York County SC Delinquent Tax Sale: Bidding, Redemption & Overbids

The York County SC delinquent tax sale is an annual public auction where properties with unpaid property taxes are sold to the highest bidder, with the original owner given 12 months after the sale to reclaim the property by paying what’s owed plus interest. The 2026 sale is scheduled for Monday, October 12, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. at the York County Fire Training Center, 2500 McFarland Road, York, SC 29745. If every property isn’t sold the first day, bidding resumes at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. The auction runs until 5:00 p.m. with a lunch break from noon to 1:00 p.m.¹

Registering to Bid

You have to pre-register before the sale. Registration is free, and the window runs from September 18, 2026, through October 9, 2026. Three ways to do it: call (803) 909-7272, mail the Bidder Registration Form from the York County Tax Collection website to York County Tax Collections, 1070 Heckle Blvd., Suite 1100, Rock Hill, SC 29732, or scan and email the form to tax.collection@yorkcountysc.gov.¹ Walk-up registration on sale day is not an option.

Researching Properties Before You Bid

The list of delinquent properties is published in The Herald once a week for three consecutive weeks before the sale and posted on the York County Tax Collection Department’s web page.¹ Each entry shows the owner’s name, a legal description, and a parcel number.

Take those parcel numbers to the York County Register of Deeds and look up liens, easements, and any other encumbrances. Properties sell as-is, with no warranty of title or condition, so the diligence is entirely on the bidder. The most common regret among tax sale buyers is skipping this step and finding a problem after paying.

How the Auction Works

Properties sell at open public auction to the highest bidder. Bidding opens at a base amount covering the delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties, and costs.²

If a single owner has several parcels on the block, the sale stops as soon as enough has been raised to cover that owner’s full delinquency. Any remaining parcels come back off the auction.²

Payment on Sale Day

South Carolina law limits payment to cash, cashier’s checks, certified checks, or money orders, with the full amount due on the day of the sale.² No personal checks, no credit cards. York County requires all bids to be paid in full before the day’s last transaction is processed, and if you step out of the building you need to be back before cash-out, because the doors lock after that and any unpaid bid is voided.¹

What a Winning Bidder Actually Gets

You don’t walk out as the new owner. You get a tax sale receipt as evidence of payment, and the tax collector attaches a copy to the execution records.³ Legal title doesn’t change hands until the 12-month redemption period expires and a tax deed is issued.

If You Win and Don’t Pay

Default has a price. The county cancels the bid, readvertises the property, and can sue the defaulting bidder for up to $500 per property in damages.⁴ York County enforces the $500 fine on each bid and treats a returned check the same as a failure to pay.¹

The 12-Month Redemption Period

For the 12 months after the sale, the property can still be reclaimed. The defaulting taxpayer can redeem, but so can anyone who received a grant from the owner and any mortgage holder or judgment creditor with an interest in the property.⁵ That last point surprises some new investors. A bank holding the mortgage can redeem even if the owner never does.

To redeem, the party pays the full delinquent amount plus interest calculated as a lump sum on the winning bid. The rate depends on when during the year the redemption happens:

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

Rates relate back to the start of the redemption period, so a redemption in month five owes 6% on the full bid, not a prorated figure.⁵ If the property is redeemed, the county mails the winning bidder a refund of the original bid plus that interest.

Transferring Your Position Before the Year Is Up

A purchaser can assign their interest to someone else during the redemption period. Give the tax collector a witnessed and notarized conveyance document, and the tax collector will update the delinquent tax sale book with the new party’s name and address.⁵

What Happens After the Year Expires

If nobody redeems within 12 months, the tax collector prepares and delivers a tax deed to the purchaser (or assignee) within 30 days, or as soon afterward as practical.⁶ The deed conveys ownership, but a tax deed on its own is usually not enough to sell or finance the property. Most title insurers will not issue a policy on a tax deed without a quiet title action, a court proceeding confirming your ownership is superior to any prior claims. For an uncontested suit, budget $1,500 to $8,000 or more in attorney fees, depending on complexity.

Overbids and Excess Proceeds

When the winning bid exceeds the taxes, assessments, penalties, and costs owed, the surplus doesn’t vanish. It first pays off any outstanding municipal tax liens on the property. Whatever’s left belongs to the person who was the owner of record just before the redemption period ended.⁶

The tax collector sends the former owner written notice once the tax deed has been issued, including notice of any excess funds due.³ Overages become payable 90 days after the deed is executed, unless someone files a legal claim during that window. Former owners have five years from the auction date to claim the money, and unclaimed funds after that go into the local governing body’s general fund.⁶ If you lost a York County property and the winning bid was more than what you owed, call the Tax Collection office. That money is yours.

Two Risks Worth Flagging

Federal tax liens do not automatically wash out at a state tax sale. If the IRS had a lien recorded against the property before the sale, the federal government has the right to redeem for 120 days after the sale or the length of the state redemption period, whichever is longer. South Carolina’s 12-month window is the longer figure, so the IRS has the same year to step in. Pull federal lien records at the Register of Deeds before bidding.

Mobile homes come through the sale as either personal property (if they have a separate SCDMV title) or real property (if the title was retired and the home affixed to land). Converting between the two involves SCDMV paperwork, including the original title, a stamped Manufactured Home Affidavit or Retirement of Title Certificate from the register of deeds, lien releases, a current paid property tax receipt, and fees ($50 to de-title, $15 for a new title on severance).⁷ Factor that into the research before bidding on a mobile home parcel.

If You’re the Owner Trying to Stop the Sale

You can pull your property off the auction by paying everything owed: taxes, penalties, assessments, and costs. York County requires those funds in hand by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 9, 2026, three days before the sale.¹ Miss that deadline and the only way back is redemption, which costs more because of the interest layered on top. If you know you’re behind, contact the York County Tax Collection office directly rather than waiting for the next notice.⁸

1
York County. 2026 Tax Sale Information
2
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 12 Chapter 51 – Section 12-51-50
3
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-51-60 – Payment by Successful Bidder; Receipt; Disposition of Proceeds
4
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 12 Chapter 51 – Section 12-51-70
5
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-51-90 – Redemption of Real Property; Assignment of Purchasers Interest
6
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-51-130 – Execution and Delivery of Tax Title; Costs and Fees; Overages
7
SCDMV. Mobile Home
8
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 12 Chapter 51 – Section 12-51-40