The sale is held in the Lake County Courthouse located at 301 Washington St Waukegan Illinois on the second floor in the open seating area left of the escalator adjacent to the skyway. There is a sale every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. except in some cases when Monday is a holiday. Only the sale is held at the courthouse. All other business is conducted at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office 25 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave in the Robert H. Babcox Justice Center one block south of the courthouse.   

Note: The Lake County Sheriff's Office does not provide or does any research on the foreclosed properties. All potential buyers are responsible for their own research.

All court files can be reviewed upon request. You will need the case number of the property you want to research. The case number can be found under the Foreclosed Property Sales link. Call the Circuit Court Clerk's Office at 847-377-3380 for more information. Their office is located at 18 North County Street Waukegan Illinois in the basement of the courthouse. 

Current year property taxes may be owed unless they were escrowed by the bank. To research call the Treasurer’s Office at 847-377-2323 or use their online service. You will need the property identification number (PIN), which can be found under the  Foreclosed Property Sales link. Their office located is at 18 North County Street Waukegan Illinois on the first floor of the courthouse. 

The buyer could be responsible if there are other liens against the property. To research call the County Clerk's Office Recording Division at 847-377-2575 or use their online service. Examples include secondary mortgages, homeowner association fee liens, city and county property liens, state and federal tax liens. Their office is located at 18 North County Street Waukegan Illinois on the sixth floor of the courthouse. 

The bank (plaintiff) must provide an opening bid for a property to go up for sale. If the opening bid is not received, the sale will be continued to a future date or could be cancelled. The bids are posted as soon as they are received. Most of them are not received until the day before the scheduled sale date. Check the website under the Foreclosed Property Sales link regularly for updates. 

10% of the opening bid is the minimum you must have to participate. If the bidding goes higher than the amount you have in your possession you will be eliminated. We suggest you have 10% of the highest amount you are willing to bid in incremental checks. Bank certified cashier's checks is the only form of payment that we accept. The balance can be paid any time after the sale but no later than 3 p.m. the following Thursday. We will accept multiple checks for the balance payment but the total has to be the exact amount owed. We cannot give change. The checks can be issued either in your name or to the Lake County Sheriff. 

We issue the deed only after the sale has been confirmed and approved by the court. It is the responsibility of the plaintiff’s attorney to schedule a confirmation hearing with the Circuit Court Clerk's Office. It could take as long as 30-60 days before the sale is confirmed. The Sheriff's Office  is not involved with or has any control over the scheduling of the confirmation hearing. 

If you have any questions or need assistance call us at 847-377-4401 or send us an email at [email protected]. Consult an attorney if you have any legal questions or concerns. We do not give legal advice.