benefit for the county and all of the underlying tax districts, such as townships, schools and libraries. The majority of 100 delinquent properties sold during the fall tax sale, he said, and now 18 more will again generate tax revenue.
That pleased commissioners Jeff Plasterer and Brad Dwenger. They said the initial certificate sale was a success, although the 20 potential buyers at the auction were fewer than normal. Plasterer said that also reflects the lack of residences on the majority of the lots.
“What draws people in is houses,” he said.
The sale originally had bidders for 18 properties. An Indianapolis-based representative for out-of-state investors submitted, sight unseen, winning bids for a vacant lot at 918 S. Seventh St. in Richmond and a former commercial site on Indiana 227 in Bethel.
The bidder left to visit the properties and get cash for making payment, but returned after the 2 p.m. payment deadline had passed.
A version of this article appeared in the April 22 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.