Charleston County tax sales, South Carolina

Verified

Charleston County sells once a year, in November or December, through its Delinquent Tax Division, and its 2026 sale is the live one in this set: the county delinquent tax sale page states that the sale begins Monday, November 9, 2026 at 9:00 a.m., which is today, and resumes on following days at 9:00 a.m. if necessary, with no lunch breaks. Properties are auctioned in alphabetical order by owner last name, real estate first and mobile homes after, and bids start at the total amount of taxes due at the time of sale, including taxes, assessments, penalties, costs and the current tax year 2025 taxes. Cash is no longer accepted as bid payment in Charleston County.

Selling office: Charleston County Tax Collector, Delinquent Tax Division

Next sale: Monday, November 9, 2026, 9:00 a.m., continuing on following days if necessary (begins today). The county page, states that the delinquent tax sale begins Monday, November 9, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. and will resume on following days at 9:00 a.m. if necessary, with no lunch breaks. Bidder registration for this sale ran Monday, September 7, 2026 to Friday, October 23, 2026 at 5:00 p.m., and there is no registration on the day of the tax sale. The venue for the 2026 sale was not stated in the text of the county page read November 9, 2026, so the venue is unverified in this entry; the county bidder information for its 2023 sale placed the sale in the Montague Room above the ticket office at the North Charleston Coliseum, 5001 Coliseum Drive, North Charleston, SC 29418, and secondary summaries give that same room for 2026.

Charleston is the competitive coastal sale in this set, and the county itself reports the shape of outcomes: about an 80 percent redemption rate, about a 10 percent void rate, and about a 10 percent conveyance rate. A secondary report put the 2026 list at 1,174 parcels; that parcel count is unverified, because no parcel count was published on the county page read November 9, 2026. The 2026 sale begins today, November 9, 2026, and the dated follow on event is the sealed bid sale for unsold parcels in late January and February 2027.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Monday, November 9, 2026, 9:00 a.m., continuing on following days if necessary (begins today)
The sale	One sale a year, in November or December. The 2026 sale begins Monday, November 9, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. and resumes on following days at 9:00 a.m. if necessary, with no lunch breaks. Properties are auctioned in alphabetical order by owner last name, the real estate sale first, followed by the mobile home sale. The venue for the 2026 sale is unverified, for the reason stated in the next event note above.
The list	Starting Monday, September 7, 2026, a listing of properties is available on the county tax sale page and in the Delinquent Tax Office, updated periodically, and the tax sale advertisement also appears in the Post and Courier on the three preceding Wednesdays. The finalized list is only available on the day of the tax sale, and final lists are provided to registered bidders on the day of the sale. Amounts on the advance list include only delinquent taxes; the starting bid also includes the current tax year 2025 taxes. No list cost was published on the county page read November 9, 2026.
Registration	Registration for the 2026 sale began Monday, September 7, 2026 and ended Friday, October 23, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. There is no registration on the day of the tax sale. Registration is available online, and a bidder may also register in the office with cash, check, or credit card. A copy of a valid government issued photo identification will be required if you win a bid at the tax sale. The registration cost has increased to 15 dollars.
Bidding and payment	All bids are final. Bids start at the total amount of taxes due at the time of sale, including taxes, assessments, penalties, costs and current tax year 2025 taxes, which is the bid submitted for the Forfeited Land Commission. All bids must be paid by money order, certified check, or bank wire, with a 35 dollar fee for all bank wires, and cash is no longer accepted. Bids are due in full at the close of business on the day of the tax sale, or by noon the following day if the sale runs to the close of business. An unpaid bid draws a 500 dollar default fee per bid, the bid is placed with the Forfeited Land Commission, and defaulted bids may result in termination of registration and being prohibited from future tax sales.
Redemption	Taxpayers have one year to redeem from the tax sale. The defaulting taxpayer, a grantee from the owner, or a mortgage or judgment creditor may redeem, and a bidder may not redeem a property on which the bidder placed a bid. Interest is due on the whole amount of the bid at 3 percent in the first three months, 6 percent in months four to six, 9 percent in months seven to nine, and 12 percent in the last three months, capped at the opening bid submitted for the Forfeited Land Commission. The county states an approximately 80 percent redemption rate. Property not redeemed is conveyed by tax title to the successful bidder after thirty days, or as soon thereafter, once the twelve month redemption period has expired; the county FAQ also describes the tax title as issued approximately three months after the redemption year ends.
Unsold parcels	Properties that do not receive bids and are sold to the Forfeited Land Commission may be placed in a sealed bid sale, a silent auction on a form provided by the office and submitted in a sealed envelope. For the 2026 cycle the county page sets that sealed bid sale from January 26, 2027 to February 20, 2027, and states that historically all properties receive bids either through the original auction or the sealed bid sale, and that the county currently does not have any leftover properties.
Format	In person public auction: No online auction platform; registration is available online or in the office, and bidding is in person
Selling office	Charleston County Tax Collector, Delinquent Tax Division

