Dorchester County tax sales, South Carolina

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Dorchester County's 2026 delinquent tax sale was held Monday, October 19, 2026 at the Lovely Hill convention center in St. George. Registration was online only, with no in office registration and no registration on the day of sale, and the county collects through its Delinquent Tax Office in St. George; it notes there is no tax office in Summerville and no payments are accepted on the day of sale. The county does not publish its registration fee on the pages read, so none is stated here.

Selling office: Lourenza G. Thumbtzen, Delinquent Tax Collector, Dorchester County, Delinquent Tax Office, 201 Johnston Street, St George, SC 29477; phone (843) 563-0110

Next sale: Annual sale held Monday, October 19, 2026 (2026 cycle complete). The county page gives October 19, 2026 at Lovely Hill Convention Center, 5905 W Jim Bilton Blvd., St. George. The official newspaper notice (Summerville Journal Scene, October 14, 2026) names the venue Lovely Hill Conference Center and gives the legal hours as 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., continuing day to day until completed. No 2027 date is published. Taxes became delinquent March 17, and the last day to pay to avoid the 2026 sale was Friday, October 16, 2026, 5:00 p.m.

The sale was advertised in the Summerville Journal Scene and on the county website beginning September 30, October 7, and October 14, 2026, with mobile homes advertised October 7 and 14 only. The county publishes no parcel count for the sale in the sources read.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Annual sale held Monday, October 19, 2026 (2026 cycle complete)
Sale date and venue	Monday, October 19, 2026, at Lovely Hill Convention Center, 5905 W Jim Bilton Blvd., St. George, SC 29477; the official newspaper notice gives the legal hours as 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., continuing day to day until completed.
Registration	October 1 through October 14, 2026, 5:00 p.m., online only; no in office registration and no day of sale registration. The county does not publish a registration fee on the pages read, so none is stated here.
How bids are placed	In person at the live auction. The county opens each parcel with a bid for the Forfeited Land Commission; the high bidder pays the day of sale and receives a receipt, not a deed.
The list	Advertised in the Summerville Journal Scene and online on the county website beginning September 30, October 7, and October 14, 2026 (mobile homes October 7 and 14 only). A parcel count is not published.
Redemption	One year from the sale date, per the county FAQ. The redemption amount is taxes, penalties, and interest on the bid, payable by cash, cashier's check, or money order only. An overage (a bid above the delinquent taxes, penalties, levy costs, and current year taxes) is available to the defaulting taxpayer for 5 years after the sale if the property is conveyed, a longer claim window than other counties in this set publish.
Format	Live in person auction at Lovely Hill, St. George; registration online only; no online bidding.
Selling office	Delinquent Tax Collector, Dorchester County (Delinquent Tax Office, St. George)

Sources: Dorchester County Delinquent Tax. Dorchester County Delinquent Tax, Common Terms and FAQ. Dorchester County Forfeited Land Commission sealed bids notice (2019). 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 Dorchester 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 Dorchester 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 Dorchester County

Dorchester County is a live, in person auction; the online element is registration only, and it is mandatory and early, closing October 14, 2026 for the 2026 sale. The county opens each parcel with a bid for the Forfeited Land Commission, and bidding proceeds from there under the shared South Carolina frame below.

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, Dorchester County	No deposit separate from the bid is published, and no registration fee is published on the county pages read, so neither figure is stated here.
Payment, Dorchester County	Per the county FAQ, payment at the annual tax sale is by cash, U.S. Postal money order, or cashier's check only; no personal checks and no debit or credit cards. The county accepts no payments on the day of sale at its office; payment is made at the sale.
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

The county's official notices describe an annual Forfeited Land Commission sealed bid sale for older mobile homes and land parcels the county acquired that did not attract full price bidders at the annual sale: sealed bids go to the Auditor's St. George office, are opened publicly, and all FLC property is sold as is, with photographs, descriptions, and addresses available at the Auditor's offices. The most recent official FLC sale notice found is dated April 29, 2019 (bids due May 24, 2019); no current availability statement or 2026 FLC sale notice was found, so current availability is not published in the sources read.

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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