Marion County, SC tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •The Delinquent Tax Collector and the Treasurer are separate offices in Marion County. The Treasurer page states that "In the middle of March, house & land taxes become delinquent and can only be paid in the Delinquent Tax Collector's Office." Treasurer Alta DuBose, (843) 423-8230, P.O. Box 275, Marion, SC 29571.
• •The Tax Collector page lists Portugal Steele as Tax Collector and Tammy S. Barr as Administrative Assistant, phone (843) 423-8228, fax (843) 275-6125, office hours Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. The county administration building switchboard is (843) 423-3904.
• •Per the Tax Collector department page, the Treasurer executes the bill to the Delinquent Tax Department on or about March 17, notices go out on or about April 1, a certified notice follows 30 days later, unreached parcels are posted and seized for advertising, and "Delinquent taxes are due by August 31 of each year."
• •Winning bids are tendered at the Tax Collector's Office in the County Office Building in cash or certified check for a permanent receipt that the buyer must keep until the parcel is redeemed or deeded. If the sale runs past 5:00 P.M., the bidder may pay the next business day.
• •The two county documents state different bid-assignment windows. The Bidding Information page says assignment of bids "will be accepted beginning November 25, 2026, until September 25, 2027," while the Tax Sale Information document says the assignment form must be completed "no later than October 31 of the tax sale year." Confirm the current window with the Tax Collector before assigning a bid. Questions about assignment of bids by the Forfeited Land Commission go to its chairman.
• •State law limits how much of a defaulting taxpayer's property is sold: once enough has been raised to cover that taxpayer's taxes, assessments, penalties, and costs, no further parcels of theirs are sold, so not everything advertised will necessarily be offered.
• •The Tax Collector page links a scanned document labeled FLC List 2022 for Forfeited Land Commission inventory. The file loads but is an image-only scan with no extractable text, so ask the office for the current Forfeited Land Commission list and purchase procedure rather than relying on that document.
• •The county's Delinquent Tax Payments page shows no content beyond its heading, even though the sale notice directs online payers to it. Phone payments are listed at (843) 874-4027 using the last four digits of the receipt number, and neither channel works for prior-year taxes or property already sold at tax sale.
• •The Tax Collector FAQ page carries stale text, including a line about paying by personal check "through September 30, 2019," and describes sales as "held periodically throughout the year" while the sale notice sets a single annual November sale. Treat the Bidding Information page and the Tax Sale Information document as the current authority.
• •The Tax Sale Information document names Charles L. McLain, III, Esquire as the attorney performing the limited title examination and states plainly that title is not marketable without further corrective measures to clear the cloud that tax sales create, with bidders instructed to seek their own counsel.

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 →