South Carolina tax lien & tax deed sales

Neither more than forty-five days nor less than twenty days before it ends, the delinquent tax officer must mail a notice by certified mail, return receipt requested and restricted delivery, to the defaulting taxpayer and to any grantee, mortgagee, or lessee of record, stating the amount needed to redeem and the date the tax title passes. Certified mail returned undelivered is not grounds to withhold the tax title. If nobody redeems, the officer makes a tax title to the purchaser within thirty days or as soon after that as possible. Personal property sold at a delinquent tax sale has no redemption period at all. A mobile or manufactured home runs on the same twelve-month clock, but it must not be moved from its location during that year without notice to the purchaser and the delinquent tax collector, and the redeeming owner or lienholder also owes the purchaser rent of up to one twelfth of the last completed tax year's taxes for each month between sale and redemption, with a ten dollar monthly minimum. If the official in charge discovers before the tax title passes that a required step was not properly performed, the official may void the sale and refund the bidder the amount paid plus the interest the county actually earned on it.S.C. Code Ann. 12-51-90, the twelve-month redemption right and the quarterly interest scheduleS.C. Code Ann. 12-51-90Verified Aug 6, 2026

A 3 percent penalty is added if the taxes are not paid before January 16, or before thirty days after the tax notices were mailed, whichever date is later. Another 7 percent is added if the bill is still unpaid on February 2, and another 5 percent if it is still unpaid on March 17, so a delinquent bill carries 15 percent in penalties by mid March. At that point the county treasurer issues his tax execution to the officer authorized to collect delinquent taxes, and collection moves to Chapter 51. A county governing body may also approve using the Chapter 56 setoff procedures as an initial collection step, but the tax sale itself still runs under Chapter 51. Property taxes, assessments, and penalties are a first lien on the property taxed, and that lien attaches on December 31 for the taxes payable during the following year, which is what makes a South Carolina tax sale a senior claim rather than a junior one.S.C. Code Ann. 12-45-180, the 3 / 7 / 5 percent delinquency penalties and the tax executionS.C. Code Ann. 12-45-180Verified Aug 6, 2026

The commission may assign its bid at any time before the title deed is made, for consideration of no less than the taxes, penalties, and costs the property was sold for. The chairman or a designee may accept sealed bids for assignments for a designated period, after which assignments are made first come, first served, and each county keeps a list of available forfeited land commission properties at a location the commission sets. Once title has passed to the commission, it sells the land on the terms it judges best for the county, with any payment term capped at ten years and secured by a first mortgage on the property sold. An immediate family member of a commission member may not buy from that commission unless the sale runs through a competitive bid process or a public listing open for at least ten days. In practice several counties run the assignments as a scheduled second sale: Charleston County places the parcels that went unsold at the annual tax sale into a sealed-bid silent auction about a month later and posts the list and instructions online only while that sale is open.S.C. Code Ann. 12-59-80, assignment of forfeited land commission bids and the sealed-bid listS.C. Code Ann. 12-59-80Verified Aug 6, 2026