Clayton County tax sales

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Clayton runs the tightest sale day clock in this set: win at 10 a.m. on the courthouse steps, then report across town to the Property Tax Office between noon and 3 p.m. the same day to pay, or the parcel is re-cried at 3:30 p.m. and the bidder risks the ineligible bidder list. The county also states its redemption as 12 months and one day, a day longer than the plain 12 months most Georgia pages quote.

Selling office: Clayton County Tax Commissioner (Danielle H. Smith) conducts the tax sales. The Tax Sales page names a Tax Sale Attorney, Foster, Foster and Smith of Jonesboro.

Next sale: Tuesday, December 1, 2026 (standing first Tuesday schedule). The county's official registration form states the sale date as every first Tuesday of the month, so the next sale day is Tuesday, December 1, 2026 by that standing schedule. As of the November 9, 2026 check, the Tax Commissioner's public access page links the November 2026 list only; no December specific list was posted on the pages opened, and the posted list controls.

The November 2026 list is the current posted list; no December parcel count is published on the official pages read.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Tuesday, December 1, 2026 (standing first Tuesday schedule)
Sale pattern	Every first Tuesday of the month, per the official registration form. Delinquent properties eligible for upcoming sales are posted monthly on the Tax Commissioner's website under the Tax Sale tab.
Two tracks	The standard sheriff style sale carries the 12 months and one day redemption below. The county also runs a Judicial In Rem Sale track through Superior Court, which reduces the redemption period to 60 days. Read the posted list to see which track a parcel is on.
The list	The monthly sale list (parcel, owner, location, tax years, cry out bid) is linked from the Tax Commissioner's public access page as a PDF; the November 2026 list posted October 27, 2026 is the current one as this page is checked. The legal organ newspaper name is not published on the official pages opened.
Format	In person, courthouse steps: In person, on the courthouse steps at 9151 Tara Blvd, Jonesboro, GA 30236, starting 10:00 a.m. The venue is stated on the county's official Tax Sale Registration Form; the Tax Sales page itself does not publish a venue address.
Selling office	Clayton County Tax Commissioner (Danielle H. Smith) conducts the tax sales. The Tax Sales page names a Tax Sale Attorney, Foster, Foster and Smith of Jonesboro.

Sources: Clayton County Tax Commissioner, Tax Sales. Clayton County Tax Commissioner, public access (sale lists and registration form links). Clayton County Tax Sale Registration Form. 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 Clayton 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 Clayton 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 and Clayton publish the track) redeem in 60 days on that track, with no 20 percent premium stated.

How registration works in Clayton County

Complete the Tax Sale Bidder Pre-Registration Form, linked from the Tax Commissioner's public access page on the county forms site. The form's stated requirement is a driver's license. Bidder registration and payment rules apply to all sales, per the Tax Sales page.

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, Clayton County	No deposit to bid is published on the county pages read.
Payment, Clayton County	Certified funds, cash, money order or cashier's check. Winning bidders complete the Blue Winning Bidder's Form at the sale and must report to the Property Tax Office at 121 S. McDonough St, Jonesboro, between 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on the day of the sale to pay the winning bid amount. Miss that window and the bidder may be placed on the ineligible bidder list for six months and face a lien; the unpaid property is re-cried at 3:30 p.m. the same day.
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.

Redemption and possession in Clayton

The winner cannot access or take possession of the property for any reason until the redemption period has expired. Clayton states the period as 12 months and one day from the sale date, with an initial redemption penalty of 20 percent, increasing by 10 percent each additional year. Final lists may be reduced as owners pay before the sale, and the office provides no additional information about the properties, so the diligence is the bidder's.

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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