Richland County tax sales, South Carolina

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Richland County runs its annual tax sale through the Treasurer office, and the county tax sale page confirms the secondary reporting about 2026: the 2026 tax sale ran Monday, November 2, 2026 and Tuesday, November 3, 2026 at the Township Auditorium, 1703 Taylor Street, Columbia, SC 29201, so as of November 9, 2026 it has already run. The Treasurer, Kendra L. Dove, acting as Tax Collector, levied the executions and sold to the highest bidder, with property sold as is for cash with immediate compliance exacted. Registration for this sale was online only, with a 50 dollar fee that had to be paid by October 26, 2026.

Selling office: Richland County Treasurer and Tax Collector

Next sale: Monday, November 2, 2026 to Tuesday, November 3, 2026 (already run). The county tax sale page, sets the 2026 tax sale on Monday, November 2, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., continuing Tuesday, November 3, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. until concluded, and on subsequent days as needed in the same location, at the Township Auditorium, 1703 Taylor Street, Columbia, SC 29201. To prevent a listed property from being sold, all payments had to be in the Treasurer office by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 30, 2026, by cash or certified bank cashier check only, and no delinquent tax payments were taken on the days of the tax sale. The county bidder registration page states that bidder registration for the 2026 tax sale has ended and that there is no onsite registration at the county offices or the Township Auditorium. No dated 2027 sale was published on the county pages.

Richland is the state capital county sale, held in a 3,000 seat class auditorium because the list and the crowd need the room, and its 2026 sale is complete as of November 9, 2026. The live work now is the redemption year on the November 2026 purchases, with tax deeds expected approximately fifteen months after the sale for parcels nobody redeems, and the standing Commission offer list for older unsold parcels.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Monday, November 2, 2026 to Tuesday, November 3, 2026 (already run)
The sale	One sale a year, typically each fall. The 2026 sale ran Monday, November 2, 2026, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Tuesday, November 3, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. until concluded, at the Township Auditorium, 1703 Taylor Street, Columbia, SC 29201. Property was sold in the order real estate, then real estate and mobile home combined, then mobile homes only, all in alphabetical order by owner last name or business name.
The list	The properties are described in the county tax sale notice itself, sold under the executions listed there, and the sale is advertised as state law requires. How the advance parcel list is distributed, and any list cost, were not published on the county tax sale page read November 9, 2026, and no parcel count for the 2026 sale was published on that page. A secondary account of a county GIS tax sale parcel viewer updated nightly before the sale is unverified.
Registration	Bidders can only register online. There is no in person registration. All bidders had to be registered by October 26, 2026 and their 50 dollar fee paid or they were not allowed to bid, and the bidder page adds that there is no onsite registration at the county offices or the Township Auditorium. The name on the bidder application cannot be changed once submitted, because checks and deeds are issued in the name listed on the application, and a bidder who registers more than once does not get a refund.
Bidding and payment	The Forfeited Land Commission begins the bid with the amount of delinquent taxes, the costs of sale, plus the current year taxes, tax year 2026 rounded off. Full payment of a winning bid is required on the dates of the tax sale, in cash, a certified bank cashier check, or a bank wire. All bids are final, and under Section 12-51-70 failure to comply with payment of a bid results in a 500 dollar fine per bid plus court costs, loss of the bids, and being banned from other tax sales in the future. If a bid on one property covers the taxes on other properties in the same name, the other properties are not sold.
Redemption	The defaulting taxpayer has one year and one day to redeem, per the county bidder page. If the property is redeemed, the bidder earns interest on the bid that increases every three months, 3 percent, 6 percent, 9 percent and 12 percent, capped at the opening bid amount. The bidder page states that the property is not the successful bidder property until the tax deed is issued approximately fifteen months from the date of the tax sale, that the tax title is not a warranty deed, and that tax sales can be voided or canceled at any time before the tax deed is issued.
Unsold parcels	Properties that were offered in a prior tax sale and drew no bid were deeded to the Forfeited Land Commission after the redemption year ran, and the Commission sells them by offer, in the method and terms in the best interest of the county under Section 12-59-40. The county Forfeited Land Available page posts the current Commission listing and offer form, states that offers cannot be less than the listed asking price, and states that no liens are released on these properties.
Format	In person public auction, with online only bidder registration: County bidder registration site at www7.richlandcountysc.gov/TaxSaleBidder; bidding is in person, with no online bidding
Selling office	Richland County Treasurer and Tax Collector

Sources: Richland County Treasurer, Tax Sale (2026 sale page). Richland County Treasurer, Tax Sale Bidder registration and reminders. Richland County, Forfeited Land Available. Richland County, Delinquent Taxes. 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 Richland 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 Richland 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 Richland County

Registration for the Richland County tax sale is online only, through the county bidder registration site, and there is no in person registration and no onsite registration at the county offices or the Township Auditorium. For the 2026 sale, all bidders had to be registered by October 26, 2026 with the 50 dollar fee paid. The county warns that the registration name is final: receipts, refund checks and deeds are issued in the name on the bidder application, name change requests are not accepted once the application is submitted, and the original receipt is required for a refund, with a 50 dollar charge for a duplicate receipt.

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, Richland County	The bidder registration fee is 50 dollars, and it must be paid by the registration deadline, October 26, 2026 for the 2026 sale, or the bidder is not allowed to bid. No separate bid deposit was published on the county tax sale page or the bidder registration page read November 9, 2026. The bidder page also states that a duplicate receipt, if an original receipt is lost, costs 50 dollars; that is a document charge, not a deposit.
Payment, Richland County	Terms of sale are cash, bank cashier check or wired funds only, due the day of the sale, and the county tax sale page states that full payment of a winning bid is required on the dates of the tax sale in cash, a certified bank cashier check, or a bank wire. All bids are final. Failure to comply results in loss of the bids and a fine of 500 dollars per bid plus court costs, and the bidder will be banned from other tax sales in the future.
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

Richland County Forfeited Land Commission properties are properties that were previously for sale in a prior tax sale, drew no bid, and were subsequently deeded to the Commission when the delinquent taxpayer failed to redeem during the standard one year redemption period after that sale. The Commission sells in the method and terms in the best interest of the county under Section 12-59-40. A buyer submits the county offer form at no less than the listed asking price; if more than one party wants the same property at the same time, each submits a highest offer and the high bidder takes the property by quit claim deed. Once an offer is accepted, the buyer must immediately remit the agreed amount in certified funds payable to the Richland County Treasurer, by cashier check or cash, with no personal checks accepted, and the quit claim deed is issued within 20 business days after payment. The county cautions that these properties were rejected by buyers at a previous tax sale and that no liens are released.

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