Calhoun County, AL tax sales
How tax lien certificate sales work in Calhoun County, seat of Anniston: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
Verified Jul 27, 2026 against official county and state sources.
New here? Read how Alabama tax sales work, the difference between a lien and a deed, and redemption periods.
How Calhoun County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Calhoun County Revenue Commission, Collection Department (Revenue Commissioner Tim Hodges). The county site states: "In accordance with Title 40, Chapter 10, Code of Ala. 1975 (§40-10-180 through 200), the Calhoun County Tax Collecting official has authority to auction and sell tax liens on properties for which ad valorem property taxes are delinquent."
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annually in May. The county's published collection timetable reads "October 1 ..... Tax Due / January 1 ...... Tax Delinquent / April ............... Advertised on Website / May ............... Tax Lien Auction", and the collection page states "All unpaid property is sold at auction in May to the lowest bidder." The most recent posted auction, for the 2025 tax year, is listed as "Tax Lien Auction Date: 5/5/2026 at 8:30 AM CST at http://govease.com".
- Next expected
- between March 1 and June 15, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
Bidding is online through GovEase. Per GovEase's Alabama guidance, "all new bidders must create a bidder profile through the GovEase Auction Portal", then "add auctions" for each county they want to bid in, and "Bidders will be required to electronically submit county-specific registration documents to the county via the GovEase Auction Portal." Registration approval comes from the county tax office, not GovEase, and "Each county may have different registration requirements." For most Alabama counties "ALL payments and payment arrangements MUST be made through the county tax office." Bidding is a rate bid-down: "the bid you place is the lowest interest per annum you are willing to accept on the face value amount", with "The maximum bid is 12% simple interest per annum, prorated monthly. The lowest acceptable bid is 0% per annum", and "The winner is determined by the lowest interest bid placed." Calhoun County did not publish a registration deadline or deposit amount on its own site, so confirm both with the Collection Department at 256-241-2840.
Calhoun County elected the Article 7 tax lien auction regime: "The format of sale has officially changed to tax lien auction and sale effective with the 2018 tax collection year and as advertised on www.calhouncounty.org." The auction is conducted online on GovEase, not in person. The county's published notice cites Code of Alabama § 40-10-182 for the auction notice and § 40-10-184 for the fee: "A TAX LIEN SOLD AT AUCTION PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE SHALL INCLUDE AN ADMINISTRATIVE FEE OF FORTY-FIVE DOLLARS ($45), EFFECTIVE UPON THE PREPARATION OF THE TAX LIEN AUCTION LIST." Delinquent parcels are advertised on the county tax system in April ahead of the May auction; the posted list shows account number, parcel number, owner name, current year total, prior year total and total due. Taxes are due October 1 and delinquent after December 31, with fees plus 1% interest per month from January. The county requires "Certified funds only after April 2", and redemption is handled by the Collection Department: "Property may be redeemed, for the total taxes and penalties, by certified funds only." Separately, parcels that went to the state are handled by the Alabama Department of Revenue Property Tax Division through a price quote application, with the buyer having "10 calendar days from the date on the price quote to remit your payment"; ADOR issues an assignment of certificate for property held under 3 years and a tax deed for property held over 3 years, and publishes a weekly-updated Calhoun County transcript. Calhoun County also provides its own "Application for Purchase of Land Sold to State" form.
Register on GovEaseFrom lien to deed
- Run by
- Circuit court of the county; the circuit clerk executes the deed
- Frequency
- none (court action, not a scheduled auction)
- Typical timing
- Not scheduled. A certificate holder may file no earlier than four years after the tax lien auction and no later than ten years after it
Alabama counties on the tax lien auction method hold no separate tax deed auction. Title passes only through a circuit court action to foreclose the right to redeem and quiet title, which ends in a circuit clerk's deed. A person entitled to redeem can answer that action by demanding a public auction instead, in which case the court sets a minimum bid equal to the redemption amount plus back taxes and allowed costs, and any surplus goes to the owner. A county that instead elects the Article 1 property tax sale sells the land itself at the courthouse and the judge of probate issues a deed after three years. Confirm which method your county uses.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
Liens that draw no bid at the auction stay with the county. At any time after the auction date the tax collecting official may sell an unsold lien at private sale for no less than all taxes, interest, penalties, costs and fees due, plus any amount owed to a prior certificate holder. The rate is agreed with the tax collecting official and cannot exceed 12 percent, so over-the-counter liens often carry the full rate. Ask the county for its list of unsold liens.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Calhoun County Revenue Commission
256-241-2840 (Collection Department), 256-241-2855 (Assessing), 256-241-2870 (Appraisal)
1702 Noble Street, Suite 104 & 106, Anniston, AL 36201
Official websiteNotes for Calhoun County
- County seat is Anniston; the Revenue Commission sits in the Ken Joiner Administration Building at 1702 Noble Street.
