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Tax Sale Atlas

Hamilton County, TN tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Hamilton County, seat of Chattanooga: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how Tennessee tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next sale
One sale per year, held on a Thursday in early June.
Format
In person
Registration
Registration happens on site the morning of the sale.
County office
(423) 209-6600
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 18, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Hamilton County sells delinquent taxes

No tax lien certificate sale

Tennessee counties enforce the tax lien through a delinquent tax suit and sell the property itself; no tax lien certificates are auctioned.

Tax deed sale

In person
Run by
Office of the Clerk and Master, Hamilton County Chancery Court
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
One sale per year, held on a Thursday in early June.
Registration
Registration happens on site the morning of the sale.
Sale list
Delinquent Tax Sale List 2026 (PDF)
When it runs
One sale per year, held on a Thursday in early June. The county's tax sale information sheet (Form 123T) states: "Once a year, tax sale auction is on Thursday, June 05, 2025. Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. and tax sale starts promptly at 10:00 a.m." The delinquent tax sale list posted in the county's 2026 tax sale folder is stamped "REVISED 6/4/2026", consistent with the same first-week-of-June Thursday pattern. Parcels are advertised ahead of the sale: "Parcels are published on one Friday in May in the Hamilton County Herald classified ads on or before 10 days prior to sale, on our website at www.hamiltontn.gov under the link Featured Information."
Registration and deposit

Registration happens on site the morning of the sale. Form 123T states registration begins at 9:00 a.m. and the sale starts promptly at 10:00 a.m. in the Hamilton County Commission Room, 4th floor, Hamilton County Courthouse, 625 Georgia Ave., Chattanooga, TN. Bidding is live and oral: "Property will be sold to highest bidder. Each opening bid will vary as it must be the amount owed" (delinquent taxes plus interest and penalties, attorney fees, and court costs), and "The CLERK & MASTER reserves the right to deny any bid." Payment is due immediately after the sale, by cash, cashier's check, or money order. An accepted bid is a binding commitment: a purchaser who withdraws after the sale forfeits full payment, and bidding submits the bidder to the jurisdiction of the court, with failure to close exposing the bidder to contempt.

Sale format and venue
Hamilton County runs its redeemable tax deed sale IN PERSON at the courthouse, not through GovEase or any other online platform. Venue per Form 123T: "Hamilton County Commission Room, 4th floor, Hamilton County Courthouse, 625 Georgia Ave., Chattanooga, TN." Redemption: the county states property "is sold subject to a one-year redemption period for the owner to redeem the property unless otherwise stated in the Order Confirming Sale," and stresses that "The redemption period expires one year from the date the Order Confirming Sale is entered, NOT THE DATE OF THE TAX SALE." Orders Confirming the Sale are prepared for each parcel within two to three weeks of the sale date. Redemption is priced at "12% interest per annum (simple interest) on the bid, from sale date through redemption date," and the redeemer must also repay taxes the purchaser paid during the redemption period. Only owners or their agents, holders of a legal or equitable interest, or lien creditors of the taxpayer may redeem. Title and overbids: the purchaser is responsible for recording the Order Confirming Sale as muniment of title in the Register's Office, room 400 of the courthouse, (423) 209-6560. Any amount bid above the debt is held by the Clerk and Master during the redemption period and refunded to the purchaser if the parcel is redeemed. The Clerk and Master makes no warranties as to title status or prior hazardous-waste use, so buyers must run their own title and environmental diligence. Improvements are discouraged until the redemption period expires, though property inside Chattanooga city limits must still be maintained under the city property maintenance code during redemption. Parcels not purchased at the sale pass to the county: after the redemption period, the Hamilton County Real Property Manager sells county-acquired property by sealed bid and keeps a mailing list, at 4005 Cromwell Road, Chattanooga, TN 37421, (423) 209-6444. The sale list carries a minimum bid per parcel and marks parcels already PAID before the sale, so the live inventory shrinks up to the sale date. In person at the Hamilton County Courthouse (no online auction platform)
Source: Hamilton County Clerk and Master, Notice of Sale / Tax Sale Information (Form 123T)· Verified Aug 18, 2026

Hamilton County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Hamilton County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Delinquent Tax Sale List 2026 (PDF) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Registration happens on site the morning of the sale. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    One sale per year, held on a Thursday in early June. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Office of the Clerk and Master, Hamilton County Chancery Court as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Hamilton County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Delinquent Tax Sale List 2026 (PDF). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Registration happens on site the morning of the sale. Form 123T states registration begins at 9:00 a.m. and the sale starts promptly at 10:00 a.m. in the Hamilton County Commission Room, 4th floor, Hamilton County Courthouse, 625 Georgia Ave., Chattanooga, TN. Bidding is live and oral: "Property will be sold to highest bidder. Each opening bid will vary as it must be the amount owed" (delinquent taxes plus interest and penalties, attorney fees, and court costs), and "The CLERK & MASTER reserves the right to deny any bid." Payment is due immediately after the sale, by cash, cashier's check, or money order. An accepted bid is a binding commitment: a purchaser who withdraws after the sale forfeits full payment, and bidding submits the bidder to the jurisdiction of the court, with failure to close exposing the bidder to contempt.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Tennessee due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.

