Jefferson County, GA tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Nancy W. McGraw is the elected Tax Commissioner and Sherie Johnson is Deputy Tax Commissioner. Office email is nmcgraw@jeffersoncountyga.gov, fax is (478) 625-4024, and posted hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
• •The office lists two addresses. The county website's staff directory gives a mailing address of P.O. Box 426, Louisville, GA 30434, while the Tax Commissioner's own site gives the main office at 736 Peachtree Street, Louisville, GA 30434. Both reach the same office.
• •The Jefferson County Clerk of Superior Court, where tax executions and tax deeds are recorded, is at 202 E Broad Street, Louisville, GA 30434, mailing P.O. Box 151, phone 478-625-7922.
• •The Tax Sales page carries only the office contact details, with no sale date, Tax Sale List, bidder registration, deposit, redemption or excess funds instructions. The General Information and FAQ pages cover billing, exemptions and appeals, and confirm only that if taxes stay unpaid "the tax commissioner has the right and responsibility to levy on the property for non-payment."
• •No excess funds list is published on any official Jefferson County page, so post-sale surplus claims have to go through the Tax Commissioner directly.
• •The Tax Commissioner site links out to the county's qPublic property record search and to the Government Window payment portal for tax bill lookup and payment. Neither is an auction platform.
• •Real estate and business personal property taxes are normally due November 15 and mobile or modular homes are due April 1, which sets the delinquency clock feeding the following spring's sale.

Georgia 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.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

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.O.C.G.A. 48-4-1, Procedures for sales under tax levies and executions (2024 Code of Georgia)O.C.G.A. 48-4-1Verified Jul 30, 2026

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.O.C.G.A. 48-4-5, Payment of excess (2024 Code of Georgia)O.C.G.A. 48-4-5Verified Jul 30, 2026

Governing statute

O.C.G.A. Title 48, Chapter 4Official Code of Georgia Annotated, public access published for the Georgia General Assembly by the Georgia Code Revision CommissionO.C.G.A. Title 48, Chapter 4Verified Jul 25, 2026

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.

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