Hart County, GA tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Hart County, seat of Hartwell: 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 Hart County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
Details are being verified for this county.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Hart County Tax Commissioner
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- The Tax Commissioner's Tax Sales page carries a single stale line, "The next tax sale will be March 2024," and posts no current or upcoming sale date. Georgia tax sales run on the first Tuesday of the sale month under O.C.G.A. Title 48, Chapter 4, so confirm the next date with the office before planning a bid. The General Information page states that in the four weeks before a sale, "your property will be advertised in the Hartwell Sun Local newspaper with additional advertising cost added."
Registration and deposit
Hart County publishes no bidder registration, deposit, or payment instructions online. The Tax Sales page contains only the stale sale note and excess funds links. Contact the Tax Commissioner at (706) 376-3944 for bidder requirements and settlement terms before the sale.
Hart County is a small, in person county. The Tax Commissioner's official tax site references no online auction platform anywhere, so the sale follows the Georgia default of a live courthouse sale rather than an internet auction, and no platform URL is provided here. The published delinquent path runs: taxes due December 20; interest accrues on the 16th of each month at prime plus 3% divided by 12; a fi. fa. is filed with the Clerk of Superior Court 30 days after the delinquent notice; a 5% penalty is added after 120 days and every 120 days after that, capped at 20%. The county then states that an unpaid account "will be turned over to AMS and admin/levy fees up to $220.00 plus will be added to your account," covering certified notices and a title search "to prepare your property for tax sale," with the property posted and photographed before the sale. Two excess funds lists are posted, a current list and a 2020 to 2022 list, and both PDFs load. The county's own hartcountyga.gov Tax Commissioner page carries no tax sale content at all; the sale information lives on the Government Window site at hartcountypay.com.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Hart County Courthouse, 165 West Franklin Street, Room 4, Hartwell, GA 30643. Mailing address: P.O. Box 748, Hartwell, GA 30643
Official websiteNotes for Hart County
- Tax Commissioner is Karen Martin. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Office email is [email protected].
- A payment drop box sits at the courthouse on the Forest Ave side.
- The Tax Sales page content is injected by JavaScript from the Government Window API, so the page can look empty in a plain HTML fetch. The rendered text is the stale March 2024 note plus two excess funds links.
- No delinquent tax list or upcoming sale list is published. The legal advertisement runs in the Hartwell Sun for the four weeks preceding a sale.
- The Hart County Sheriff site (hartsheriffga.com) carries no tax sale, levy, or auction content, which is consistent with the Tax Commissioner acting as ex officio sheriff for tax levies.
- Hart County Tax Assessors, for valuation and exemption questions, is at P.O. Box 810, Hartwell, GA 30643, (706) 376-3997, per the county Tax Commissioner page.
- Property records search runs through qpublic.net/ga/hart.
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 Hart County, Georgia sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Hart County follows Georgia's redeemable deed state system.
How often does Hart 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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