Houston County, TN tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Houston County, seat of Erin: 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 sale date or recurring month is published.
- Registration
- Houston County publishes no bidder registration instructions online.
- County office
- (931) 289-3870
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 18, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
How Houston County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Houston County Clerk and Master, Chancery Court for the 23rd Judicial District (the county site names it the "Clerk and Master's office of Houston County, Tennessee"; Patsy R. Brooks is Clerk and Master)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No sale date or recurring month is published.
- Registration
- Houston County publishes no bidder registration instructions online.
When it runs
No sale date or recurring month is published. The county's Chancery Court page lists "Delinquent Tax Collections" among the case types the court decides but gives no sale schedule, and the Trustee page carries no tax sale information either. Confirm timing directly with the Clerk and Master at (931) 289-3870.
Registration and deposit
Houston County publishes no bidder registration instructions online. Request the current registration requirements, deposit terms, and sale notice from the Clerk and Master's office at (931) 289-3870 or [email protected].
Sale format and venue
Houston County is one of the small Tennessee counties that maintains no tax sale page. The official county website (explorehoustoncountytn.com) publishes office contact details for the Chancery Court and the Trustee and nothing more: no sale date, no bidder registration packet, no delinquent or sale list, and no auction platform. Because nothing was verified, no sale venue is recorded here. Do not assume either an online auction or an in person courthouse sale for this county without calling the Clerk and Master. On the platform question specifically, Houston County does NOT appear on GovEase's Tennessee delinquent tax auction county list (22 counties, including neighboring Stewart County) or on GovEase's Tennessee county contact list (23 entries), so there is no evidence it runs its delinquent tax sale on GovEase. One GovEase Tennessee help article about surplus sales, a separate sale type in which a county solicits offers for quitclaim deeds to parcels already struck off to the county at an earlier tax sale, does reference a "Houston County Surplus Sale" with a $1.00 minimum bid increment and states that its first offer period "has been postponed; the new date is to be determined." That article does not name a state, and there is also a Houston County in Alabama that uses GovEase, so treat the reference as unconfirmed for Tennessee. Under Tenn. Code Ann. Title 67, Ch. 5, the Clerk and Master files the delinquent tax suit and conducts the sale, the clerk bids the ascertained debt as the minimum, and a successful higher bidder receives a redeemable deed subject to the statutory redemption period running from entry of the order confirming the sale, with the redeemer repaying the purchase price plus 12% per annum.
Source: Houston County, TN official site: Chancery Court / Clerk and Master· Verified Aug 18, 2026
Houston County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Houston 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
A county sale-list URL is still being verified. Use the office and platform details on this page before relying on a copied list.Register to bid
Sale day
No sale date or recurring 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 Houston County Clerk and Master, Chancery Court for the 23rd Judicial District (the county site names it the "Clerk and Master's office of Houston County, Tennessee"; Patsy R. Brooks is Clerk and Master) as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Houston County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
The county sale-list URL is still being verified. Use the county office contacts below and confirm the advertised parcels directly before you price a bid.Confirm registration and deposit
Houston County publishes no bidder registration instructions online. Request the current registration requirements, deposit terms, and sale notice from the Clerk and Master's office at (931) 289-3870 or [email protected].
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
Houston County Clerk and Master, Chancery Court (23rd Judicial District)
Houston County Courthouse, 4725 East Main Street, Erin, TN 37061 (mailing: PO Box 332, Erin, TN 37061)
Official websiteCounty notes
- Clerk and Master: Patsy R. Brooks. Phone (931) 289-3870, fax (931) 289-5679, email [email protected]. Office hours 8 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. [hc_chancery]
- The UT County Technical Assistance Service directory independently confirms Patsy Brooks as Clerk and Master at (931) 289-3870 and Jimmy Lowery as Trustee at (931) 289-4240. [ctas_houston]
- Houston County Trustee: 4725 East Main Street, Room 104, Erin, TN 37061; mailing PO Box 210, Erin, TN 37061; phone (931) 289-4240; hours 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Trustee collects current property taxes and publishes no delinquent tax sale material. [hc_trustee]
- No auction platform, sale date, or property list was verified for this county, so the venue field is deliberately left blank rather than assumed. [hc_home]
- Houston County is absent from GovEase's Tennessee auction-rules county list, which names Carter, Chester, City of Oak Ridge/Norris (Anderson), Crockett, Gibson, Greene, Hamblen, Hardeman, Hawkins, Henry, Lawrence, Lincoln, Madison/City of Jackson, Maury, Montgomery, Rutherford/City of Murfreesboro, Stewart, Unicoi, Warren, Washington, Wayne and Weakley. [govease_tn_rules]
- Houston County is likewise absent from GovEase's 23-entry Tennessee county contact list. [govease_tn_contacts]
- The only GovEase reference to a Houston County is in the Tennessee surplus sale training article: minimum bid increment $1.00, first offer period postponed with a new date not yet set. The article does not identify the state and surplus sales are a different instrument from the redeemable deed sale, so this is not treated as a verified Houston County, Tennessee auction venue. [govease_tn_surplus]
- Third-party sites named houstoncountytax.com and houstoncountytaxoffice.com surface in searches for this county but belong to Houston County, Georgia and Houston County, Texas. They were excluded and must not be cited for Tennessee.
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 Houston 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 Houston County hold tax deed sales?
Houston County holds its tax deed sale once a year. No sale date or recurring 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 Houston County Clerk and Master, Chancery Court for the 23rd Judicial District (the county site names it the "Clerk and Master's office of Houston County, Tennessee"; Patsy R. Brooks is Clerk and Master) 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.
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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