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Tax Sale Atlas

Shelby County, TN tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Shelby County, seat of Memphis: 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
Shelby County runs roughly two multi-day online tax sales a year, in spring and fall.
Format
ZEUS
Registration
Registration and bidding are online through Zeus Auction.
County office
(901) 222-3900
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 18, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Shelby 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

SRI / ZEUS
Run by
Shelby County Chancery Court Clerk and Master (Tax Sale Department)
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Shelby County runs roughly two multi-day online tax sales a year, in spring and fall.
Registration
Registration and bidding are online through Zeus Auction.
Sale list
Shelby County Tax Sale Schedule and full property CSV (Trustee)
When it runs
Shelby County runs roughly two multi-day online tax sales a year, in spring and fall. The Trustee's Tax Sale Schedule lists Tax Sale 2301 with a "Date of Sale" of 10/27/2026 (published 08/26/2026 in the Daily News) and Tax Sale 2302 on 04/15/2027 (published 02/16/2027). The Clerk and Master's page lists recent sales as multi-day events: "TX-2024 Tax Sale 2201 sale dates October 21-23, 2025" and "TX-2024 Tax Sale 2202 sale dates April 21-23, 2026". Confirm the current sale number and dates on the county pages before planning a bid.
Registration and deposit

Registration and bidding are online through Zeus Auction. The county states: "Effective April 2024, the Chancery Court Clerk and Master's Tax Sales will be held online by SRI through their website at ZeusAuction.com" and "To participate in online tax sales, registration is accomplished online". The Trustee's bidder page directs bidders to "register on the Zeus Auction website" and notes that "Employees of Shelby County or their immediate family members (spouse, children living at home) are not eligible to bid." Zeus Auction's own flow is register, apply to the specific auction, receive approval, then bid. Direct tax sale questions to the Clerk and Master's Tax Sale Department at 901-222-3900.

Sale format and venue
The sale is judicial and fully online. The Chancery Court Clerk and Master conducts the auction; the Shelby County Trustee publishes the schedule, the bidder-registration pointer and the parcel list. The Trustee's schedule page also offers a CSV of every parcel in the tax sale at https://scgpublic.s3.amazonaws.com/TaxSaleExtract.csv, and parcels drop off the schedule as owners pay. Per the Trustee's Properties Available for Sale page, "properties offered will be available to view on ZeusAuction.com" starting about 30 days before the auction opens, and the list is "advertised in the Memphis Daily News, between 30 - 45 days before the opening day of the tax sale." Winning bidders take a redeemable interest, not clear title: the county states that "An order confirming the tax sale is entered into the court records within 45 business days of the sale date. Once the order is complete, the property is eligible for redemption," and that a redeeming owner pays the purchaser "up to 12% interest per annum on your bid amount (interest is calculated from the date of sale until the Motion to Redeem Tax Sale Property is filed with the Court)." The Trustee's office says it "does not take part in the redemption procedure"; redemption motions go through the Chancery Court Clerk's office. Parcels whose redemption period has already run and that went unsold are handled separately by the Shelby County Land Bank, which is not the tax sale.
Register on SRI / ZEUS
Source: Shelby County Government, Tax Sale Information (Chancery Court Clerk and Master)· Verified Aug 18, 2026

Shelby County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Shelby 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 Shelby County Tax Sale Schedule and full property CSV (Trustee) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Registration and bidding are online through Zeus Auction. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    Shelby County runs roughly two multi-day online tax sales a year, in spring and fall. Bidding runs on ZEUS; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Shelby County Chancery Court Clerk and Master (Tax Sale Department) as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Shelby County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Shelby County Tax Sale Schedule and full property CSV (Trustee). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Registration and bidding are online through Zeus Auction. The county states: "Effective April 2024, the Chancery Court Clerk and Master's Tax Sales will be held online by SRI through their website at ZeusAuction.com" and "To participate in online tax sales, registration is accomplished online". The Trustee's bidder page directs bidders to "register on the Zeus Auction website" and notes that "Employees of Shelby County or their immediate family members (spouse, children living at home) are not eligible to bid." Zeus Auction's own flow is register, apply to the specific auction, receive approval, then bid. Direct tax sale questions to the Clerk and Master's Tax Sale Department at 901-222-3900.

  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

Shelby County Chancery Court Clerk and Master, Tax Sale Department

(901) 222-3900

140 Adams Avenue, Room 308, Memphis, TN 38103

Official website

County notes

  • Two offices split the work and both publish. The Chancery Court Clerk and Master conducts the auction and answers sale questions at 901-222-3900; the Shelby County Trustee (901-222-0200 option 5, P.O. Box 2751, Memphis, TN 38101) publishes the sale schedule, the parcel list and the bidder-registration instructions. Investors should read both.
  • Shelby County moved off in-person courthouse sales. The county's own wording is "Effective April 2024, the Chancery Court Clerk and Master's Tax Sales will be held online by SRI through their website at ZeusAuction.com", so older guidance describing a live courthouse auction is out of date.
  • Sales are numbered (2201, 2202, 2301, 2302) and run over several consecutive days rather than a single morning. Match the sale number on the Trustee's schedule to the auction listing on Zeus Auction before registering.
  • The Trustee's Right of Redemption page states the tiers in its own shorthand: "3 years or less" delinquent gives one year to redeem, "4 years or more" gives 90 days, and 30 days for vacant property. That phrasing is coarser than the statutory tiers in Tenn. Code Ann. 67-5-2701, so treat the statute as controlling and the county page as a summary.
  • The redemption clock does not start at the auction. The county states an order confirming the tax sale is entered into the court records within 45 business days of the sale date, and the property becomes eligible for redemption once that order is complete.
  • The Shelby County Land Bank sells county-held parcels whose redemption period has already expired. That is a separate inventory from the Clerk and Master's tax sale and should not be conflated with it.

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 Shelby 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 Shelby County hold tax deed sales?

Shelby County holds its tax deed sale once a year. Shelby County runs roughly two multi-day online tax sales a year, in spring and fall. 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 Shelby County Chancery Court Clerk and Master (Tax Sale Department) 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 Shelby County tax sale list?

Shelby County posts its tax sale list at shelbycountytrustee.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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Call Shelby County Chancery Court Clerk and Master