Hancock County, TN tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Hancock County, seat of Sneedville: 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
- No fixed annual month is published.
- County office
- (423) 733-4524
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 18, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
How Hancock County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Hancock County Chancery Court Clerk and Master's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No fixed annual month is published.
When it runs
No fixed annual month is published. The county page states: "The Clerk & Master's scheduled Delinquent Tax Sale: WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT A LATER DATE, WILL BE IN 2026". The sale is noticed ad hoc rather than on a recurring calendar, so watch the Clerk and Master page or call the office.
Registration and deposit
Sale format and venue
Hancock County is one of Tennessee's smallest counties and runs a low-volume redeemable deed docket. The Chancery Court Clerk and Master's Office collects the county's delinquent taxes and, in the county's own wording, also oversees tax sales. The office page carries no sale date, only a statement that the delinquent tax sale will be announced at a later date and will be held in 2026. Because no recurring month is published, plan on monitoring the page rather than a fixed annual date. No online auction platform is named anywhere on the county website, and Hancock County does not appear among the Tennessee jurisdictions carried by GovEase, the platform most Tennessee clerks and masters use. Until the office publishes otherwise, treat this as a courthouse sale conducted by the Clerk and Master, and call the office to confirm the venue, the bidding format, and any deposit requirement before travelling. The county links two payment portals that are not auction sites: tnpayments.com for current taxes and courtfeepay.com for delinquent taxes. Neither one lists properties offered for sale. The office states it cannot accept partial payments on delinquent property tax, and that parcels less than two years delinquent are still held by the Trustee rather than the Clerk and Master, which matters when tracing a parcel's status ahead of a sale. Tennessee's redemption period runs from entry of the order confirming the sale, so confirm the confirmation date with the clerk instead of counting from the auction date.
Source: Hancock County Clerk and Master, Chancery Court, official county website· Verified Aug 18, 2026
Hancock County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Hancock 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.
Get the advertised list
Use Clerk and Master delinquent tax information for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
No fixed annual month is published. The auction platform is still being verified. Confirm the next sale date and registration window with the county before you bid.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Hancock County Chancery Court Clerk and Master's Office as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Hancock County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Clerk and Master delinquent tax information. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.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.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
unsold properties
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
Hancock County Chancery Court Clerk and Master's Office
Hancock County Courthouse, 1237 Main Street, Suite 104, P.O. Box 347, Sneedville, TN 37869
Official websiteCounty notes
- Clerk and Master is Judith H. Trent, in office since 2006; Chelsea Brewer is the deputy clerk. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Office fax is (423) 733-2762.
- Chancery matters are heard by Chancellor Douglas T. Jenkins of Tennessee's 3rd Judicial District, which covers Hawkins, Greene, Hamblen, and Hancock counties.
- The Trustee, Chuck Johnson, is at 1237 Main Street, P.O. Box 269, Sneedville, TN 37869, (423) 733-2939. The Trustee holds accounts less than two years delinquent and appoints the delinquent tax attorney; the Clerk and Master takes the older accounts to sale.
- Trustee page confirms the statewide accrual investors should model: taxes are payable without interest from the first Monday in October through February 28, and interest and penalty of 1.5% per month is added from March 1. The 2025 county rate is $2.22 per $100 of assessed value.
- No online auction platform was verified for this county. GovEase's full jurisdiction list carries 19 Tennessee entries and Hancock County is not among them, so do not assume an online bidding option.
- The short address the county advertises for its Clerk and Master page, hancockcountytn.com/clerk_and_master.php, is dead. The working page sits under /local_public_service_directory/.
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.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Does Hancock 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 Hancock County hold tax deed sales?
Hancock County holds its tax deed sale once a year. No fixed annual month is published. 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 Hancock County Chancery Court Clerk and Master's Office 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 Hancock County tax sale list?
Hancock County posts its tax sale list at hancockcountytn.com. 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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