How the clock works
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.
Who can redeem
The taxpayer or any person having an interest in the real property, including junior lienholders such as mortgage lenders, may pay the amounts due and stop the foreclosure.
What the owner pays to redeem
At least all taxes on the real property that have become due to the foreclosing unit at the time of the discontinuance, plus penalties, interest, and costs. Delinquent taxes carry interest at 2 percent for the period January 6 to February 1 and three-fourths of one percent a month thereafter. Once an in rem judgment is docketed, the full judgment amount plus interest and costs accrued to the date of payment is required.
How your interest accrues
Not applicable to investors. Interest on delinquent taxes, 2 percent for the period January 6 to February 1 and three-fourths of one percent a month thereafter, accrues to the taxing unit, not to a private certificate holder. The buyer at a North Carolina tax foreclosure sale earns no interest; the return comes from the property itself.
How the sale works
Not applicable. North Carolina runs no interest bid-down auction, so there is no zero-percent bid and no minimum-return floor. Sales are premium-bid auctions of the property, kept open by the upset-bid procedure.
What happens when it ends
Taxes become delinquent on January 6. From then on the taxing unit can enforce its lien through either judicial path. Under G.S. 105-374 it files a foreclosure action in the nature of a mortgage foreclosure in the county's General Court of Justice. Under G.S. 105-375 the tax collector files a certificate of taxes owed with the clerk of superior court no earlier than 30 days after the tax liens were advertised; docketing the certificate creates a valid judgment against the property, and execution may issue at any time after three months and before two years from the indexing of the judgment. Either remedy must be started within 10 years from the date the taxes became due.
A redeemed certificate, plus your accrued interest, is what makes the wait profitable; see how redemption periods work across states. An unredeemed certificate is instead your path to the property through a tax deed sale, which still does not convey marketable title on its own, so budget for a quiet title action.
Verified Aug 16, 2026 against North Carolina statutes.
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.