Dorchester County, SC tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •The Delinquent Tax Office is its own department under Property and Tax Services, separate from the Treasurer. Lourenza G. Thumbtzen is the Delinquent Tax Collector; Cindy L. Chitty is the Treasurer. The county describes the handoff: unpaid taxes go into execution and the Treasurer forwards the unpaid bills to the Delinquent Tax Office for collection.
• •The Delinquent Tax Office states that it plans, conducts, and manages the tax sale and issues tax deeds, so it is the office to call about sale mechanics and deed timing.
• •The county publishes a 2026 cost-escalation calendar: taxes become delinquent March 17, a 15 percent penalty attaches after March 16, a $5.00 fee after March 31, an added $35.00 on real property bills and $45.00 on mobile home bills after May 1, a $35.00 posting fee after June 30, and an $80.00 advertising cost after September 25 for real property and after October 5 for mobile homes.
• •Two advertised lists are published, one for real property and one for mobile homes. Both URLs were live but showed no accounts when checked on 2026-08-06, which tracks the county calendar since advertising costs do not attach until late September. Expect the lists to populate in the fall ahead of the October sale.
• •Mobile home list: https://as400.dorchestercounty.net/webapps/dtx000201.pgm, titled Delinquent Tax Advertised Mobile Home List.
• •A Delinquent Property Locator map lets buyers look parcels up by TMS number, mobile home sticker number, or owner name, and zooms to ownership and location detail. The county says the data refreshes weekly on Wednesdays and Fridays.
• •Forfeited Land Commission property is handled by the Auditor's Office. Photographs, descriptions, and location detail sit in bid books at the Auditor's St. George office (201 Johnston Street) and Summerville office (500 N. Main Street). The county directs FLC questions to Cassy Dopkant at (843) 563-0118 or (843) 832-0118.
• •FLC terms worth pricing in: bids are sealed and the commission will not tell a bidder that a competing bid arrived, so verifying bid status is the bidder's job. A losing bidder's deposit is only returned if a valid forwarding address or current contact information was supplied. Anyone acquiring a mobile home must title and register it and prove that to the FLC within 10 days or forfeit the bid and deposit. FLC mobile homes do not include the land beneath them, and some may be occupied, with the county disclaiming responsibility for evicting occupants.
• •Delinquent business personal property tax may be referred to American Financial Credit Services, a third-party collection agency. That is a debt-collection channel, not a route to buy tax sale property.
• •General Delinquent Tax Office contacts: fax (843) 832-0114 or (843) 563-0114, email [email protected], office hours 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday excluding holidays.

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.

See the full South Carolinarules and every county →