- Revenue Commissioner is Tim Hodges. Office hours posted as "8:00am - 4:30pm Monday-Friday, Excluding Holidays". General office email is [email protected].
- Calhoun County runs the Article 7 tax lien auction (bid-down interest, 12% ceiling on GovEase), not the older Article 1 tax sale. Effective with the 2018 tax collection year.
- The auction list and the auction notice live on the county's online tax system at altags.com/calhoun_revenue, not on calhouncounty.org. The county's own revenue page only links out to it.
- WARNING for data assembly: calhouncounty.org serves a soft 404. Any missing path returns HTTP 200 with the county homepage body (15,620 bytes). Two widely cited URLs, https://www.calhouncounty.org/revenue/taxlienauction.html and https://www.calhouncounty.org/news/taxlienauctionsaleinfo.pdf, do NOT exist; both return the homepage. Do not cite either. The only real county tax lien content is the "Information pertaining to the Tax Lien Auction" block and the Collection Department section on https://www.calhouncounty.org/revenue/ itself.
- No registration deadline, deposit amount, or premium/overbid rule was published on any county page. Those fields were deliberately left unstated rather than guessed.
- The posted auction date of 5/5/2026 is for the 2025 tax year and has already passed as of this research. The recurring May timing is the durable fact; the specific date should be re-checked each spring on the delinquent listing page.
- State-held "sold to state" inventory for Calhoun is transcript file WWW_TRANS_11.PDF on the Alabama Department of Revenue site (verified, 112 KB PDF). ADOR notes transcripts are updated weekly and do not contain physical addresses.
Alabama statewide rules
- Redemption
- A tax lien can be redeemed at any time before the circuit court enters judgment in a foreclosure action, and the holder cannot file that action until four years after the auction or the tax official's private sale. If the holder does not commence a foreclosure action within ten years of the auction or sale, the certificate expires and the lien becomes void. A certificate holder has no right to enter or possess the property, make repairs, or charge rents before it receives the circuit clerk's deed. In a county that uses the Article 1 property tax sale instead, land sold to a purchaser other than the state may be redeemed within three years from the date of sale, and land bid in for the state may be redeemed at any time before title passes out of the state.
- Surplus proceeds
- In a court-ordered auction the proceeds pay the cost of the auction first, then the certificate holder up to the redemption amount plus taxes it paid before filing and the court-allowed costs and fees. Any surplus goes to the owner or the owner's heirs or successors as the court determines, and Alabama's unclaimed property law applies to whatever is left. In a county that instead uses the Article 1 property tax sale, the excess over the decree is held in a separate county account for three years for a party who redeems, and Section 40-10-28 opens later windows in which the owner or a redeeming party can claim it.
A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Calhoun County, Alabama sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Calhoun County follows Alabama's tax lien state system.
When is the Calhoun County tax certificate sale?
- Annually in May. The county's published collection timetable reads "October 1 ..... Tax Due / January 1 ...... Tax Delinquent / April ............... Advertised on Website / May ............... Tax Lien Auction", and the collection page states "All unpaid property is sold at auction in May to the lowest bidder." The most recent posted auction, for the 2025 tax year, is listed as "Tax Lien Auction Date: 5/5/2026 at 8:30 AM CST at http://govease.com".. Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the Tax Collector before the sale.
How often does Calhoun County hold tax deed sales?
- none (court action, not a scheduled auction). Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.
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