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Tax Sale Atlas

St. Mary's County, MD tax sales

How tax lien sales work in St. Mary's County, seat of Leonardtown: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how Maryland tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next sale
First Friday in March each year.
Format
RealAuction
County office
301-475-4200 ext. 3300
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 9, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How St. Mary's County sells delinquent taxes

From lien to deed

Maryland holds no county tax deed auction. Title passes only through a judicial foreclosure of the right of redemption brought by the holder of the certificate of sale. The holder may file the complaint at any time after 6 months from the date of sale, or after 9 months for owner-occupied residential property, and only after serving two statutory notices on the owner and the mortgagee. The first of those notices cannot be sent until 4 months after the sale, or 7 months for owner-occupied residential property, the second follows at least a week later, and the complaint cannot be filed until at least 2 months after the first notice and 30 days after the second. Where a government agency certifies that a building needs substantial repairs, the holder may file after 60 days, and abandoned property sold below the lien amount may be filed on immediately.

Tax certificate sale (lien)

RealAuction
Run by
Office of the County Treasurer, St. Mary's County, Maryland (Treasurer Christine L. Kelly, acting as Collector)
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
First Friday in March each year.
Sale list
Annual Tax Sale Auction notice and delinquent account list (on-page table plus "Download to Excel")
When it runs
First Friday in March each year. The Treasurer's terms state: "St. Mary's County Treasurer hosts an online public auction on the first Friday of March each year." The 2026 notice read: "Online Tax Sale to be held on Friday March 6, 2026, at 10:00 a.m." with a backup date of March 13, 2026, if the sale is impeded.
Registration and deposit

Online registration on the RealAuction site is required to bid, and it opens the month before the sale. For 2026 the window ran Friday, February 6 through Friday, February 27, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. (noon). Registration closes at noon one week before the sale and late registrations are not accepted. A $100 refundable registration fee is payable immediately by ACH debit authorization at the time of registration. One bidder number is issued per legal entity. Entity bidders must register under their full corporate name, show good standing in the state of incorporation, and give a resident agent name and address. Only U.S. persons and U.S. entities as defined in IRS Form W-9 may register, and a Social Security or tax identification number is required. Winning bidders pay by ACH auto-debit from the same bank account used for the registration fee, on the day of the sale.

Sale format and venue
St. Mary's runs a single annual online tax lien certificate auction under Md. Code, Tax-Property 14-817 and County Code of Ordinances Chapter 139. Bidding opens at the amount of taxes and charges due, and no bid may exceed two times the assessed value or the open charges, whichever is higher. The county states plainly that it does not use a high-bid premium, so the 14-813 premium mechanic that applies in several other Maryland jurisdictions is not part of this sale. Redemption interest is 6% per year through the month of redemption. Winning bidders pay the full taxes and charges on sale day, with the residue of the bid remaining on credit and due only if a Circuit Court judgment transfers title. Each property sold carries a $10 auctioneer fee paid by the winning bidder. Properties drawing no bid are sold to the Commissioners of St. Mary's County. Accounts can also be sold for Metropolitan Commission (MetCom) water and sewer charges or Town of Leonardtown water and sewer bills, and the county disclaims liability on MetCom-driven sales. Certificates expire two years from the sale date unless a foreclosure action is filed first, and the purchaser must tell the Treasurer's Office when proceedings are filed. Purchasers are told not to contact the property owner within four months of the sale. The Treasurer's Office does not handle foreclosure, and legal and administrative expense recovery is limited to what Tax-Property 14-843 allows, supported by itemized documentation under affidavit. Over-the-counter certificates on unsold liens are available from the St. Mary's County Attorney's Office at 301-475-4200 extension 1700. Properties sell strictly as is, where is, with no representation about access, boundaries, zoning, buildability, title, or whether the parcel physically exists, and bidders may face senior tax credit recaptures and municipal or utility liens the sale does not extinguish.
Register on RealAuction
Source: St. Mary's County Treasurer, Annual Tax Sale Auction (official sale notice and delinquent list)· Verified Aug 9, 2026

St. Mary's County tax sale list and auction calendar

For St. Mary's County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Annual Tax Sale Auction notice and delinquent account list (on-page table plus "Download to Excel") for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.

