Polk County, GA tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Polk County, seat of Cedartown: 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 Polk County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
Details are being verified for this county.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Polk County Tax Commissioner (Amanda B. Lindsey)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- The Tax Commissioner's Tax Sales page states: "Our next tax sale is scheduled for Tuesday, November 4th 2025." That date is a first Tuesday, matching Georgia's first-Tuesday sale convention. As of this July 2026 check the page still showed the November 2025 date, so Polk holds sales occasionally rather than monthly. Confirm the next date with the office before planning a bid.
- Sale list
- Tax Sale List
Registration and deposit
Polk County publishes no bidder registration form, deposit schedule, or payment terms online. The Tax Sales page posts only the sale date and the parcel list. Call the Tax Commissioner at (770) 749-2125 or email [email protected] for bidder requirements, accepted payment, and the sale location and hour.
Polk sells a redeemable tax deed, not a lien certificate. The county's Tax Commissioner page states plainly: "At this time, we do not sell Tax Liens." That is consistent with Georgia's O.C.G.A. Title 48 structure, where the purchaser takes a deed subject to the owner's 12 month right of redemption at a 20 percent premium. The Tax Sales page carries three downloads: the tax sale parcel list (XLSX, listing map/parcel, defendant in fi. fa., years owed, and legal description), an Excess Funds List, and a Claim Form for surplus proceeds. The page content is loaded by script, so a plain text scrape of tax-sales.html can appear empty; view it in a browser. No auction platform URL is given anywhere on the county or Tax Commissioner site, and no sale address or start time is published, so treat this as a traditional courthouse sale and verify logistics by phone. The Tax Commissioner's FAQ confirms the collection path: taxes unpaid more than 90 days past due get a tax fi. fa. (lien) recorded with the Clerk of Superior Court, and "If the property taxes remain unpaid, the Tax Commissioner has the right and responsibility to levy on the property for non-payment." In person. No online bidding platform is listed by the county.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Notes for Polk County
- County seat is Cedartown. The Tax Commissioner runs two offices: the main office at 144 West Ave, Cedartown, GA 30125, phone (770) 749-2125, and a Rockmart office at 316 N Piedmont Ave, Rockmart, GA 30153, phone (770) 684-3185, fax (770) 684-2575.
- Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm, closed for lunch 12:45pm to 2:00pm. Email: [email protected].
- The Tax Commissioner's public-facing tax site is polkcountypay.com, hosted on the GovernmentWindow platform. The county's own site, polkga.org, has no separate tax sale page and links out to the Tax Commissioner site.
- Payment and account lookup runs through https://polkcountyga.governmentwindow.com/tax.html. That portal is for paying current bills, not for bidding at the tax sale.
- Excess funds from prior sales are posted on the same Tax Sales page alongside a claim form, useful for confirming that sales actually cleared.
- Real and business personal property taxes are due December 20. Interest runs at 1 percent per month after that, with a 10 percent penalty on taxes unpaid 90 days past the deadline.
- Property records and assessments are on qPublic: https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=690. The Tax Assessor's office is at (770) 749-2108.
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 Polk County, Georgia sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Polk County follows Georgia's redeemable deed state system.
How often does Polk 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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