North Carolina tax sale statutes

The governing law

North Carolina is a tax deed state. Counties sell no tax lien certificates to investors; they enforce delinquent property taxes by foreclosing the tax lien in court and selling the property itself. State law gives every taxing unit two paths: a foreclosure action in the nature of a mortgage foreclosure under G.S. 105-374, in which a court-appointed commissioner auctions the parcel at the courthouse door, and the simpler in rem method under G.S. 105-375, in which the tax collector dockets a certificate of taxes owed as a judgment and the sheriff sells the parcel under execution. Every high bid then sits through a 10-day upset bid period, so no North Carolina tax sale is final at the fall of the hammer. The process is governed by N.C.G.S. Chapter 105, Article 26.