Gwinnett County Tax Sale List: Registration, Bidding, and Redemption

The Gwinnett County tax sale list appears in two places: the Gwinnett Daily Post, the county’s designated legal organ, and the delinquent tax list on the Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner’s website.¹ The online list changes frequently because owners pay off balances right up to sale day, so a parcel showing today may be gone by the auction. The newspaper version is the legally required advertisement, and Georgia law requires it to run weekly for four consecutive weeks before the sale.² Each ad carries a legal description or tax parcel number and, when available, a street address.³

For most people, the Tax Commissioner’s online list is the easier starting point. It covers both real property and personal property accounts and reflects payments as they come in.¹ Check it again close to the sale date; that snapshot is the one that matters.

When and Where Sales Happen

Gwinnett County holds tax sales on the first Tuesday of certain months, not every month. The 2026 dates are May 5, August 4, October 6, and December 1.⁴ Every auction is held outside the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center at 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville.⁵

How to Register and Pay

You have to register in person at the Tax Commissioner’s office inside the Justice and Administration Center before the auction begins. Registration is not available at the outdoor sale site once bidding starts. You can save time by filling out the Bidder Registration Form in advance and turning it in before sale day.⁶

Payment is certified funds only: U.S. currency, or a cashier’s check or certified check from an FDIC-insured institution made out to the Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner. No personal checks, no credit cards, no wire transfers. You have one hour after the sale ends to pay at the Tax Commissioner’s office.⁶ Experienced bidders bring several cashier’s checks in different amounts so they can hit the winning bid without needing change back.

How the Auction Works

Parcels are auctioned one at a time. The opening bid equals the delinquent taxes owed plus costs, and bids move in whole dollars. Highest bidder wins, and every bid is legally binding.⁴ Miss the one-hour payment window and the county can put the property back up.

Once you pay, you get a receipt. The Tax Commissioner then issues a tax deed in your name, records it with the county, and mails it to the address on your receipt unless you pick it up in person.⁶

Research the Parcel Before You Bid

The county sells whatever the legal advertisement describes, not what a sign in the yard or a photo online suggests. The Tax Commissioner’s office states it plainly: “all sales are based on the legal description and not the location of any signs.”⁶

Before bidding, drive the property, pull parcel maps and tax records from the Gwinnett County Tax Assessor, and run a title search or have an attorney run one. A tax deed doesn’t clear every obligation attached to the land, and it isn’t the same thing as marketable title. Environmental problems, code violations, and structural damage don’t show up on the tax sale list.

What You Actually Own After Winning

A winning bid does not make you the owner. Under Georgia law, the former owner and anyone else with a legal interest in the property, including mortgage lenders, lienholders, and judgment creditors, has 12 months from the sale date to redeem the property by paying you back.⁷ During that year, your tax deed operates as a lien on the property, not outright ownership. You cannot change locks, do major renovations, or evict occupants without exposing yourself to liability.

The 12-month mark does not automatically end the redemption right. It continues until you formally cut it off through the notice procedure below.⁸ New buyers routinely misread this and assume the property becomes theirs at the one-year anniversary.

What Redemption Costs the Former Owner

To redeem, the former owner or a lienholder must pay you the full amount you paid at the sale plus a 20% premium for the first year or any fraction of a year after the sale. After the first year, the premium is 10% for each additional year or fraction.⁹ The redemption price also includes:

Any property taxes you paid on the parcel after the sale.
Any HOA, condo, or similar association dues you paid after the sale, for sales after July 1, 2016.
Sheriff’s service fees and publication costs, if more than 30 days have passed since you served the foreclosure-of-redemption notice.

