Horry County Tax Sale: Bidding, Redemption, and Tax Deeds

The Horry County tax sale is an annual public auction, usually advertised in November, where the county sells real estate on which property taxes have gone unpaid. Winning a bid does not hand you a deed that day. You pay the full bid in cash or certified funds on sale day, then wait out a 12-month redemption period during which the former owner can reclaim the property by paying the back taxes plus interest. Only if no one redeems does the delinquent tax collector prepare a tax deed in your name.¹

Finding the Properties Before the Sale

Horry County publishes the list of delinquent properties in a newspaper of general circulation under the heading “Delinquent Tax Sale.” The listing runs once a week for three consecutive weeks before the auction and includes the defaulting taxpayer’s name, a legal description or tax map number, and the amount owed.² Use that three-week window to look up each parcel, pull a title search, and identify any other recorded liens before you decide what to bid.

How to Register as a Bidder

You have to register with the Horry County Delinquent Tax Office before auction day. Bring a valid government-issued photo ID and a signed IRS Form W-9, which the county uses to report any interest income you receive if a property you buy is later redeemed.³ You will also provide your legal name or entity name, taxpayer identification number, and current contact information. Forms are available through the Delinquent Tax Office or its website.⁴ The county does not accept late registration or on-site corrections once bidding starts.

Bidding, Minimum Bids, and Payment

The Forfeited Land Commission automatically opens the bidding on every property with a minimum bid equal to all unpaid taxes, penalties, assessments, and costs, including taxes for the year the redemption period begins.⁵ If no one bids over that floor, the commission takes the property. To win, you have to outbid both the commission and the other participants in the room.

The winning bidder pays the full bid amount in legal tender the day of the sale.⁶ Horry County accepts cash or certified funds only. Personal checks, business checks, and wire transfers will not be taken.⁷ Walk in with your funds already in hand.

Fail to pay after winning and the county cancels the sale, re-advertises the property, and can sue you for up to $500 in damages.⁸

The 12-Month Redemption Period

After the sale, the former owner has 12 months to reclaim the property by paying all delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties, costs, and a graduated interest charge to the delinquent tax collector.¹ The rate steps up each quarter:

Months 1 through 3: 3% of the bid amount
Months 4 through 6: 6% of the bid amount
Months 7 through 9: 9% of the bid amount
Months 10 through 12: 12% of the bid amount

If the owner redeems, you get your bid money back plus that interest. If no one redeems in 12 months, you move toward a deed.

Why Overbidding Hurts Your Return

The interest you can collect on redemption is capped at the amount of the Forfeited Land Commission’s opening bid, not your winning bid.¹ That commission bid equals the taxes, penalties, assessments, and costs owed. So if you bid $80,000 on a parcel where the commission’s bid was $4,000, the most interest you can earn if the owner redeems is $4,000, not 12% of your $80,000. Driving the price up on a property you expect to be redeemed shrinks your yield fast.

If There’s a Federal Tax Lien on the Property

When the IRS has a federal tax lien on the parcel, it has its own redemption right: 120 days from the sale date or the state redemption period, whichever is longer. In South Carolina the 12-month state period controls.⁹ The federal lien may not be wiped out by the tax sale, which is why a title search before bidding is not optional.

Getting the Tax Deed

If the redemption period expires with no redemption, the delinquent tax collector must prepare a tax deed within 30 days, or as soon as practicable after. That deed transfers fee simple title to you. You pay the actual cost of preparing the deed, any required documentary stamps, and the recording fee at the Horry County Register of Deeds. Delivery of the deed to the register for recording is treated by law as putting you in legal possession of the property.¹⁰

Quiet Title and Insurable Ownership

A recorded tax deed is not the same as marketable or insurable title. Most title insurance companies will not issue a policy based on a tax deed alone, because the former owner or other claimants could still challenge the sale. To clear the title, you generally file a quiet title action in circuit court asking a judge to confirm your ownership and extinguish competing claims.

South Carolina caps the challenge window: any action to recover land sold at a delinquent tax sale must be brought within two years from the date of sale.¹¹ That two-year clock runs from the original sale date, not from when the deed is recorded. Filing a quiet title action after that window closes tends to go more smoothly because the risk of a successful challenge has largely expired. Budget for attorney fees, court filing costs, and service of notice on all parties with a recorded interest.

If Someone Is Still Living on the Property

Legal title and physical possession are different things. If the former owner or a tenant refuses to leave after your deed is recorded, you will need a court order. In Horry County the sequence generally runs: obtain a judgment through magistrate or circuit court, file it with the Clerk of Court for a $35 filing fee, get a civil process case number, and submit the paperwork to the Horry County Sheriff’s Office with a $25 filing fee.¹²

Once a writ of ejectment is served, the occupant typically has 24 hours to vacate unless a judge grants more time. After that, you can request a “sit-out,” where a deputy oversees removal of the occupant’s belongings.¹² Weeks or months of added timeline and real additional cost belong in your bid math whenever a property looks occupied.

Mobile Homes Are Not Always Real Estate

A mobile or manufactured home at the sale may be either real property or personal property. If it has been de-titled through the SCDMV and attached to the land, it transfers with the real estate. If it still has a separate vehicle title, it is personal property with different advertising and transfer rules. Buyers of a mobile home sold as personal property must work with the SCDMV for a new title using Application for Title (Form 400), ID, a stamped Manufactured Home Severance Affidavit if it was previously attached to real property, and a $15 fee.¹³ Skip this and you hold a receipt for a home you cannot legally transfer or finance.

Surplus Funds From the Sale

If a property sells for more than the delinquent taxes, penalties, assessments, and costs, the overage first pays any outstanding municipal tax liens. Whatever remains belongs to the person who was the owner of record just before the redemption period ended. The surplus is payable 90 days after the deed is executed unless another party files a court action claiming the money during that window. Unclaimed funds sit in a separate interest-bearing account for five years from the auction date before escheating to the local government’s general fund.¹⁰ Former owners who think a surplus may be waiting should contact the Horry County Delinquent Tax Office.

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-51-90 – Redemption of Real Property; Assignment of Purchaser’s Interest
2
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 12 Chapter 51 – Alternate Procedure for Collection of Property Taxes
3
Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification
4
Horry County SC.Gov. Delinquent Tax
5
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 12 Chapter 51 – Alternate Procedure for Collection of Property Taxes – Section 12-51-55
6
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-51-60 – Payment by Successful Bidder; Receipt; Disposition of Proceeds
7
Horry County Government. Bidder Tax Sale Information
8
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 12 Chapter 51 – Alternate Procedure for Collection of Property Taxes – Section 12-51-70
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 7425 – Discharge of Liens
10
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 12 Chapter 51 – Alternate Procedure for Collection of Property Taxes – Section 12-51-130
11
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-51-160 – Deed as Evidence
12
Horry County SC.Gov. Civil Process
13
SCDMV. Mobile Home