Union County, GA tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Union County, seat of Blairsville: 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 Union County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
Details are being verified for this county.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Union County Tax Commissioner (Lee Knight), 65 Courthouse Street, Suite 3, Blairsville
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- The current list published by the office is headed "UNION TAX SALE LIST" / "AUGUST 2026" and names 10 parcels with 2023, 2024 and 2025 taxes due. Union County does not sell every month. The office's own excess funds report records past sale dates of 5/4/2021, 3/1/2022, 5/2/2023, 8/6/2024 and 9/2/2025, each of which is the first Tuesday of its month, matching Georgia's first-Tuesday sale schedule. The first Tuesday of August 2026 is August 4, 2026. Confirm the exact date, time and location with the Tax Commissioner before traveling.
- Sale list
- Union Tax Sale List (PDF)
Registration and deposit
No bidder registration form, deposit schedule or online bidding process is published on the Tax Commissioner website. The office posts only the parcel list as a PDF. Call 706-439-6017 or email [email protected] ahead of the sale to confirm registration, funds and payment requirements.
Union County runs a live sale, not an online auction. No auction platform, bidding portal or vendor is named anywhere on the Union County Tax Commissioner site, and the county government site's Tax Commissioner page redirects to that same office site. For that reason no platform URL is given here. The office publishes three tax-sale documents on its News page: a Tax Sale Listing, an Excess Tax Funds Listing, and a scanned Right to Redemption handout. Buyers take a redeemable deed under O.C.G.A. Title 48, Chapter 4. The excess funds report shows how thin this market is: 11 unclaimed overage records across 2021 to 2025, total bids of $210,900 against $12,191.68 in taxes, with several parcels bought by the same repeat local bidders. One 2023 parcel sold for $141,000 on $1,998.52 of tax. Expect small lot counts, rural mountain acreage, and competition from a handful of regular buyers.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Notes for Union County
- Lee Knight is the Union County Tax Commissioner and took office January 2, 2013. Jennifer Dyer Kerr is Deputy Tax Commissioner ([email protected]).
- Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Second phone line 706-439-6018. Fax 706-439-6019. Email [email protected].
- Union County's government site does not host a tax sale page. https://www.unioncountyga.gov/326/Tax-Commissioner returns a 302 redirect to https://www.uniongatax.com/, which is the office's site of record.
- Real estate and business personal property taxes are due December 20. The office states that unpaid bills accrue 1% interest per month, and that "After becoming 90 days delinquent, the Tax Commissioner's Office may begin tax sale proceedings."
- At more than 90 days delinquent a tax fi. fa. (lien) is recorded in the Office of the Clerk of Superior Court, Union County Courthouse, 65 Courthouse Street, Blairsville, GA 30512.
- The August 2026 list carries small balances: 10 parcels, amounts due ranging from $724.73 to $6,650.58, all three years 2023 through 2025. Four of the ten are adjacent parcels held by a single estate (map/parcel 072A010 through 072A013).
- The office maintains a standing excess tax sale funds list covering all years, with claimed and unclaimed balances by sale date, owner, map/parcel and purchaser. As posted, $198,708.32 sits unclaimed across 11 records.
- A scanned "RIGHT TO REDEMPTION" PDF is linked from the office News page at https://www.uniongatax.com/content/files/0545_001.pdf. It is an image scan with no text layer, so its contents could not be read programmatically.
- For pre-bid due diligence, the office's Links page points to the Union County Tax Assessor property search at qpublic.net/ga/union. The Tax Assessor is at 65 Courthouse Street, Blairsville. Property is assessed at 40% of fair market value under O.C.G.A. 48-5-7.
- Union County is rural north Georgia mountain land. Timber has its own reporting regime (DOR form PT-283T) and standing timber is not taxed until sold or harvested, which matters when valuing wooded parcels bought at a tax sale.
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 Union County, Georgia sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Union County follows Georgia's redeemable deed state system.
How often does Union 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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