Carteret County, NC tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Carteret County, seat of Beaufort: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how North Carolina tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- No fixed month.
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- No advance registration.
- County office
- 252-728-8485
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 18, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
How Carteret County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Carteret County Tax Administration, with foreclosure auctions directed by Mewborn & DeSelms, Attorneys at Law (Jacksonville, NC)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No fixed month.
- Registration
- No advance registration.
When it runs
No fixed month. Sales are scheduled case by case and held on the steps of the Carteret County Courthouse on the scheduled day of the auction, unless otherwise noted. Notice of each sale is advertised in two newspapers and posted on the bulletin board inside the Carteret County Courthouse at least 20 days before the auction date. The county updates its sale page monthly.
Registration and deposit
Sale format and venue
Sales are live, in-person auctions on the courthouse steps; the county publishes no online bidding platform, so verify any third-party auction site claim with the Tax Office before relying on it. Carteret County contracts its tax foreclosures to Mewborn & DeSelms, Attorneys at Law, 829 Gum Branch Road, Suite C, Jacksonville, NC 28540, phone 910-455-9755, rather than the ZLS or Kania firms used by many other North Carolina counties, and the county directs foreclosure questions to that firm. Each high bid is held open 10 days for upset bids, which are filed with the Clerk of Superior Court on the second floor of the courthouse; the county states the minimum upset bid raise is 5% of the bid. The county's Upcoming Sales table listed no scheduled sales as of August 2026, so check the page or call the firm for current inventory. In person at the Carteret County Courthouse steps in Beaufort
Source: Carteret County Tax Foreclosure Sales· Verified Aug 18, 2026
Carteret County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Carteret 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.
Get the advertised list
Use Upcoming tax foreclosure sales (county page, updated monthly) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
No fixed month. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Carteret County Tax Administration, with foreclosure auctions directed by Mewborn & DeSelms, Attorneys at Law (Jacksonville, NC) as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Carteret County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Upcoming tax foreclosure sales (county page, updated monthly). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the North Carolina due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.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.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax sale office
County notes
- Carteret County contracts its tax foreclosure auctions to Mewborn & DeSelms, Attorneys at Law of Jacksonville, NC, not to the ZLS or Kania firms that handle many other North Carolina counties; the firm has no discoverable sale-calendar website, so the county's own foreclosure page is the listing of record.
- Sales are in person on the Carteret County Courthouse steps in Beaufort with a 20% cash or certified funds deposit due from the high bidder; no online auction platform is published for this county.
- The county's foreclosure sale page is updated monthly and its Upcoming Sales table (name, parcel ID, minimum opening bid, date of sale, deed references) showed no scheduled sales as of this review in August 2026.
North Carolina rules
- Redemption
- North Carolina has no fixed redemption period of the certificate-state type and no post-sale redemption right. In a G.S. 105-374 foreclosure, redemption is allowed before confirmation of the foreclosure sale: paying the taxes, penalties, interest, and costs discontinues the action, and the clerk may confirm the sale once 10 days pass after the report of sale with no upset bid or exception. In an in rem foreclosure, payment in full of the docketed judgment with interest and costs requires the tax collector to certify the payment and cancel the judgment. Because every sale also sits through the 10-day upset bid window, an owner in either path retains a last window to pay after the auction itself but before the sale is final.
- Deed deposit
- At a G.S. 105-374 sale the commissioner may require the successful bidder to make a deposit of up to 20 percent of the bid; no deposit may be required of a taxing unit. An upset bidder always files a deposit of 5 percent of the upset bid, minimum $750, with the clerk.
- Surplus proceeds
- Sale proceeds are applied first to the costs of the action, including the commissioner's and attorneys' fees, then to the taxes, penalties, and interest of the foreclosing unit, then to special assessments and the taxes of other taxing units. Any surplus is paid as the court directs or held by the clerk of superior court, where the former owner, junior lienholders, and other claimants can file a special proceeding under G.S. 1-339.71 to establish ownership of the funds.
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 Carteret County, North Carolina sell tax liens or tax deeds?
Tax deeds. North Carolina sells no tax lien certificates to investors; the Court-appointed commissioner sells the property itself at a public tax sale.
How often does Carteret County hold tax deed sales?
Carteret County holds its tax deed sale once a year. No fixed month. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. North Carolina's redemption rule: Until the foreclosure sale becomes final; no redemption after confirmation. Call the Carteret County Tax Administration, with foreclosure auctions directed by Mewborn & DeSelms, Attorneys at Law (Jacksonville, NC) 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 Carteret County tax sale list?
Carteret County posts its tax sale list at carteretcountync.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 18, 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.
More North Carolina counties
Browse all 100 North Carolina counties
Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.