Cobb County, GA tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Cobb County, seat of Marietta: 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 Cobb County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
Details are being verified for this county.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Cobb County Tax Commissioner's Office (Property Tax Division, Levy Department)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- First Tuesday of the month, but only in months when a sale is scheduled. The office states: "Tax sales are held on the first Tuesday of each month for the months in which we plan a tax sale at the Superior Court Plaza between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m." If the date falls on a holiday, "the sale will take place on the first Wednesday." The posted 2026 calendar reads: "2026 Tax Sale Dates are as follows: May 5, 2026 (non-judicial). November 3, 2026 (non-judicial)."
Registration and deposit
Pre-registration is required. The page states: "You must pre-register prior to the day of the sale, and bidding is conducted in person only." A pre-registration form is linked at https://cobbcounty.seamlessdocs.com/f/TaxSalePreRegistration. "Bidder cards are issued from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on the day of the sale." Payment is due in full at the close of the sale: "We require payment in full upon conclusion of the tax sale. Payment must be in the form of cash or a certified check." The office adds, "We do not accept mail, phone, or fax bids."
The sale is conducted in person only, on the courthouse-area steps at the Superior Court Plaza, which the office describes as "located on the corner of Haynes Street and Washington Avenue" in Marietta. There is no online bidding platform. Bidders should confirm each date, because Cobb runs only a handful of sales a year rather than one every month. Sale lists post about four weeks ahead: "Tax sale lists are made available four weeks before a scheduled tax sale," and "Properties available at the current tax sale can be found in the Marietta Daily Journal Real Estate section on Fridays for four weeks prior to the sale." At the time of research the posted sale list read "There are no Tax Sale parcels at this time," so check back inside the four-week window. Both 2026 sales are flagged non-judicial, meaning the standard O.C.G.A. Title 48 Chapter 4 Article 1 levy sale rather than a judicial in-rem proceeding. Cobb confirms the redeemable-deed structure: "When real property is sold at a tax sale, the owner, creditor or any person having an interest in the property may redeem (repurchase) the property from the holder of the tax deed within 12 months," with "a 20% premium of the amount for the first year or fraction of a year which has elapsed since the date of sale, and a 10% premium for each additional year or fraction thereof thereafter." Purchasers get a deed but no possession: "The tax sale purchaser receives a tax deed to the property. However, they cannot take immediate possession of the property, make any improvements to the property, evict any tenants or move onto the property." To cut off redemption, "After 12 months from the date of the tax sale, the purchaser at the tax sale may terminate or foreclose on the owner's right to redeem the property by causing a notice(s) of the foreclosure to be served by certified mail." Taxes go delinquent after October 15 and "Any unpaid property taxes remaining after the October 15 due date are subject to levy and tax sale." Levy Department questions: 770-528-8623. In person at the Superior Court Plaza, Marietta (no online auction platform)
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Cobb County Tax Commissioner, Property Tax Division
736 Whitlock Ave, Ste. 100, Marietta, GA 30064 (mailing: P.O. Box 100127, Marietta, GA 30061-7027)
Official websiteNotes for Cobb County
- Cobb County's sale is run in person by the Tax Commissioner's Office. No online auction platform is used, and the office explicitly refuses mail, phone, and fax bids.
- Sale venue is the Superior Court Plaza in Marietta, described by the office as being at the corner of Haynes Street and Washington Avenue. Sales run between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
- Cobb does not hold a sale every month. Only two dates were posted for 2026: May 5 and November 3, both labeled non-judicial.
- Bidder cards are handed out on sale day between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., but pre-registration ahead of the sale day is mandatory.
- Winning bidders pay in full at the conclusion of the sale in cash or certified check. There is no deposit-then-settle window.
- The monthly delinquent tax list and the monthly excess funds list both live on the Delinquent Taxes page. The actual parcel-level tax sale list is published separately about four weeks before each sale, and also runs in the Marietta Daily Journal Real Estate section on Fridays for the four weeks before the sale.
- Levy Department direct line is 770-528-8623 for tax sale, levy, and excess funds questions. The general Property Tax Division line is 770-528-8600. The office also posted a Tax Sale Notification Alert warning about third-party correspondence regarding properties going to auction, and directs recipients to verify with the Levy Department.
- The old cobbtax.org domain now 302-redirects to cobbtax.gov. Use cobbtax.gov for canonical links.
- The pre-registration form is hosted on the county's third-party forms platform (cobbcounty.seamlessdocs.com). The URL loads but renders through JavaScript, so the form fields were not readable via fetch. It is linked directly from the official tax sale page.
- The Tax Commissioner's tax sale page cites O.C.G.A. Chapter 48-3 and Chapter 48-4 as the governing procedure, matching the state-level classification.
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 Cobb County, Georgia sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Cobb County follows Georgia's redeemable deed state system.
How often does Cobb 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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