Union County tax foreclosure sales

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Union is the county in this set with a sale live inside its upset window as this page is checked: the November 4, 2026 sale of three Lakewood Knolls lots in Stallings stands at a $5,000 current bid, with a $5,750 minimum upset bid and the upset period ending Monday, November 16, 2026. Union also publishes the most complete current sales list in the set, with opening bids, current bids and upset deadlines per case, which is exactly the document a Union buyer should work from.

Selling office: Union County Tax Administrator / Tax Office. The Tax Office may assign parcels to private attorneys to foreclose.

Next event: A sale is in its upset bid period now: bid stands at $5,000, upset period ends Monday, November 16, 2026. From the county's current sales list: case 26M000471-890, Lots 1, 2 and 3, Block E, Lakewood Knolls, 0 Drexel Drive at Lakewood Drive, Stallings, sold Wednesday, November 4, 2026 at 10 a.m. with an estimated opening bid of $3,800; the current bid is $5,000, the required minimum upset bid is $5,750, and the upset bid period ends November 16, 2026. Every other entry on the list is either TBD (parcels waiting for statutory deadlines in the in rem process before a sale date can be set, and one marked redeemed and paid in full) or past. No future dated sale after November 9 is posted.

The current sales list is the count: one case in its upset period (ending November 16, 2026), further cases TBD pending statutory deadlines, per the list read.

Dates and stages

Next event	A sale is in its upset bid period now: bid stands at $5,000, upset period ends Monday, November 16, 2026
Sale tracks	Both: in rem foreclosure under NCGS 105-375, conveying by Sheriff's Deed, and judicial foreclosure under NCGS 105-374, conveying by Commissioner's Deed. The current sales list marks the track per case.
Sale pattern	Sales are scheduled on an as needed basis. Notices are published in the Union Observer section of the Charlotte Observer once a week for two weeks, posted at the courthouse at least 20 days, and posted on the Tax Administration website.
Upset bids	At the Clerk of Court on the first floor of the Union County Courthouse, using form AOC-CV-414, with a certified check or cashier's check deposit. Official bids are held at the Clerk of Court's office (704-698-3100, option 4). Each upset bid restarts the 10 day period.
The list	The Property Tax Foreclosures page of the Union County Tax Office, which links the Current Tax Foreclosure Sales Scheduled list: per case opening bids, current bids, minimum upset bids and upset deadlines.
Format	In person, Judicial Center entrance: In person, at the entrance of the Union County Judicial Center, 400 North Main Street, Monroe, NC 28112. Judicial sales are conducted by a Commissioner appointed by the Court, usually Mr. Donald C. Perry; in rem sales convey by Sheriff's Deed.
Selling office	Union County Tax Administrator / Tax Office. The Tax Office may assign parcels to private attorneys to foreclose.

Sources: Union County Tax Office, Property Tax Foreclosures. Union County, current Tax Foreclosure Sales list. Union County Tax Office, tax foreclosure FAQ. 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 the upset bid period expires.

Research Union 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 Union County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How North Carolina tax foreclosure works

There is no tax lien sale in North Carolina. Property taxes are a lien on the property itself, and the county's remedy is foreclosure of that lien, not an auction of the lien. Guilford County's page states it in one line: North Carolina state law prohibits the sale of property tax liens. Any site selling you a North Carolina tax lien certificate is selling something the state does not issue.
Track one: judicial foreclosure (NCGS 105-374). The taxing unit files a foreclosure action in superior court, takes a judgment, and the court appoints a commissioner to sell the property. The commissioner advertises the sale (published once a week for two weeks and posted at the courthouse, at least 20 days in the counties that state the posting period), cries it at the courthouse, and on confirmation executes a Commissioner's Deed. It works like a mortgage foreclosure, because the statute builds it on one.
Track two: in rem foreclosure (NCGS 105-375). The taxing unit dockets a judgment with the Clerk of Superior Court without a full court action, and the judgment is enforced by execution: the sheriff advertises and sells the property, and conveys by Sheriff's Deed. Counties choose the track, and some in this set use both; the track decides who sells and which deed you get.
The sale itself is only the opening price. The officer or commissioner files a report of sale, and the price stands open for 10 days. The taxing unit itself often bids the judgment amount at the sale, so a winning bid below the tax debt is not the bargain it looks like until the upset period runs.
The upset bid period is the real auction. For 10 days after the report of sale (or after the last notice of upset bid) is filed, any person may file an upset bid with the Clerk of Superior Court: a bid exceeding the reported price by at least 5 percent, with a minimum increase of $750, backed by a deposit of at least 5 percent of the upset bid and never less than $750 (NCGS 1-339.64 for in rem and execution sales; NCGS 45-21.27 states the same math). Each valid upset bid restarts a fresh 10 day period, with no limit on rounds. Only when a period expires with no upset bid do the rights of the parties become fixed; the sale is then confirmed and the deed issues. The owner can still pay the judgment and costs and stop the process at any point up to the end of the upset period.

