Skip to content
Tax Sale Atlas

Smith County, TN tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Smith County, seat of Carthage: 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.

Announcements
No sale calendar, sale month, or auction notice is published anywhere on the Smith County government website.
Registration
Not published online.
County office
(615) 735-2092
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 18, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Smith 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

Run by
Smith County Clerk and Master (Chancery Court)
Frequency
annual
Registration
Not published online.
When it runs
No sale calendar, sale month, or auction notice is published anywhere on the Smith County government website. The county's Clerk and Master page describes the office only in general terms: "The Clerk & Master's office files and maintains all of the records for the Chancery Court and Probate Court. The Clerk & Master's office is also the office where delinquent property taxes and delinquent sewer taxes are sent for collection." It says nothing about sales, dates, or bidding. Under Tennessee practice the Chancery Court sets each sale by order as the delinquent tax suit matures, so dates are case by case rather than fixed to an annual month. Call the Clerk and Master at (615) 735-2092 for the next scheduled sale date.
Registration and deposit

Not published online. No bidder registration form, deposit requirement, pre-registration deadline, or accepted-funds rule appears on the county website. Contact the Clerk and Master's office at (615) 735-2092, or at 322 Justice Drive, Suite 105, Carthage, TN 37030, to confirm bidder requirements before any sale.

Sale format and venue
Smith County publishes no delinquent tax sale page. A full inventory of the county website (44 pages plus the public-notice post archive) contains no tax sale, delinquent tax list, sale notice, or auction page, and the Announcements page carries only meeting notices, a bid request, and a community event. No online auction platform is confirmed for this county: the GovEase statewide auction roster does not include Smith County, so no platform is recorded here. The sale venue is likewise unconfirmed, and no courthouse-steps or online format should be assumed. The suit is handled by the Chancery Court side, not the Circuit Court Clerk: the Circuit Court Clerk page lists its duties as "Oversee court records and court dates, collect court fees and fines, and manage jurors" with no delinquent tax role, while the Clerk and Master page names that office as where delinquent property taxes are sent for collection. Tennessee sells a redeemable deed, so a purchaser takes title subject to the owner's statutory right to redeem by repaying the purchase price with 12 percent per annum interest, with the redemption clock running from entry of the order confirming the sale. Verify the sale date, venue, minimum bid, and payment terms directly with the Clerk and Master before committing funds.
Source: Smith County, TN official county website: Clerk and Master department page· Verified Aug 18, 2026

Smith County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Smith 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

    A county sale-list URL is still being verified. Use the office and platform details on this page before relying on a copied list.

  2. Register to bid

    Not published online. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    The auction platform is still being verified. Confirm the next sale date and registration window with the county before you bid.

  4. Confirm with the office

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

Before you bid in Smith County

  1. 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.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Not published online. No bidder registration form, deposit requirement, pre-registration deadline, or accepted-funds rule appears on the county website. Contact the Clerk and Master's office at (615) 735-2092, or at 322 Justice Drive, Suite 105, Carthage, TN 37030, to confirm bidder requirements before any 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

Smith County Clerk and Master, Chancery Court (Jessie Goad, Clerk and Master)

(615) 735-2092

322 Justice Drive, Suite 105, Carthage, TN 37030

Official website

County notes

  • County seat is Carthage. The county's main government complex is at 122 Turner High Circle, Carthage, TN 37030, but the Clerk and Master sits separately in the justice center at 322 Justice Drive, Suite 105.
  • Office hours for the Clerk and Master are Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 4 PM, per the county website.
  • The county's official government domain is smithcotn.com. The Smith County Chamber of Commerce site links to it as the county government destination, and the UT CTAS officials directory still lists the chamber URL as the county website, so directory listings can point readers to the wrong place.
  • The Clerk and Master's office collects delinquent sewer taxes in addition to delinquent property taxes, so a Chancery Court sale docket can include parcels driven by utility debt as well as property tax debt.
  • The Trustee (615-735-8242, 122 Turner High Circle, Suite 104, Carthage) handles current-year property tax collection and publishes no delinquent sale information.
  • Fax for the Clerk and Master is 615.735.8431 per the county website.
  • Because nothing is posted online, the practical research path for this county is a direct call to the Clerk and Master plus the legal notices in the local newspaper of record, which is where Tennessee counties of this size satisfy the publication requirement.

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 Smith 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 Smith County hold tax deed sales?

Smith County holds its tax deed sale once a year. 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 Smith County Clerk and Master (Chancery Court) 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.

More Tennessee counties

Browse all 95 Tennessee counties

Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

Tennessee tax salesDue diligence guide
Call Smith County Clerk and Master