Sources: Charleston County Delinquent Tax Division, Delinquent Tax Sale and Bidder Information. Charleston County Delinquent Tax Division, 2025 Real Property Tax Sale Listing (PDF). Charleston County Delinquent Tax Division, 2023 Tax Sale Bidder Instructions (PDF). Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and parcels are pulled up to sale day.

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

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How South Carolina tax sales work

The debt builds fast, then the county takes possession on paper. Taxes unpaid after January 15 take penalties under Section 12-45-180: 3 percent, then 7 percent more on February 2, then 5 percent more on March 17. The treasurer issues an execution, and the officer charged with collecting delinquent taxes mails the delinquency notice on April 1, takes exclusive possession by certified mail or posting, and advertises the sale once a week for three consecutive weeks under Section 12-51-40.
The sale is a public auction, and the county opens every parcel. Under Section 12-51-50 the property is sold at public auction at the courthouse or another convenient place in the county on the advertised date; the statute sets no statewide date, and counties in this set sell between October and December. The officer must open each parcel with a bid for the county Forfeited Land Commission equal to all unpaid taxes, penalties, assessments and costs, including the taxes levied for the year the redemption period begins (Section 12-51-55). Public bidding starts at that amount.
The winner pays in full that day and leaves with a receipt. Section 12-51-60 requires payment of the full bid on the day of the sale, in cash, cashier's check, certified check or money order, and the buyer receives a receipt, not a deed. A bidder who fails to pay has the bid cancelled, faces up to 500 dollars in damages, and the property is readvertised (Section 12-51-70). Any part of the bid above the taxes, penalties and costs is held by the collector and belongs to the former owner, who is notified of the excess after the tax deed issues.
Redemption runs twelve months and pays a lump sum, not a rate. The defaulting taxpayer, a grantee from the owner, or a mortgage or judgment creditor may redeem within twelve months of the sale under Section 12-51-90, paying the debt plus interest on the whole successful bid: 3 percent if redeemed in the first three months, 6 percent in months four to six, 9 percent in months seven to nine, 12 percent in the last three months. The interest charged may never exceed the amount of the Forfeited Land Commission bid, so money bid above the county's opening bid earns no interest at all.
The deed comes after the year runs, and unsold parcels sit with the Commission. If nobody redeems, the collector issues a tax title to the purchaser under Section 12-51-130, and after one more year that deed is incontestable (Section 12-51-90(C)). Parcels the Forfeited Land Commission takes in, because nobody outbid its opening bid, are held through the same redemption period; the Commission then holds title and sells forfeited lands through its own posted sale process, which is the year round leftover channel in every South Carolina county.

How bidding works in Charleston County

Registration is handled by the Charleston County Delinquent Tax Division, online or in the office, not on the day of the sale. For the 2026 sale, registration ran Monday, September 7, 2026 to Friday, October 23, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Office registration may be paid with cash, check, or credit card, and a copy of a valid government issued photo identification is required if you win a bid. Assignments of a bid from the 2026 sale will be accepted from November 16, 2026 through November 7, 2027.

