Each step below is drawn from Georgia statute, not general advice. The exact sale dates, platform, and deposit amounts are set county by county, so confirm the specifics on your county page before you register.
New here? Most beginners start with a certificate (the lien path). The deed steps below apply once you hold a certificate long enough to force a sale, or you bid directly at a tax deed auction. Not sure which is for you? Start with tax lien vs tax deed.
Learn the timeline and lien priority
Georgia sets ad valorem due dates locally, so the delinquency date varies by county. 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. Understand this before you commit any money.
Collect interest or wait out redemption
The 20 percent premium attaches to the first year or any fraction of it, so it is owed in full even if the owner redeems the day after the sale. Once 12 months pass, another 10 percent is added for each additional year or fraction of a year. The premium is a flat statutory add-on to the price paid at the sale, not a rate that accrues monthly, and Georgia sets no ceiling on the total once multiple years elapse. 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. To redeem, the owner pays The amount paid for the property at the tax sale as recited in the tax deed, plus any taxes the purchaser paid after the sale, plus any special assessments, plus a premium of 20 percent of that amount for the first year or fraction of a year and 10 percent for each year or fraction of a year after that. If redemption comes more than 30 days after the barment notice, the sheriff's cost of serving it and the cost of publication are added. For sales made after July 1, 2016, sums the purchaser paid to a property owners' association, condominium association, or homeowners' association are added as well. Payment goes to the purchaser or the purchaser's successors. If they redeem, that payoff is your return; if they never do, the certificate becomes your path to the property.
Apply for a tax deed
The tax collector or tax commissioner notifies the taxpayer once the last day for payment has passed and may issue an execution 30 days later. The execution is levied on the property, the defendant gets at least ten days' written notice of the sale by registered or certified mail, and the parcel is advertised and sold. Georgia fixes no statutory opening-bid formula for a sale under Article 1. The parcel is sold at public outcry to the highest bidder, and the practical floor is the taxes, penalties, interest, and costs on the execution: the county governing authority may bid only when other bids fail to cover the executions and costs, and may not bid more than that amount. Judicial in rem foreclosures under Article 5 work differently, and there the minimum bid is the redemption amount set by the court.
Bid at the tax deed auction
The County Tax Commissioner or Tax Collector as levying officer, or the sheriff sells the property at public auction to the highest bidder. 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. Not fixed by statute. Georgia law sets the form of tender rather than a statewide balance window, and counties publish their own deadline. Cobb County, for example, requires payment in full in cash or certified funds at the conclusion of the sale. Verify the deadline in the county's published sale terms.
One more step: clear the title
Winning a tax deed does not hand you marketable title. Before you can resell to a normal buyer or insure the parcel, you will usually need a quiet title action, which takes months and costs money. Fold that cost into your maximum bid and read what you actually own after a tax deed before you bid. A tax deed also does not wipe out everything: select governmental and municipal liens can survive, and a federal tax lien carries a 120-day IRS redemption right, so check what survives a tax deed too.
New to this? Start with tax lien vs tax deed and the full Georgia walkthrough, then value a parcel with the due diligence guide.
Steps verified Jul 25, 2026 against Georgia statutes.
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.