Jefferson County, TN tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Jefferson County, seat of Dandridge: 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 month is published.
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- All bidders must appear in person and register as a bidder prior to the sale.
- County office
- 865-397-2404
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 18, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
How Jefferson County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Clerk and Master of the Chancery Court, Jefferson County (Barry Fain, Clerk and Master)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No fixed month is published.
- Registration
- All bidders must appear in person and register as a bidder prior to the sale.
When it runs
No fixed month is published. The Clerk and Master states: "The sale date is set by the Delinquent Tax Attorney for the County, but not more frequently that once a year." The practical trigger is the property list published in the Standard Banner 30 to 45 days before the sale.
Registration and deposit
Sale format and venue
Jefferson County sells redeemable tax deeds through a live, in-person public auction at the courthouse in Dandridge. There is no online bidding platform: the Clerk and Master's page states the sale "is a public auction, held at the Courthouse, and all bidders must appear in person and register as a bidder prior to the sale." Payment is due the day of the sale by cash, cashier's check, or personal check. The county does not post the parcel list on its own website; it is published in the Standard Banner newspaper 30 to 45 days ahead of the sale. The county confirms the statutory redemption right, stating the owner has one year from confirmation of the sale by the Chancery Court to redeem. The Trustee files unpaid real property taxes with the Chancery Court on April 1 each year, which is what starts the suit that leads to a sale. In-person live public auction at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Dandridge
Source: Jefferson County, TN Chancery Court (Clerk and Master) - delinquent tax sale questions· Verified Aug 18, 2026
Jefferson County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Jefferson 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 Standard Banner public notices (sale list published 30 to 45 days before the sale) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
No fixed month is published. 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.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Clerk and Master of the Chancery Court, Jefferson County (Barry Fain, Clerk and Master) as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Jefferson County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Standard Banner public notices (sale list published 30 to 45 days before the sale). 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
Jefferson County Chancery Court, Clerk and Master
202 W. Main Street, Suite 207, Dandridge, TN 37725 (mailing: PO Box 5, Dandridge, TN 37725)
Official websiteCounty notes
- Buyers must be physically present in Dandridge to register and bid. There is no online bidding option, so remote investors need an agent on the ground.
- The sale date is set ad hoc by the county's Delinquent Tax Attorney and runs no more than once a year, so there is no recurring calendar slot to plan around. Monitor the Standard Banner public notices for the sale notice.
- The County Trustee files unpaid real property taxes, due by February 28 of the prior year, with the Chancery Court on April 1 each year. The pool of parcels is therefore set months before a sale date is announced.
- The Trustee's office states that all tax sales are handled by the Clerk and Master of Jefferson County, so the Clerk and Master is the correct office to call about sale logistics rather than the Trustee.
- No delinquent tax sale notice is currently posted in the Standard Banner public notices section. The listing there rotates, so recheck it closer to a sale.
- The Chancery Court page's own link to the Standard Banner notices (standardbanner.com/public_notices/) is dead. The working notices section is at standardbanner.com/category/public-notices/.
- Delinquent interest and penalty accrue at 1.5 percent per month, or 18 percent annually, from March 1, per the Trustee's office. This feeds the ascertained debt that sets the minimum bid.
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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson County hold tax deed sales?
Jefferson County holds its tax deed sale once a year. No fixed 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 Clerk and Master of the Chancery Court, Jefferson County (Barry Fain, 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.
Where can I find the Jefferson County tax sale list?
Jefferson County posts its tax sale list at standardbanner.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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