Spartanburg County tax sales, South Carolina

Verified

Spartanburg County runs its sale through the County Tax Collector, whose office holds annual tax sales under Title 12 of the SC Code, and the county site map confirms a Tax Collector section with a 2026 Tax Sale Info page, bidder registration procedures, and a notice to bidders of terms and conditions. The Tax Collector page read for this file was a cached copy carrying the prior cycle, stating that the tax sale dates were November 18 and 19, 2025, and the contents of the 2026 Tax Sale Info page could not be read in full for this file. Secondary summaries of that county page report the 2026 sale for December 8 and 9, 2026 at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium; those 2026 specifics are marked unverified wherever they appear in this entry, while the sale mechanics below rest on the county tax sale procedures page, which the county carries for every cycle.

Selling office: Spartanburg County Tax Collector, Delinquent Tax Office

Next sale: Tuesday, December 8, 2026 (unverified, see note). Secondary summaries of the county 2026 Tax Sale Info page report that the 2026 sale opens Tuesday, December 8, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. in the Arena, on the lower level of the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, 385 North Church Street, Spartanburg, SC 29303, and continues on following days, with December 9, 2026 named as the second day. The date, the second day, the start time and the venue are unverified in this entry, because the 2026 page itself was not read in full for this file. The last verified sale on a county page was the prior cycle, November 18 and 19, 2025, stated on the Tax Collector page, and the county pattern is one multi day sale a year in November or December.

Spartanburg is the Upstate manufacturing county sale in this set, anchored by the BMW plant corridor along Interstate 85, and its list mixes city parcels in Spartanburg with small town and rural parcels across the county. Its 2026 dates rest on secondary summaries of the county 2026 Tax Sale Info page and are marked unverified in this entry; the verified anchor dates remain the November 18 and 19, 2025 sale on the Tax Collector page and the standing procedures that govern every cycle.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Tuesday, December 8, 2026 (unverified, see note)
The sale	One public auction a year, multi day, in November or December. The last verified dates are November 18 and 19, 2025, from the Tax Collector page. Secondary summaries of the county 2026 Tax Sale Info page report December 8 and 9, 2026, opening at 10:00 a.m. in the Arena on the lower level of the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, 385 North Church Street; those 2026 dates, time and venue are unverified.
The list	Under the county procedures, the property is advertised in a news publication of general circulation within the county, stating that unless taxes are paid the property will be sold at public auction and where and when the auction will take place, with the delinquent taxpayer name and the county map-block-parcel number for each property, published once a week for three consecutive weeks before the sale. How the 2026 list is posted online, and any list cost or parcel count, were not published on the county pages read November 9, 2026; a list route through the county website and a local news site, described in older county sale notices, is unverified for 2026.
Registration	A bidder must be registered with the County Tax Collector office to bid, which is also the first step the county sets for taking a Forfeited Land Commission assignment. Secondary summaries of the county 2026 documents report that a bidder reads the Notice to Bidders of Terms and Conditions, completes the county Bidder Registration Form together with an IRS Form W-9, submits both to the Tax Collector office, and obtains a bidder number. That registration process for 2026, and any registration deadline for 2026, are unverified in this entry; no registration deadline was published on the county pages.
Bidding and payment	The tax sale is conducted as a public auction. The opening bid, submitted for the Forfeited Land Commission, equals all delinquent taxes, penalties and costs due plus the current year taxes due, and if a defaulting taxpayer has more than one item, no further items are sold once enough has been raised to cover that taxpayer delinquent taxes. The successful bidder must pay legal tender, cash, a cashier check, a certified check, or a money order, to the County Tax Collector before the close of the tax sale. A successful bidder who fails to remit legal tender is liable for 500 dollars per property, collectible by the Tax Collector.
Redemption	The defaulting taxpayer, any grantee from the owner, or any mortgage or judgment creditor may redeem each item of real estate within twelve months from the date of the delinquent tax sale, paying the delinquent taxes, penalties and costs plus interest on the successful bid of 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 months ten to twelve, with the interest never to exceed the amount of the bid submitted for the Forfeited Land Commission. A bidder who assigns an interest before the redemption period ends must furnish the Tax Collector with a witnessed, notarized conveyance. If nobody redeems, the Tax Collector issues a tax deed as soon as possible; the deed is not a warranted deed.
Unsold parcels	Parcels the Forfeited Land Commission takes in are listed by the county as tax sale properties available for assignment, separately for real estate and for mobile homes, with the item number, best known property address, defaulting taxpayer, map number and total tax due or bid amount needed. A registered bidder contacts the Commission about the property, and once the assignment is confirmed the bidder remits payment by certified check or cash to the Tax Collector. Until the deed is issued, the assigned bidder has no rights or access to the property.
Format	In person public auction: No online auction platform; the sale is a live public auction run by the County Tax Collector
Selling office	Spartanburg County Tax Collector, Delinquent Tax Office

Sources: Spartanburg County Tax Collector, Tax Sale Procedures. Spartanburg County Tax Collector page (prior cycle dates, November 18 and 19, 2025). Spartanburg County, Forfeited Land Commission assignment guidelines. Spartanburg County site map, Tax Collector section (2026 Tax Sale Info page listed). 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 Spartanburg 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 Spartanburg 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 Spartanburg County

Registration is with the County Tax Collector office, at 864-596-2597, and a bidder number is required. The county Forfeited Land Commission assignment steps confirm the standing rule that a participant registers as a tax sale bidder with the Tax Collector office. For the 2026 sale, secondary summaries of the county documents describe a Bidder Registration Form filed with an IRS Form W-9 to obtain the bidder number; that 2026 process is unverified in this entry. A registration fee was not published on the county pages read, and no registration deadline for the 2026 sale was published on those pages.

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, Spartanburg County	No bidder registration fee and no deposit were published on the county pages read November 9, 2026, so there is no verified registration fee or deposit for the Spartanburg sale in this entry, and none should be assumed. The verified money rule is the payment rule in the county procedures: the full bid is paid in legal tender to the Tax Collector before the close of the tax sale, and a bidder who does not pay is liable for 500 dollars per property.
Payment, Spartanburg County	The successful bidder at the delinquent tax sale must pay legal tender, cash, a cashier check, a certified check, or a money order, to the County Tax Collector before the close of the tax sale, per the county tax sale procedures page. If the successful bidder fails to remit legal tender, he or she is liable for 500 dollars per property, which is collectible by the Tax Collector. For a Forfeited Land Commission assignment, the county assignment documents state the narrower payment rule of a certified check or cash to the Tax Collector once the assignment is confirmed.
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

Spartanburg sells its unsold parcels by assignment from the Forfeited Land Commission, on a first come, first served basis. The county posts lists of tax sale properties available for assignment, for real estate and for mobile homes separately, and the steps are to register as a bidder with the County Tax Collector office, contact the Forfeited Land Commission about the property requested, and, once the assignment is confirmed, remit the bid payment by certified check or cash to the Tax Collector. Assignments by mail are accepted, but a bidder who presents payment in person first takes the property. The assigned bidder must follow the Tax Collector guidelines through the redemption period and has no rights or access to the property until the deed is issued, and the county notes that a tax deed should be cleared through the Master in Equity, which the successful bidder must petition.

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