  3. Sale day

    First Friday in March each year. Bidding runs on RealAuction; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Office of the County Treasurer, St. Mary's County, Maryland (Treasurer Christine L. Kelly, acting as Collector) as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in St. Mary's County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Annual Tax Sale Auction notice and delinquent account list (on-page table plus "Download to Excel"). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Online registration on the RealAuction site is required to bid, and it opens the month before the sale. For 2026 the window ran Friday, February 6 through Friday, February 27, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. (noon). Registration closes at noon one week before the sale and late registrations are not accepted. A $100 refundable registration fee is payable immediately by ACH debit authorization at the time of registration. One bidder number is issued per legal entity. Entity bidders must register under their full corporate name, show good standing in the state of incorporation, and give a resident agent name and address. Only U.S. persons and U.S. entities as defined in IRS Form W-9 may register, and a Social Security or tax identification number is required. Winning bidders pay by ACH auto-debit from the same bank account used for the registration fee, on the day of the sale.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Maryland due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.

  4. Set a walk-away number

    Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.

Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases

A county or other taxing agency must buy in any property offered at the sale for which there is no private purchaser, and the governing body may then sell and assign that certificate of sale, or after foreclosure sell the property. Several counties run this as a post-sale assignment sale of the unsold liens at lien value, usually open only to bidders who registered for the auction. Availability, pricing and whether a list is published are local decisions, so ask the collector of taxes.

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)

Office of the County Treasurer, St. Mary's County, Maryland

301-475-4200 ext. 3300

Patuxent Building, 23150 Leonard Hall Drive, Leonardtown, MD 20650 (mailing: P.O. Box 642, Leonardtown, MD 20650)

Official website

County notes

  • Maryland is a lien state and St. Mary's County runs only the certificate sale. There is no separate county tax deed auction here; title comes from a Circuit Court foreclosure of the right of redemption filed by the certificate holder.
  • The county explicitly has no high-bid premium, which is unusual among the larger Maryland jurisdictions. Verify this with the Treasurer's Office each year before modeling capital needs.
  • Redemption interest is 6% per year, at the low end of the Maryland range, so the return depends heavily on foreclosure execution rather than on carry.
  • Payoff deadlines that pull accounts off the list run right up to the day before the sale, so the advertised list shrinks between publication and auction day. The 2026 notice allowed in-office cash and mailed cashier's checks until 4:30 p.m. the day before.
  • Unsold certificates are available over the counter through the County Attorney's Office rather than the Treasurer, at 301-475-4200 extension 1700.
  • Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Maryland rules

Max interest rate
6% per year, set by statute (bidding is on price)
Minimum return
No statutory minimum return; what you earn is set by the price at the sale
Redemption
Maryland sets no fixed redemption deadline. The right to redeem continues until it is finally barred by decree of the circuit court in which the foreclosure proceeding is filed. What the statute fixes is the earliest date the certificate holder may start that case, and the outside date by which the holder must start it. A certificate is void unless a proceeding to foreclose the right of redemption is filed within 2 years of the date of the certificate of sale, and if the certificate goes void the holder's rights end and the money paid at the sale is forfeited and applied to the taxes in arrears. A Baltimore City certificate on abandoned property sold below the lien amount must be filed on within 3 months and reverts to the city otherwise.
Surplus proceeds
Any balance over the amount needed for taxes, interest, penalties and the costs of sale belongs to the person entitled to it, which is normally the former owner. Each county must establish a process for claiming that balance, the process must apply uniformly to all claims in the county, and it may not require a court order unless payment of the balance is disputed. Within 90 days after delivering a deed to a purchaser, the collector must notify the prior owner of record of the amount of the balance and of how to claim it. Where the balance is disputed, the collector pays it into a court of competent jurisdiction pending an order on distribution.
Governing statute
Md. Code Ann., Tax-Prop. Title 14, Subtitle 8, Part III

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.

See the full Marylandrules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does St. Mary's County, Maryland sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax lien certificates. In Maryland investors buy the lien, not the property; the County Collector of Taxes runs the sale.

When is the St. Mary's County tax certificate sale?

First Friday in March each year. The Treasurer's terms state: "St. Mary's County Treasurer hosts an online public auction on the first Friday of March each year." The 2026 notice read: "Online Tax Sale to be held on Friday March 6, 2026, at 10:00 a.m." with a backup date of March 13, 2026, if the sale is impeded. Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the County Collector of Taxes before the sale.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Maryland's redemption rule: Open until the circuit court forecloses the right of redemption; the holder may file that case 6 months after the sale, or 9 months for owner-occupied residential property. Call the Office of the County Treasurer, St. Mary's County, Maryland (Treasurer Christine L. Kelly, acting as Collector) as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the St. Mary's County tax sale list?

St. Mary's County posts its tax sale list at stmaryscountymd.gov. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

Verified Aug 9, 2026 against official county and state sources.

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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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

Maryland tax salesDue diligence guide
Call Office of the County TreasurerOpen auction