Redemption payments come to you directly, in U.S. currency.⁹

Barring Redemption and Quieting Title

After 12 months, you can permanently end the former owner’s right to reclaim the property by serving a foreclosure-of-redemption notice on everyone with a recorded interest in the property, the original defendant in the tax execution, and anyone living there. For people inside the county, service goes through the sheriff, who has 15 days. For interested parties outside the county, notice goes by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery. If the sheriff cannot locate a local party, the notice must be published weekly for four consecutive weeks in the newspaper that carries the county’s sheriff’s advertisements.⁸ The Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner urges purchasers to start this process as soon as the 12 months are up.⁴ Most buyers hire an attorney at this stage, because a mistake in identifying or serving an interested party can invalidate the whole foreclosure and force you to restart.

Barring redemption still doesn’t give you title a bank or title insurer will accept. Georgia law lets anyone holding land under a tax deed bring a quiet title action to establish ownership and knock out adverse claims.¹⁰ A quiet title judgment is what makes the deed marketable. Without one, you can hold or lease the property, but selling it or using it as loan collateral is difficult. Costs vary with how many parties must be notified and whether anyone contests, but plan on several thousand dollars in legal fees at a minimum.

Federal Tax Liens and Bankruptcy

If the parcel carries a federal tax lien, the IRS gets its own redemption window: 120 days from the sale date or the full state-law period, whichever is longer.¹¹ Because Georgia’s redemption period is 12 months, that is the effective floor. If you later try to foreclose the state redemption right without properly notifying the IRS under federal rules, the federal lien can survive the sale. The federal notice must include the taxpayer’s name and address, the IRS office that filed the lien, and the date and place of recording.¹² A pre-sale title search will show whether a federal lien is on file.

A separate risk: if the owner filed bankruptcy before the tax sale, the federal automatic stay under Section 362 blocks enforcement of the tax lien without bankruptcy court approval. A sale conducted in violation of the stay can be declared void from the beginning, even when the county did not know about the filing. Retroactive approval is rare. Checking the federal court’s PACER system for the owner’s name before bidding is a cheap way to reduce this exposure.

Excess Funds for Former Owners

When a winning bid exceeds the taxes, costs, and expenses owed, the surplus is held by the Tax Commissioner. Within 30 days, the office must notify the former record owner, mortgage holders, and anyone else with a recorded interest, including the amount held. Surplus is paid out in recorded-priority order. If multiple parties claim it, the Tax Commissioner can file an interpleader in superior court and let a judge decide; attorney’s fees for that action come out of the surplus.¹³

Do not wait. After five years unclaimed, the funds go to the Georgia Department of Revenue, and recovering them requires an interpleader action in the county where the sale occurred plus a court order.¹³

Costs to Build Into Your Bid

Winning bid is only the first line on the invoice. Before setting a maximum, factor in:

Property taxes you pay on the parcel during the redemption period. These are reimbursable if the owner redeems, but you still front the cash.
Deed recording fees, typically $25 to $85 depending on document length.
A professional title search before bidding, generally $75 to $250.
Foreclosure-of-redemption expenses: sheriff’s service fees, publication costs, and attorney time. Process server fees alone run $20 to $150 per person.
Quiet title legal fees, from a few thousand dollars for an uncontested case to considerably more if contested.

A property listed for $3,000 in back taxes can easily require $5,000 or more in additional legal costs before you hold marketable title. Work backward from a realistic market value, subtract every expected cost, and keep your top bid well below what remains.

1
Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner. Delinquent Tax List
2
Justia. Georgia Code 9-13-140 – How Judicial Sales Are Advertised
3
Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-1 – Procedures for Sales Under Tax Levies and Executions
4
Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner. Tax Liens and Tax Sales
5
Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner. Paying Your Delinquent Bill
6
Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner. Tax Sale Prospective Bidders and Purchasers Info
7
Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-40 – Persons Entitled to Redeem Land Sold Under Tax Execution
8
Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-45 – Notice of Foreclosure of Right of Redemption
9
Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-42 – Amount Payable for Redemption
10
Justia. Georgia Code 23-3-61 – Who May Bring Proceeding
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7425 – Discharge of Liens
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 2410 – Actions Affecting Property on Which United States Has Lien
13
Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-5 – Payment of Excess