Monroe County, AL tax sales
How tax lien certificate sales work in Monroe County, seat of Monroeville: 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 Monroe County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Monroe County Revenue Commissioner (Elizabeth H. Saucer)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual, early May, on a Monday at 10:00 a.m. The county-posted GovEase flyer states the auction date as "Monday, May 6th at 10:00am" and that "Registration will begin on April 5th." The county portal's tax lien notice reads: "NOTICE: MONROE COUNTY TAX LIEN AUCTION will be held Monday, May 4, 2026 at 10:00am. Register online at www.govease.com." Confirm the current year's date with the Revenue Commissioner before planning around it.
- Next expected
- between March 1 and June 15, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
Register online with GovEase. The county's flyer directs bidders to "create an account and register by visiting www.govease.com" and lists the sign-up address as liveauctions.govease.com/Account/Login. Registration opens roughly a month before the sale (the county flyer cites an April 5 registration opening for a May auction). GovEase provides bidder training at govease.com/bidderhelp and support at [email protected] or (769) 208-5050 ext. 2.
Monroe County runs the Article 7 tax lien auction, not the older Article 1 tax sale. The Revenue Commissioner conducts it online through GovEase and posts two documents on the county Forms page: "Tax Lien Sale Info" (the GovEase flyer with the auction date, registration window, and training links) and "Tax Lien Rules of Auction." The Rules of Auction PDF is a scanned image with no extractable text, so read it directly before bidding. The county portal exposes a Delinquent Search for the current record year; it is a per-parcel lookup rather than a downloadable bid list, and the parcel list for the auction itself sits behind the GovEase bidder login. Separately, the Alabama Department of Revenue publishes a weekly Monroe County transcript of state-held tax delinquent land available for sale; as of the 07/20/2026 edition that transcript listed no parcels, which is consistent with a county that sells liens at auction and retains the unsold ones rather than certifying them to the state. The portal also flags parcels with an active lien as "ACTIVE TAX LIEN - PLEASE CONTACT COUNTY" instead of quoting a payoff online, so redemption figures come from the office.
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)
Notes for Monroe County
- Revenue Commissioner: Elizabeth H. Saucer. Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 65 North Alabama Ave., Monroeville, AL 36460 (Monroe County Courthouse). The Alabama Department of Revenue county directory lists the phone as 251-743-4107 Ext. 124.
- The county's collection page states property taxes are due October 1 and become delinquent January 1, with interest accruing at 1% per month plus additional delinquent charges after January 1. That delinquency clock feeds the spring tax lien auction.
- The auction platform is GovEase. The county links bidders to www.govease.com to create an account and to liveauctions.govease.com/Account/Login to sign in. Both URLs were verified to load.
- The Revenue Commissioner's public portal (Citizen Access Portal, monroe.capturecama.com) has no investor login or in-portal auction module enabled, which is consistent with the sale being conducted entirely on GovEase.
- The county portal's own auction banner is toggled on ahead of each sale and was off at the time of this check, after the May 2026 auction date had passed. Treat the stored May 4, 2026 date as the last published sale date rather than an upcoming one.
- Monroe County's Alabama Department of Revenue transcript of tax delinquent land available for sale (WWW_TRANS_51.PDF, dated 07/20/2026) contained a header and no parcel rows, so there was no state-held over-the-counter inventory for Monroe County at that time.
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 Monroe County, Alabama sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Monroe County follows Alabama's tax lien state system.
When is the Monroe County tax certificate sale?
- Annual, early May, on a Monday at 10:00 a.m. The county-posted GovEase flyer states the auction date as "Monday, May 6th at 10:00am" and that "Registration will begin on April 5th." The county portal's tax lien notice reads: "NOTICE: MONROE COUNTY TAX LIEN AUCTION will be held Monday, May 4, 2026 at 10:00am. Register online at www.govease.com." Confirm the current year's date with the Revenue Commissioner before planning around it.. 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 Monroe 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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