Clarke County tax sales

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Clarke is the one county in this backfill set with a dated sale on the calendar. The Tax Commissioner's Advertisement of Tax Sale lists 13 parcels for Tuesday, December 1, 2026, amounts stated as of that date, before the courthouse door in Athens. The advertisement states the executions were issued in rem against the taxpayers and the properties, and that the sale is buyer beware, as is, subject to encumbrances of record. Separately, in December 2025 the Mayor and Commission authorized the Tax Commissioner to also commence judicial in rem tax foreclosure proceedings in Superior Court under O.C.G.A. 48-4-76(a), an additional collection tool alongside the advertised sales.

Selling office: Athens-Clarke County Tax Commissioner and Ex-Officio Sheriff, JP Lemay. The Tax Sales page states the tax commissioner is designated ex officio sheriff in Clarke County and is responsible for conducting tax sales for the collection of unpaid taxes.

Next sale: Tuesday, December 1, 2026 (13 parcels advertised). The published Advertisement of Tax Sale covers the first Tuesday in December, with amounts stated as of December 1, 2026. Sales begin at 10:00 a.m.; the December session is stated as subject to reconvene at 3:00 p.m. and continue at 10:00 a.m. on subsequent days until completed.

The county's excess funds list records a regular cadence of past sales, including July 1, November 4 and December 1, 2025.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Tuesday, December 1, 2026 (13 parcels advertised)
Sale pattern	Tax sales begin at 10:00 a.m. on the first Tuesday of the month, ordinarily in front of the courthouse. If parcels are not sold by 4:00 p.m., the sale resumes at 10:00 a.m. the following day.
Opening bid	The opening bid is the taxes due plus costs; the property goes to the highest bidder.
The list	Advertised for four consecutive weeks in the legal section of the county newspaper, with a link from the Tax Sales page to the Athens Banner-Herald legal ads; the full Tax Sale List is also posted as a document on accgov.com. Notices give a full property description and the name of the person in possession.
Format	In person, before the courthouse door, Athens-Clarke County Courthouse, 325 E. Washington Street, Athens, GA 30601. In inclement weather, at the Tax Commissioner's discretion the sale may be held in the atrium on the second floor of the courthouse.
Selling office	Athens-Clarke County Tax Commissioner and Ex-Officio Sheriff, JP Lemay. The Tax Sales page states the tax commissioner is designated ex officio sheriff in Clarke County and is responsible for conducting tax sales for the collection of unpaid taxes.

Sources: Athens-Clarke County Tax Commissioner, Tax Sales. Athens-Clarke County, Advertisement of Tax Sale, December 2026. Athens-Clarke County, Excess Funds. Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and owners can pay and stop a sale at any point before it starts.

Research Clarke County parcels before you bid

A sale list gives you the parcels, the date, and the opening terms. It does not give you the owner, the value, or the rest of the picture: liens, foreclosure status, and parcel history. PropertyRadar is the data platform for that layer. It carries owner records, assessed and market values, foreclosure and tax data, and property history for parcels across Clarke County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How Georgia tax sales work

Taxes go delinquent and the lien attaches. Georgia taxes are a lien on the property. After the statutory notice, the county tax commissioner issues a tax execution, the fi. fa., against the owner and the property (O.C.G.A. 48-3-3) and delivers it to the levying officer: the sheriff, or the tax commissioner acting as ex officio sheriff, which is how most counties in this set run their sales.
The levy is advertised for four weeks. The levying officer advertises the sale once a week for four consecutive weeks in the county's legal organ newspaper, and most counties in this set also post the sale list on the tax commissioner's site. Owners keep paying and parcels keep dropping out until sale day; the list you research is not the list that sells.
Sale day is the first Tuesday. Sales under execution are held on the first Tuesday of the month, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., at the courthouse or the place the county designates (O.C.G.A. 9-13-161 and 48-4-1). Bidding is by public outcry, in person, and it starts at the amount due on the execution plus the costs of levy and sale. Some counties in this set sell only in months when a sale is planned, so the first Tuesday is a frame, not a promise: the county page tells you whether your county has a dated sale.
The winner pays and takes a tax deed. Payment timing and accepted forms are county rules, stated on each county page; where they are published they are same day rules, measured in hours. The winner receives a tax deed. Money bid above the execution amount becomes excess funds, held for the owner and lienholders under O.C.G.A. 48-4-5; it is not a discount and it is not the buyer's.
The deed is redeemable for at least 12 months. The owner, or anyone holding an interest in or a lien on the property, may redeem by paying the purchase price, plus any taxes and special assessments the purchaser paid, plus a premium of 20 percent of that amount for the first year or fraction of a year and 10 percent for each year after (O.C.G.A. 48-4-40 and 48-4-42). The purchaser cannot take possession during the redemption period. After 12 months the purchaser may bar the right of redemption with the statutory notice (O.C.G.A. 48-4-45); marketable title after that usually takes a quiet title action. Exception in this set: counties running judicial in rem sales (Chatham, Richmond, Bibb, Clayton, Henry and Clarke publish the track) redeem in 60 days on that track, with no 20 percent premium stated.

