Coosa County, AL tax sales
How tax lien certificate sales work in Coosa County, seat of Rockford: 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 Coosa County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Coosa County Revenue Commissioner (Debra W. Lamberth, ACTA), the county tax collecting official
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual, on a Thursday in May. The current rules state: "The Tax Lien Auction and Sale will begin May 14, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. CDT." The prior year ran Thursday, May 8, 2025, so plan on early to mid May. Each auction collects the previous tax year's delinquent parcels.
- Next expected
- between March 1 and June 15, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
Pre-registration and approval are required, and there is no walk-up bidding. The rules state: "Bidders must be registered and approved in order to participate in the auction." Submit the Tax Lien Auction Bidder Registration form (bidder/company name, address, phone, cell, email, contact person). The 2026 form states the completed form "must be returned no later than 4:00 pm, Wednesday, May 13, 2026 and can be emailed to [email protected]." Approval notice comes back by email, and "a bidder number will be assigned and delivered upon arrival for the auction." In the prior cycle pre-registration opened about 10 days ahead (Monday, April 28, 2025) and closed at 4:00 pm the day before the sale.
Coosa County runs a live, in person tax lien auction, not an online sale. The rules are explicit: "The auction will be conducted LIVE (in person) at the Coosa County Courthouse located at 9709 US Highway 231, Rockford, Alabama" and "All bids will be made during the LIVE auction. No online, Zoom, or phone bidding will be allowed. No pre-bidding will be allowed before the start time of the auction." Bidding is a rate bid-down, not a premium bid: the Revenue Commissioner opens each parcel at a starting interest rate of 12% per annum and "additional bids may be made at a rate less than the immediately preceding bid in 1% increments." Bidders raise a numbered bidder card to accept the current rate. Parcels are auctioned individually, not as a group. The winning bidder pays all taxes, interest, penalties, fees and costs due, including a $45.00 administration cost. All payments are due by 4:00 p.m. on the day of the auction, by cash, cashier's check, or a valid credit/debit card with a 2.75% service fee; personal checks are not accepted. The Revenue Commissioner reserves the right to re-bid or remove a parcel at any time during or after the auction, and the office states that no legal or investment advice can be offered, so parcel research is the bidder's responsibility. Coosa County formally elected the tax lien auction regime over the tax sale regime under Code of Alabama 40-10-180(b), declaring its intent "to conduct a Tax Lien Auction and Sale for the collection of delinquent taxes for the year 2020-2021 forward." In person live auction at the Coosa County Courthouse (no online bidding platform)
From 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)
Coosa County Revenue Commissioner
Coosa County Courthouse, 9709 US Highway 231, PO Box 7, Rockford, AL 35136
Official websiteNotes for Coosa County
- Auction location and time: Coosa County Courthouse, 9709 US Highway 231, Rockford, Alabama, beginning at 10:00 a.m. CDT. The delinquent list header reads "Live Auction Conducted at the Coosa County Courthouse, Thursday, May 14, 2026 / Beginning at 10:00 A.M."
- The published list carries record year, parcel identification number, owner of record, physical address, legal description, current year taxes and fees, a Prior Lien Redemption Amount column, and a Prior Lien Years column, so bidders can see which parcels already carry liens sold at earlier auctions.
- The Revenue Commissioner page is the durable home for the current cycle's documents: Tax Lien Auction Rules, Tax Lien Auction Authorization, the year-stamped Delinquent Property Tax Lien List, the Bidder Registration Form, and the Section 40-10-180 declaration. The year-stamped PDF filenames rotate annually, so re-check the hub page rather than deep links.
- The rules direct bidders to two places for the parcel list plus the courthouse counter: the county site at www.coosacountyal.com and the county's Citizen Access Portal at https://coosa.capturecama.com. The capturecama portal is a JavaScript property and tax lookup application, not an auction platform, and no bidding happens there.
- Additional office contacts published on the Revenue Commissioner page: fax 256-377-1469, email [email protected], office hours Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Use the coosacountyal.gov email for bidder registration; an older 2025 form listed a personal gmail address that the current form has replaced.
- Separate from the county auction, the Alabama Department of Revenue Property Tax Division sells state-held tax delinquent property statewide by electronic price quote application rather than by auction, issuing an assignment of certificate when the state has held the parcel under three years and a tax deed after three years. The department warns that neither an assignment nor a tax deed gives the holder clear title.
- Third-party aggregator pages describe Coosa County as using a premium bid method. That conflicts with the county's own published rules, which specify a 12% starting rate bid down in 1% increments. Treat the county rules PDF as authoritative.
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 Coosa County, Alabama sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Coosa County follows Alabama's tax lien state system.
When is the Coosa County tax certificate sale?
- Annual, on a Thursday in May. The current rules state: "The Tax Lien Auction and Sale will begin May 14, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. CDT." The prior year ran Thursday, May 8, 2025, so plan on early to mid May. Each auction collects the previous tax year's delinquent parcels.. 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 Coosa 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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