Bid the redemption math, not the parcel. If the owner redeems, your entire return is the quarter's lump sum percentage, capped at the county's own opening bid. Every dollar bid above that opening bid earns zero interest in the redemption outcome and is handed to the former owner in the deed outcome. The rational bid ceiling in South Carolina is set by Section 12-51-90, not by the parcel's market value.
Full payment is due before you leave the room. South Carolina sales settle on the spot, in legal tender, and a failed payment cancels the bid, readvertises the parcel, and exposes the defaulting bidder to up to 500 dollars in damages (Section 12-51-70). Registered bidders bring certified funds sized to their maximum bid, not to their expected bid.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Deposit, Charleston County	The bidder registration fee is 15 dollars, stated on the county page as a registration cost that has increased to 15 dollars. No separate bid deposit was published on the county page read November 9, 2026. The other money a winning bidder must plan for at the sale is the bid itself, due in full the same day, plus a 35 dollar fee if payment is made by bank wire.
Payment, Charleston County	All bids must be paid by money order, certified check, or bank wire, and cash will no longer be accepted as bid payment. There is a 35 dollar fee for all bank wires. Bids are due in full at the close of business on the day of the tax sale, and if the sale extends past or close to the end of business, bids are due the following day by noon. If bids are not received by that time, a 500 dollar default fee per bid is charged and the bid is placed with the Forfeited Land Commission, and defaulted fees will be subject to judgments if not paid.
What is sold	The property itself, but title does not move on sale day. The winning bid buys a receipt and a claim: if the owner redeems within twelve months the sale unwinds, and only if nobody redeems does the collector issue a tax title. There is no lien certificate in South Carolina at any stage.
The opening bid	Set by statute, not by the market. Under Section 12-51-55 the officer bids for the Forfeited Land Commission in an amount equal to all unpaid taxes, penalties, assessments and costs, including the taxes levied for the year in which the redemption period begins. Every public bid is measured against that floor.
Excess bid	Any part of the winning bid above the taxes, penalties, assessments and costs is held by the delinquent tax collector, and once the tax deed has been issued the collector must notify the former owner of the excess due (Section 12-51-60). Money bid above the debt is never bidder profit in either outcome: on redemption it earns no interest, and without redemption it belongs to the former owner.
Redemption	Twelve months from the date of the sale, by the defaulting taxpayer, a grantee from the owner, or a mortgage or judgment creditor, paying the debt plus lump sum interest on the whole successful bid: 3 percent in the first three months, 6 percent in months four to six, 9 percent in months seven to nine, 12 percent in the last three months, and never more than the amount of the Forfeited Land Commission bid (Section 12-51-90).
The tax title	Issued by the collector after the redemption period ends if nobody redeems (Section 12-51-130), and incontestable after one additional year (Section 12-51-90(C)). A tax title is not a title insurance policy: owners of record, occupants, and surviving interests are the buyer's homework, and a quiet title action is the usual finishing step.
Costs on top of the bid	The full bid is due on sale day in legal tender; there is no financing window and no deposit installment structure in the statute. Current year taxes are already inside the opening bid. After the sale the costs are time and process: twelve months of redemption to wait out, then deed and recording charges as the county publishes them.

Unsold parcels: the Forfeited Land Commission

A parcel that receives no bid goes to the Forfeited Land Commission on its opening bid and is held through the twelve month redemption period like any other sale parcel. Charleston then runs a second chance route of its own: properties that do not receive bids and are sold to the Commission may be placed in a sealed bid sale, held as a silent auction with bids on an office form in a sealed envelope, set for January 26, 2027 to February 20, 2027 for the 2026 cycle. The county states that historically all properties receive bids either through the original auction or the sealed bid sale, and that it currently has no leftover properties. Any excess bid above the taxes, assessments, penalties and costs is an overage for the owner of record at the end of redemption, claimed by filing an overage claim form and not payable until 90 days after the tax deed has been filed.

Before you bid

Price the year, not just the parcel. Every South Carolina purchase includes twelve months of illiquidity before a deed can issue, and the owner can unwind the sale at any point in that year. Decide in advance whether you are buying the redemption return, the deed, or both, because the right bid is different for each.
Verify the venue and the registration close. South Carolina sales are live events, and registration closes days before the sale in most counties, sometimes with a fee and never on sale day in the larger ones. The registration deadline, not the sale date, is the gate that decides whether you bid at all.
Read the Forfeited Land Commission list after the sale. Parcels nobody outbids are taken in by the Commission and return through its own sale process after redemption runs. That list, published by each county's Commission, is the second chance at the same inventory, priced by the Commission's rules.
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.

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New York tax sales · Florida tax deed sales · Texas tax sales · Pennsylvania tax sales · Georgia tax sales · North Carolina tax foreclosure sales · Ohio tax foreclosure sales · Illinois tax lien sales · Michigan tax foreclosure sales · Arizona tax lien sales · California tax defaulted property sales · Colorado tax lien sales