How registration works in Clarke County

No pre-registration, deadline, ID or bidder card rule is stated on the Tax Sales page or the December advertisement read. The one bidder information rule published: the purchaser must provide a current mailing address upon tender of payment.

Registration is the real deadline where a county requires it. Fulton closes registration the Monday before the sale and will not register you on sale day; Gwinnett registers in person and closes when the sale starts. Read your county's rule above before you travel.
Payment is a sale day event. Every county in this set that publishes a payment rule wants certified funds the same day, in windows as short as two hours. Arrive with the money arranged, not with a plan to arrange it.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Deposit, Clarke County	No deposit to bid is published on the Tax Sales page or the December advertisement read.
Payment, Clarke County	The Tax Sales page states payment must be made for the amount of the bid at the time of sale, by cashier's or certified check issued or certified by an FDIC or FSLIC insured institution, with a receipt issued at tender. The December advertisement is stricter and sale specific: payment must be made in certified funds by 2:00 p.m. on the day of sale. If the highest bidder fails or refuses to comply, the property may be resold and the first bidder held responsible for any deficiency.
What is sold	A tax deed, not a tax lien certificate. Georgia counties do not hold lien auctions: the property itself is levied and sold, and the buyer takes a deed that stays defeasible while the right of redemption lasts.
The opening bid	The amount due on the tax execution (taxes, interest and penalties) plus the costs of levy, advertising and sale. Bidding runs up from there by public outcry.
Redemption (sheriff style sales)	At least 12 months from the sale date. The redemption price is the amount paid at the sale, plus taxes and special assessments the purchaser paid afterward, plus a premium of 20 percent for the first year or fraction of a year and 10 percent for each year or fraction of a year after (O.C.G.A. 48-4-42). The 20 percent is owed in full even if the owner redeems the week after the sale.
After the year	The right to redeem does not simply expire at 12 months: it continues until the purchaser bars it with the statutory barment notice (O.C.G.A. 48-4-45). Only after barment, and usually a quiet title action, does the tax deed behave like a marketable title.
Excess funds	Any amount bid above the execution and costs is excess funds under O.C.G.A. 48-4-5, payable to the owner and lienholders in priority order. Overbidding does not buy better title; it buys a bigger redemption check if the owner redeems.

When a parcel draws no bid

The Tax Sales page states it plainly: if no one bids over the opening bid, the property may be "bid in" for the county.

Before you bid

Know which track the parcel is on. A sheriff style sale carries a 12 month redemption and a 20 percent premium if the owner redeems; a judicial in rem sale in the counties that run one redeems in 60 days with no premium. The deed, the wait and the return are different products.
Check the list in sale week. Owners pay and parcels drop until the morning of the sale. The four week advertisement is the starting list, never the selling list.
Price the redemption year. On a sheriff style deed you cannot take possession for at least 12 months, and the right to redeem continues after that until you bar it. Your capital is committed for the whole period either way.
Set the maximum before the sale opens. The free Max-Bid Calculator below works backwards from your resale or hold value to the highest bid you can pay, with the costs shown.

Every Georgia county in this set

One page per county, each verified against its own tax commissioner, sheriff or official sale source. Georgia has 159 counties; this set is the top 20 by population and sale activity.

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