Wicomico County Tax Sale: Bidding, Redemption, and Foreclosure

The Wicomico County tax sale is an annual auction where the county sells lien certificates on properties with unpaid taxes and other delinquent charges. The 2026 sale is set for June 9 at the Wicomico Civic Center, with pre-registration closing June 8.¹ Winning bidders don’t walk away with the property. They get a certificate of sale that secures a lien, and the owner has a limited window to pay everything off before foreclosure becomes possible.

Why a Property Ends Up at the Sale

Maryland Tax-Property Article § 14-808 requires the county collector to sell any property with taxes in arrears.² The advertised balance can include unpaid state and county property taxes, interest, penalties, and municipal charges such as refuse fees, special improvement assessments, and front foot benefit charges.³ Pay the full balance before the sale and your property comes off the list.

If You’re the Owner: Redeeming After the Sale

You can redeem your property at any time before the court enters a foreclosure judgment. Payment goes to the county collector, not to the certificate holder directly. Under § 14-828, your redemption amount includes:

The amount paid at the tax sale, plus interest at 6% per year from the sale date through the date you pay.⁴
Any taxes, interest, and penalties the certificate holder paid after the sale, plus any delinquent amounts that accrued after the sale.
Reimbursable expenses the certificate holder incurred under § 14-843, such as title search costs and attorney’s fees, subject to the caps below.

If the property is owner-occupied residential, post-sale accruing taxes, interest, and penalties may not be included in your redemption amount.⁴ That meaningfully reduces the bill for homeowners living in the house.

Once you pay, the collector notifies the certificate holder to surrender the certificate in exchange for reimbursement, then issues you a certificate of redemption you can record in the county land records to clear the lien.⁴

What the Certificate Holder Can and Cannot Charge You

Maryland law strictly limits what a certificate holder can tack onto your redemption. Only expenses falling within § 14-843 are recoverable, and each category is capped:

Title search: up to $250 for the initial search, plus up to $75 for an update if a second search happens more than six months later.
Attorney’s fees when no foreclosure has been filed: up to $500.
Attorney’s fees after a foreclosure is filed: $1,300, or $1,500 once an affidavit of compliance has been filed.
Attorney’s fees to open an estate for service of process on a deceased defendant: up to $1,200.⁵

Timing also protects you. In Wicomico County, the certificate holder cannot be reimbursed for any expenses incurred within the first four months after the sale. For owner-occupied residential property, that blackout runs seven months.⁵ If a redemption statement lists charges from inside that window or above the caps, push back.

If You’re Bidding: How the Auction Works

Bidders must pre-register with the County Finance Department by submitting a completed IRS Form W-9 and a purchaser agreement. Pre-registration for 2026 closes June 8, with day-of registration available between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. The auction starts at 10 a.m. at the Wicomico Civic Center.¹ The W-9 collects your taxpayer ID for later income reporting: a Social Security Number for individuals, an EIN for business entities.⁶

Maryland uses a bid-up system, so each property’s certificate goes to the highest good-faith accepted bid.⁷ The winning bidder pays the full delinquent taxes, interest, and penalties on the property. Properties that don’t sell at the June auction move to an over-the-counter sale starting June 23, 2026, which runs through December 31.¹

High-Bid Premium

When a winning bid exceeds 40% of the property’s full cash value, the collector adds a high-bid premium equal to 20% of the amount over that threshold.⁷ On a property with a full cash value of $100,000, a $50,000 bid clears the $40,000 threshold by $10,000, so the premium is $2,000 on top of the bid.

The premium is refunded without interest if the owner redeems or when a foreclosure deed is delivered to you. If you let the certificate expire without filing for foreclosure and no redemption occurs, the premium is forfeited.

What the Certificate Actually Gives You

After payment is verified, the collector issues a certificate of sale recording the date of sale, the amount paid, the total taxes due at the time of sale, a description of the property, the 6% annual redemption interest rate, and the deadline for filing a foreclosure action.⁸ The certificate is a secured lien and a right to pursue ownership through foreclosure. It is not a deed.

The certificate becomes void if you don’t file foreclosure proceedings within two years of the sale date.⁸ Miss the deadline and the investment is gone.

Foreclosing the Right of Redemption

If the owner doesn’t redeem, the certificate holder can file a complaint in Circuit Court to foreclose the right of redemption. The earliest filing date depends on the property type:

Non-owner-occupied property: six months from the sale date.
Owner-occupied residential property: nine months from the sale date.
Property certified by a government agency as needing or soon needing substantial code repairs: sixty days from the sale date.
Abandoned property sold below the lien amount: any time after the sale date.⁹

Foreclosure requires a comprehensive title search to identify and notify every person with an interest in the property. The court supervises the case, and once it enters a final judgment, fee simple title vests in the certificate holder and the former owner’s rights are terminated.

Watch for Federal Tax Liens

If a property at auction carries a federal tax lien, the United States has the right under 26 U.S.C. § 7425 to redeem the property within 120 days of the sale, or the period allowed under Maryland law, whichever is longer.¹⁰ If the IRS exercises that right, it steps into your position as the buyer. The IRS uses this when it believes the sale price was well below market value and a resale would reduce the taxpayer’s liability.¹¹ A pre-auction title search is the way to find out whether the IRS has a recorded claim.

Reporting Your Interest Income

The 6% interest a redeeming owner pays is taxable interest income to the certificate holder. Any payer sending you $10 or more in interest during the year is required to file a Form 1099-INT with the IRS.¹² You still report the income if no 1099 arrives. The high-bid premium is refunded without interest, so returning it doesn’t create taxable income.

1
Wicomico County, MD. Tax Sale Information
2
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Tax-Property 14-808 – Sale by Collector; Exceptions
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Montgomery County, MD. Tax Sale Information and Procedures
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Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Tax-Property 14-828 – Payment Required for Redemption
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Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Tax-Property Code 14-843 – Plaintiff or Holder of Certificate of Sale; Reimbursement
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Internal Revenue Service. Form W-9 – Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification
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Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Tax-Property 14-817 – Sale Procedure
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Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Tax-Property 14-820 – Certificate of Sale
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Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Tax-Property 14-833 – Foreclosure of Right of Redemption
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7425 – Discharge of Liens
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Internal Revenue Service. Redemptions
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-INT, Interest Income