How bidding works in Union County

No pre-registration is published on the county pages; the money gates are the sale deposit and the upset bid deposit in the terms table.

There are two deposits, not one. The sale deposit goes to the officer, commissioner or attorney at the sale itself, at the percentage your county's row above states. The upset bid deposit goes to the Clerk of Superior Court if you enter or raise during the 10 day window. They are different money, paid to different offices.
The upset window is where North Carolina sales are actually decided. A parcel can look won on sale day and change hands twice more inside successive 10 day periods. Work the Clerk's file for the parcel, not just the sale day result.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Deposit, Union County	A deposit of 5 percent of the bid, in cash or certified funds, is required at the sale (per the current sales list). The county FAQ adds, for the judicial track, that the deposit is 5 percent or $750, whichever is greater, in cash or a certified check, put up with the attorney.
Payment, Union County	The balance is due at the end of the 10 day upset period and the filing of confirmation, in certified funds only.
Sale deposit	Set by each sale's notice, not by one statewide figure. In this set the published sale deposits run from 5 percent of the bid (New Hanover, Union) through 10 percent (Durham) to 20 percent (Guilford, Gaston), in cash or certified funds. The county figure is in the deposit row above; the notice for your parcel controls.
The upset bid raise	An upset bid must exceed the reported sale price, or the last upset bid, by a minimum of 5 percent, and in any event by at least $750. One of the two numbers is always bigger; compute both and use the larger.
The upset bid deposit	Filed with the Clerk of Superior Court with the bid: cash, a certified check or a cashier's check of at least 5 percent of the amount of the upset bid, and never less than $750. Several counties in this set use the standard form AOC-CV-414 for the bid.
The clock	Ten calendar days from the filing of the report of sale or the last notice of upset bid, expiring at the close of the Clerk's normal business hours on the tenth day. Weekends count inside the period; where the tenth day falls on a day the courthouse is closed, the filing rolls to the next open day, as Gaston and Guilford state expressly. Every upset bid restarts the full 10 days.
Title and redemption	The deed is a non-warranty Commissioner's Deed or Sheriff's Deed. There is no post sale redemption in North Carolina tax foreclosure: the owner's right is to pay the judgment and stop the sale, and it ends when the upset period expires and the sale is confirmed. A tax foreclosure sale may also leave the buyer subject to taxes and assessments that were not part of the judgment, as Forsyth's list states expressly; read the notice's subject to language before pricing a bid.

County owned property

No disposition route for county owned foreclosed property is stated on the Property Tax Foreclosures page, the sales list or the FAQ read, so this page presents none. The working channels are the current sales list and the upset windows it publishes.

Before you bid

The hammer price is an opening offer. Budget and plan for the upset period: anyone in the state can outbid you at the Clerk's office for 10 days, and each raise restarts the clock. Your real closing date is the day a period finally expires.
Read the notice's subject to language. Tax foreclosure deeds are non-warranty, and taxes or assessments outside the judgment can survive the sale. The notice for the parcel, not the county page, is the full term sheet.
Know the track. Judicial sales run through a court appointed commissioner and end in a Commissioner's Deed; in rem sales run through the sheriff and end in a Sheriff's Deed. The track also decides who holds your deposit and who answers questions.
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. In an upset bid state, set two numbers: your sale day bid and your walk away upset ceiling.

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