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Tax Sale Atlas

Rutherford County, TN tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Rutherford County, seat of Murfreesboro: 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
GovEase
Registration
Bidding is entirely online through GovEase.
County office
(615) 898-7860
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 18, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Rutherford 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

GovEase
Run by
Rutherford County Chancery Court Clerk and Master
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
No fixed month is published.
Registration
Bidding is entirely online through GovEase.
Sale list
Delinquent Tax Sales (Clerk and Master)
When it runs
No fixed month is published. The Clerk and Master's office "generally holds one sale per year for delinquent property taxes owed to Rutherford County, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Eagleville, and LaVergne." The page states: "When a sale date has been determined, the sale information will be added to this website and the County website. It is usually posted about a month before the sale." Sales are also advertised "in the Murfreesboro DAILY NEWS JOURNAL and the MURFREESBORO POST approximately 20 days prior to the sale."
Registration and deposit

Bidding is entirely online through GovEase. The Clerk and Master states there is "no physical location and no in-person component to the registration or bidding process." Registration "typically opens about a month before the sale date and is cut off at 10:00 AM the day prior to the auction so all registrations can be reviewed." Winning bidders pay by cash, cashier's check, money order, or a check drawn on a Tennessee bank by close of business the day following the sale.

Sale format and venue
Rutherford County sells redeemable tax deeds through the Chancery Court Clerk and Master, which also collects delinquent property taxes for the county and the cities of Murfreesboro, LaVergne and Smyrna. The sale runs online on GovEase, not at the courthouse. The opening bid is "the total amount of taxes, penalties and interest, court costs and publication costs due." A delinquent taxpayer may pay the amount owed up to 9:00 AM the day of the sale, which pulls the parcel from the auction. Property is sold as is; the office performs a title search but does not inspect properties, so bidders do their own diligence. After the sale, "a person who is entitled to redeem may redeem the property from the purchaser within (1) one year from the date of the Decree Confirming Sale," with the purchaser repaid the purchase price plus 12% per annum. Sale listings are posted on the Clerk and Master's delinquent sales page only once a sale date is set, so the page is often empty between annual sales.
Register on GovEase
Source: Rutherford County Chancery Court, Delinquent Tax Sales· Verified Aug 18, 2026

Rutherford County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Rutherford 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 Sales (Clerk and Master) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Bidding is entirely online through GovEase. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    No fixed month is published. Bidding runs on GovEase; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.

  4. Confirm with the office

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

Before you bid in Rutherford County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Delinquent Tax Sales (Clerk and Master). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Bidding is entirely online through GovEase. The Clerk and Master states there is "no physical location and no in-person component to the registration or bidding process." Registration "typically opens about a month before the sale date and is cut off at 10:00 AM the day prior to the auction so all registrations can be reviewed." Winning bidders pay by cash, cashier's check, money order, or a check drawn on a Tennessee bank by close of business the day following the sale.

  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

Rutherford County Chancery Court Clerk and Master

(615) 898-7860

116 W. Lytle St., Suite 5101, Murfreesboro, TN 37130

Official website

County notes

  • The Chancery Court Clerk and Master, not the Circuit Court Clerk and not the Trustee, files the delinquent tax suit and conducts the sale. The Trustee (rctrustee.com) handles current-year tax payment only.
  • The sale is fully online on GovEase. The Clerk and Master explicitly states there is no physical location and no in-person component to registration or bidding, so there is no courthouse-steps auction to attend.
  • Registration closes at 10:00 AM the day before the auction, earlier than many counties, because the office reviews every registration before bidding opens.
  • One sale per year is the stated cadence, but no recurring month is published. Watch the Clerk and Master's delinquent sales page and the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal / Murfreesboro Post, where the sale is advertised about 20 days out.
  • Payment is due fast: cash, cashier's check, money order, or a check drawn on a Tennessee bank by close of business the day after the sale.
  • The sale covers delinquent taxes for Rutherford County plus the cities of Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Eagleville and LaVergne, so the parcel pool spans both county and municipal delinquencies.
  • Address note: the Chancery Court home page prints ZIP 37129 while the Contact Us and Court Ordered Auctions pages both print 37130. The 37130 form is used here because two official pages agree on it.
  • The county's own site (rutherfordcountytn.gov) has no tax sale page; it links out to rcchancery.com for Chancery Court.

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 Rutherford 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 Rutherford County hold tax deed sales?

Rutherford 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 Rutherford County Chancery Court 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 Rutherford County tax sale list?

Rutherford County posts its tax sale list at rcchancery.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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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

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