  4. Set a walk-away number

    Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.

Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases

Parcels struck to the county at the tax sale can be bought from the county afterward. Each county mayor must publish a list of county-held parcels by July 1 every year, and any person may file a written offer for one. The county advertises the offer, competing bidders have ten days to raise it by 10 percent or more, and the highest offer wins, sometimes through an online resale. A parcel bought before the redemption period expires stays subject to redemption. Ask the county mayor's office or the clerk and master where the current list is posted.

County-held parcel listings are published per county under Tenn. Code Ann. 67-5-2511; find the current list on the county's website or newspaper of record

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax sale office

Hamilton County Chancery Court, Office of the Clerk and Master (Clerk and Master Rachael Kapperman)

(423) 209-6600

300 Courthouse, 625 Georgia Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37402

Official website

County notes

  • Sale method confirmed IN PERSON. No online auction platform is named anywhere on the county's tax sale documents, so no platform_url is recorded.
  • Tax sale questions route to the Chief Tax Deputy in the Clerk and Master's office at (423) 209-6606, a direct line separate from the main Clerk and Master number (423) 209-6600.
  • Office hours listed on the Chancery Court Rules and Fees page are 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Fax is (423) 209-6601.
  • Timing caveat worth flagging to readers: the information sheet stored in the county's 2026 tax sale folder still carries the prior cycle's date line ("Thursday, June 05, 2025") and the revision stamp FORM 123T, REV. 2025.05.07, while the accompanying parcel list in the same folder is stamped REVISED 6/4/2026. The month and weekday pattern is stable, but the exact current-year date should be confirmed with the office rather than quoted from the sheet.
  • The county posts both tax sale documents on its home page under the Featured Information area, not on a standalone tax sale landing page.
  • Redemption paperwork is standardized as numbered Clerk and Master forms: Form 268T (procedure for redemption after tax sale), Form 269T (statement of person redeeming), Form 270T (notice of redemption to tax sale purchaser), Form 271T (redemption protest waiver or motions), and Form 285T (motion to claim excess sale proceeds).
  • The sale list includes docket, item number, property address, map/group/parcel, and a minimum bid column, which makes it directly usable for pre-sale underwriting.

Tennessee rules

Redemption
The right to redeem vests when the court enters the order confirming the sale and never runs longer than one year from that date. The court sets each parcel's period before the sale on a statutory scale: one year when the taxes were delinquent 5 years or less, 180 days when delinquent more than 5 but less than 8 years, 90 days when delinquent 8 years or more, and 30 days when the court finds the property vacant and abandoned. To redeem, an interested person files a motion in the same lawsuit and must first pay the clerk the full redemption amount; the purchaser then has 30 days after notice to ask the court for additional reimbursements. When the court declares the redemption complete, title divests from the purchaser and the clerk refunds the purchase money plus everything owed. During the redemption period the purchaser owes no duty to insure the parcel and is not liable for damage to it except from the purchaser's own intentional acts. Separately, a suit attacking the validity of the sale itself must normally be filed within one year of the confirmation order, with an absolute three-year outer limit.
Deed deposit
No statewide deposit percentage exists. The statute fixes the form of payment (cash, certified funds, cashier's check, money order, or ACH transfer) and each court sets its own payment terms. Davidson County takes cashier's checks only, Rutherford County requires payment by close of business the day after the sale, and counties selling through GovEase collect payment through the platform. Confirm the terms with the clerk and master that runs the sale before bidding.
Surplus proceeds
Sale proceeds pay the delinquent tax attorney, then court costs, then the taxing entities. Any excess is claimed by motion in the same case: remaining taxes are paid first, then lienholders in order of priority (pre-sale liens before post-sale liens), then the former owner. Filing the motion ends any remaining redemption period as to the movant. Excess proceeds nobody claims pass to the state under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.
Governing statute
Tenn. Code Ann. Title 67, Chapter 5, Parts 25-27

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 Tennesseerules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Hamilton County, Tennessee sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax deeds. Tennessee sells no tax lien certificates to investors; the county sells the property itself at a public tax sale.

How often does Hamilton County hold tax deed sales?

Hamilton County holds its tax deed sale once a year. One sale per year, held on a Thursday in early June. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Tennessee's redemption rule: Up to 1 year from entry of the order confirming the sale, tiered by how long the taxes were delinquent. Call the Office of the Clerk and Master, Hamilton County Chancery Court as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the Hamilton County tax sale list?

Hamilton County posts its tax sale list at hamiltontn.gov. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

Verified Aug 18, 2026 against official county and state sources.

Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.

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