Henrico County Delinquent Tax List: Who to Pay, Options, Risks

The Henrico County delinquent tax list is available through the county Finance Department’s online tax portal, where you can search real estate accounts by owner name, address, or account number and see whether a balance is outstanding.¹ If you prefer to work from paper records, the Department of Finance is at 4301 East Parham Road, Henrico, VA 23228.² Virginia treats non-confidential real estate assessment data as public information and specifically authorizes posting it online, so the lookup is open to anyone.³

Looking Up a Specific Property

Most people checking the delinquent list are looking at one parcel, not browsing a county-wide roster. The online portal is built for that. Enter the owner’s name, the street address, or the account number, and the system returns the current balance along with payment status. The county also keeps a “Delinquent Tax Collections” area within the Finance Department website for direct access to collection-related information.²

A single account entry typically identifies the parcel by owner name, property address, and GPIN, the parcel identification number Henrico assigns to every piece of real estate. The financial section shows the original tax owed, the 10 percent late-payment penalty, and any accrued interest, which together give the total liability as of the record’s last update. Online records can lag a few business days behind recent payments, so if a payment was just made, call the Treasury Division before relying on the displayed balance.

When a Henrico Property Becomes Delinquent

Real estate taxes in Henrico are billed in two equal installments. The first half is due on or before June 5, and the second half is due on or before December 5. If a due date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.⁴ Virginia Code § 58.1-3916 gives the county authority to set these deadlines and the consequences for missing them.⁵

An account enters delinquent status the day after a missed deadline, and two charges attach right away:

A late-payment penalty of 10 percent added to the unpaid tax.
Interest at 4 percent per year, starting the first day of the month after the due date.

Both figures come from local ordinance under § 58.1-3916, which caps the real property penalty at 10 percent and limits first-year interest to 10 percent annually.⁶ Interest keeps accruing month after month, so the total displayed on the delinquent list grows over time.

Who You Pay Once an Account Is Delinquent

This is the part that catches people off guard. Once an account has been delinquent long enough, Henrico refers it to Taxing Authority Consulting Services, P.C. (TACS), an outside collection agency. After referral, you have to pay TACS directly. Paying the county does not relieve you of the collection fee.⁷ Virginia law lets localities add reasonable attorney or collection charges of up to 20 percent of the delinquent taxes collected.⁵ For accounts already with TACS, use the TACS payment portal or call 1-866-951-0742.

If an account has not yet been referred, you can still pay the county. Request a payoff quote from the Treasury Division at (804) 501-4678 so you know the exact figure for the day you plan to pay, and have the parcel identification number or bill number ready.⁷ If someone other than the owner is paying, the county needs written authorization or a power of attorney before it can accept the payment and apply it to the right account.

The county accepts electronic checks, credit cards, and debit cards, and as of 2026 charges no convenience fee for electronic payments. Payment by mail or in person at the Finance Department is also available.⁷

Options If You Cannot Pay in Full

If paying the whole balance at once is not possible, the treasurer can enter into an installment agreement before any sale takes place. These agreements can stretch payments over as long as 72 months, and entering into one allows the treasurer to suspend sale proceedings while you keep up with the schedule.⁸

You can also redeem the property at any point before the actual auction by paying everything owed: accumulated taxes, penalties, interest, reasonable attorney fees, and costs including the county’s share of the newspaper publication expense. Partial payments do not stop a sale. Virginia is explicit that paying some of the balance does not suspend, invalidate, or moot a judicial sale action.⁸ Reach out before the auction date if you want to keep the property.

What Happens If a Delinquent Account Is Never Paid

When real estate taxes stay unpaid past December 31 following the second anniversary of the due date, Virginia law lets the county sell the property to recover what is owed. The timeline shortens to one year for properties with condemned structures, nuisance conditions, or blight designations.⁸

Before any sale, the collecting officer has to send written notice to the owner at least 30 days before filing in court. Notice goes to the owner’s last known address in county records and, if different, to the property address. The county also publishes a list of properties headed for sale in a local newspaper at least 30 days before court proceedings begin.⁸ The case is filed in Henrico County Circuit Court to enforce the tax lien, and anyone with an interest in the property, including mortgage lenders and other lienholders, must be named.⁹

Sale proceeds go first toward the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, attorney fees, and court costs. If the property sells for more than the total debt and recorded liens, the former owner is entitled to the surplus. The claim has to be filed within two years after the court confirms the sale, or the money goes to the local government that received the proceeds.⁹ A local governing body may later pass a discretionary ordinance returning funds after that window, but relying on it is a gamble.

A Note on Credit Reports

A Henrico County tax lien will not appear on your credit report. Since April 2018, the three major credit bureaus have excluded tax liens from consumer credit files, so a lien tied to a delinquent account will not show up on Experian, TransUnion, or Equifax. Tax liens remain public records, though, and a lender running a title search or checking public records can still find one and factor it into a loan decision.

The Cost of Waiting

The compounding math is the reason to act quickly after a property shows up on the delinquent list. A $3,000 unpaid tax bill picks up a $300 penalty on day one, starts accruing 4 percent annual interest the next month, and can add up to 20 percent in collection charges once it reaches TACS. Within a couple of years the balance can grow substantially, and beyond two years the county can begin selling the property. Calling the Treasury Division at (804) 501-4678 before an account is referred to collections keeps the most options on the table.⁷

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Henrico County, Virginia. Online Tax Bills
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Henrico County, Virginia. Finance
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Henrico County, Virginia. Henrico County Real Estate Data and Disclaimer
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Henrico County, Virginia. Important Tax Dates
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3916 – Counties, Cities, and Towns May Provide Dates for Filing Returns and Set Penalties, Interest, Etc
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Henrico County, Virginia. Real Estate and Personal Property Due Dates, Penalties and Interest
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Henrico County, Virginia. Payment Options
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3965 – When Land May Be Sold for Delinquent Taxes; Notice of Sale; Owners Right of Redemption
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3967 – How Proceedings Instituted; Parties; Procedure Generally; Title Acquired; Disposition of Surplus Proceeds of Sale