Cherokee County, GA tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Cherokee County, seat of Canton: 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 Georgia tax sales work, the difference between a lien and a deed, and redemption periods.
How Cherokee County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
Details are being verified for this county.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Cherokee County Tax Commissioner (the Tax Commissioner also serves as Ex-Officio Sheriff and appoints Ex-Officio Deputy Sheriffs to advertise and conduct the levy sale)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- First Tuesday of the month at 10:00 a.m., held only in months when properties have completed advertising. The Tax Commissioner states: "The sales are conducted on the first Tuesday of the month immediately following the final week of advertising. They are held at 10:00 a.m. at the Cherokee County Courthouse at 90 North Street, Canton, GA 30114." The Tax Sales page listed "April 7, 2026 / 90 North Street Canton, GA 30114 / Signup Time: 9:30 AM" when checked on July 25, 2026. The Tax Sale Information Booklet adds: "Our tax sale is held on the first Tuesday of each month, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.; on the steps of the Superior Court building (except when the first Tuesday of the month falls on a legal holiday, the sale is held the next day, Wednesday)."
Registration and deposit
No online bidder registration portal is published. Bidders sign up on site the morning of the sale; the Tax Commissioner's Tax Sales page lists "Signup Time: 9:30 AM" at 90 North Street, Canton, ahead of the 10:00 a.m. start. Winning bidders must pay in cash or certified funds: "The successful bidder must be ready to pay the bid amount in CASH OR CERTIFIED FUNDS to the Tax Commissioners office (2780 Marietta Hwy, Canton) by 1:00 p.m. the day of sale. Tax Sales bids are binding in accordance with O.C.G.A. 9-13-170." The booklet also requires the purchaser to sign a statement attesting the property was purchased for the bid price.
Cherokee County runs a live, in-person redeemable tax deed sale on the courthouse steps at 90 North Street, Canton, GA 30114. There is no online auction platform and no online bidding portal. The property list is not posted as a downloadable file; properties are advertised in the Thursday edition of the Cherokee Tribune legal section under "Tax Commissioner Sale" for four consecutive weeks before the sale, and the county's Tax Sales page carries only the sale date, address, and signup time. Opening bid equals taxes due plus penalties, interest, fi. fa. cost, levy cost, administrative levy fee, certified mail cost, advertising cost, and tax deed recording fees; property goes to the highest bidder, and if no one bids the amount due the Tax Commissioner may bid it in for the county. Parcels drawing no bid may be offered again at 3:00 p.m. on the sale date. The purchaser receives a defeasible tax deed and cannot take possession, improve, collect rent, or evict during the 12 month redemption period. Redemption price is the bid amount plus later taxes paid by the purchaser plus special assessments plus a 20% premium for the first year or fraction and 10% for each additional year or fraction, plus sheriff and advertisement costs. The office prepares and records the tax deed and the Real Estate Transfer Tax form after the sale.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Notes for Cherokee County
- Tax Commissioner is Denise Mastroserio; Lynn Chambers is Deputy Tax Commissioner for Property Tax at (678) 493-6433. Property tax inquiries: [email protected].
- Canton main office at 2780 Marietta Hwy, Canton, GA 30114, open M-F 8:00AM-5:00PM. A Woodstock annex operates at 155 Towne Lake Pkwy, Woodstock, GA 30188. Payment for tax sale purchases is taken at the Canton office.
- Sale venue (90 North Street, Canton) is distinct from the office address (2780 Marietta Hwy, Canton); bidders attend the courthouse and then pay at the office by 1:00 p.m.
- The county publishes a detailed Tax Sale Information Booklet covering fi. fa. issuance, 30 day notice, levy, pointing out privilege, advertising, 10 day owner notice, sale mechanics, excess funds, redemption, barment, and ripening by prescription under O.C.G.A. 48-4-48.
- Excess funds: claims are accepted only from the record owner, security deed holders, and other recorded interest holders, not from third party asset recovery firms or holders of a Power of Attorney. An excess funds claim form is linked from the Property Taxes page and excess funds correspondence routes to [email protected].
- The Tax Commissioner also collects city taxes for Ball Ground, Canton, and Nelson; other municipalities bill separately, so a tax deed buyer may face unpaid city taxes.
- The Tax Sales page content is injected client side, so a plain HTML fetch of tax-sales.html returns an empty content block. The rendered sale notice was confirmed via the page's own content endpoint on July 25, 2026.
Georgia statewide rules
- Redemption
- The right to redeem runs for 12 months from the date of the sale and does not end there. 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.
- Deed deposit
- Georgia sets no statewide percentage deposit. A purchaser at a judicial sale may tender cash or a cashier's or certified check drawn for the purchase price and issued or certified by a federally insured financial institution. Counties publish their own payment terms, and many require payment in full at the close of the sale, so confirm the terms with the tax commissioner before bidding.
- Surplus proceeds
- Excess funds left after taxes, costs, and the expenses of the sale belong to the former owner and to recorded lienholders in order of priority. The officer who sold the property must mail notice of the excess funds by first-class mail within 30 days to the record owner at the time of the sale, to the holder of each security deed, and to every other party with a recorded equity interest or claim, and may file an interpleader action in superior court. Funds still unclaimed five years after the sale are paid over to the Georgia Department of Revenue, after which only a court order from an interpleader action releases them.
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 Cherokee County, Georgia sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Cherokee County follows Georgia's redeemable deed state system.
How often does Cherokee County hold tax deed sales?
- annual. 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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