Aiken County, SC tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •The Delinquent Tax Collector is a standalone Aiken County office, not a division of the Treasurer. The Treasurer issues the executions and collects current-year taxes; the Delinquent Tax Collector levies on the property and conducts the sale.
• •K. Warren Fulghum is listed as Tax Collector. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The office email is [email protected].
• •Delinquent real property taxes are paid at Suite 2500 of the Government Center. Delinquent vehicle taxes go to the Treasurer instead.
• •Real property taxes are billed in the fall and are payable without penalty by January 16, with penalties added in January, February and March before the November sale.
• •Aiken County's Forfeited Land Commission consists of the County Treasurer, County Auditor, and Register of Deeds, serving without compensation, and sits under the Register of Deeds on the county website.
• •Redemption payments must be certified funds (cash, cashier's check or money order) payable to Aiken County Tax Collector, and redemptions cannot be paid online.
• •Tax sale overages are released only to the owner of record and only 90 days after the deed is recorded, under S.C. Code 12-51-130, with a signed agreement, release and waiver form.
• •The county migrated to a new website and the older tax sale documents, bidder instruction PDFs and the online registration form now return 404 on the main domain. Some remain reachable on the county's lookups subdomain.
• •The City of Aiken holds its own separate municipal delinquent tax sale, which is distinct from this county sale.

South Carolina rules

Redemption

The redemption clock runs twelve months from the date of the sale. 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

Deed deposit

South Carolina fixes no percentage deposit. The successful bidder pays the full amount of the bid on the day of the sale in legal tender, meaning cash, a cashier's check, a certified check, or a money order. If a defaulting taxpayer has more than one item advertised, the officer stops selling once enough has been raised to cover the delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties, and costs.S.C. Code Ann. 12-51-50, public auction of the advertised property and accepted tenderS.C. Code Ann. 12-51-50Verified Aug 6, 2026

Surplus proceeds

If the sale produces more cash than the taxes, assessments, penalties, and costs, the overage first pays any outstanding municipal tax liens on the property. What remains belongs to the owner of record immediately before the end of the redemption period, to be claimed or assigned according to law. Those sums are payable ninety days after execution of the deed unless another claimant files a judicial action inside that window, and they escheat to the general fund of the governing body if neither claimed nor assigned within five years of the sale. Once a tax deed has been issued, Section 12-51-60 requires the delinquent tax collector to notify the defaulting taxpayer and that owner of record in writing that an excess is due, mailed the same certified way the officer took possession, and the cost of that notice counts as a cost of the sale.S.C. Code Ann. 12-51-130, delivery of the tax title, purchaser-paid costs, and the overage rulesS.C. Code Ann. 12-51-130Verified Aug 6, 2026

Governing statute

S.C. Code Ann. Title 12, Chapter 51South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 12, Chapter 51 (Alternate Procedure for Collection of Property Taxes)S.C. Code Ann. Title 12, Chapter 51Verified Aug 6, 2026

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.

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