Georgia tax lien & tax deed sales

It continues after the year until the tax deed purchaser forecloses it by serving and publishing the statutory barment notice, which cannot be started until 12 months have passed. The purchaser delivers the notice to the sheriff at least 45 days before the redemption deadline named in it, and publishes it once a week for four consecutive weeks in the six months immediately before that deadline. Redemption puts title back in the defendant in fi. fa. subject to the liens that existed at the sale, and the purchaser must execute and record a quitclaim deed. Title under a tax deed recorded on or after July 1, 1996 ripens by prescription four years after recording. Judicial in rem foreclosures under Article 5 run on a different clock: the owner has 60 days after the sale to redeem by paying the minimum bid price into the superior court.O.C.G.A. 48-4-40, who may redeem and when (2024 Code of Georgia)O.C.G.A. 48-4-40Verified Jul 30, 2026

A county may adopt installment billing by ordinance, and O.C.G.A. 48-5-24 fixes installment due and delinquency dates for counties in specific population brackets. Once taxes are past due they carry interest at the bank prime loan rate plus 3 percent, accruing monthly, with any period shorter than a month counted as a full month. A 5 percent penalty is added 120 days after the tax was due and again after each further 120 days, capped at 20 percent of the original principal, with carve-outs for smaller homestead bills. The tax collector or tax commissioner notifies the taxpayer once the last day for payment passes and may issue an execution 30 days later. Tax liens are superior to other liens and are paid first, although an ad valorem lien covering the taxpayer's other property does not outrank an existing security deed.O.C.G.A. 48-2-40, Rate of interest on past due taxes (2024 Code of Georgia)O.C.G.A. 48-2-40Verified Jul 30, 2026

A parcel that draws no bid covering the taxes and costs can be bid in by the county governing authority, which may bid only up to the amount of the taxes and costs. The county then holds the tax deed subject to the same right of redemption and may dispose of the property once it remains unredeemed. Separately, the official holding an unpaid tax execution may transfer it to any party who pays it in full, and that transferee takes the same enforcement rights and lien priority as the tax official, but no officer is required to make such a transfer. Both routes are discretionary and county specific, so ask the tax commissioner what is available.O.C.G.A. 48-4-21, redemption and disposal of county-purchased property (2024 Code of Georgia)O.C.G.A. 48-4-21Verified Jul 30, 2026