Sumner County, TN tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Sumner County, seat of Gallatin: 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
- The Clerk and Master posts individual sale dates rather than a fixed annual month.
- Format
- In person
- County office
- (615) 451-6036
On this page
How Sumner County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Sumner County Chancery Court, Clerk and Master's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- The Clerk and Master posts individual sale dates rather than a fixed annual month.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Bidders sign up on site, not in advance: "All bidders must register the day of the sale." No online bidder account or pre-registration deadline is published. Opening bids are set at the delinquent debt, since "Bid amount will start at tax amount owed," and the office notes that "court cost, interest and penalty charges, and attorney's fees are added onto the tax amount." The Clerk and Master accepts a money order, cashier's check, or business check by mail, cash in the office, or credit and debit cards at www.courtfeepay.com, where "A fee of $3 or 3% (whichever is greater) will be assessed."
Sale format and venue
Sumner County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Sumner 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 Delinquent Taxes: sale details and property list (Clerk and Master) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
The Clerk and Master posts individual sale dates rather than a fixed annual month. 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 Sumner County Chancery Court, Clerk and Master's Office as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Sumner County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Delinquent Taxes: sale details and property list (Clerk and Master). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Bidders sign up on site, not in advance: "All bidders must register the day of the sale." No online bidder account or pre-registration deadline is published. Opening bids are set at the delinquent debt, since "Bid amount will start at tax amount owed," and the office notes that "court cost, interest and penalty charges, and attorney's fees are added onto the tax amount." The Clerk and Master accepts a money order, cashier's check, or business check by mail, cash in the office, or credit and debit cards at www.courtfeepay.com, where "A fee of $3 or 3% (whichever is greater) will be assessed."
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.
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
County notes
- The Chancery Court Clerk and Master runs the sale, not the Circuit Court Clerk. The county government site routes all tax sale questions to this office: "For information on property tax sales please see the Clerk and Masters office. This site will have all information on available tax sales in the county."
- Mark T. Smith is Clerk and Master; Louis W. Oliver, III is the Chancellor who signs the order confirming sale that starts the redemption clock.
- The office keeps a dedicated delinquent tax line at (615) 451-6036, separate from the civil and domestic line at (615) 452-4282. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central.
- Email for the office is [email protected].
- The office site runs on its own domain, sumnerchancerycourt.com, rather than under the county domain sumnercountytn.gov. The older sumnertn.org domain 301 redirects to sumnercountytn.gov.
- Courthouse security limits large bags and purses, which matters for anyone attending the live sale.
- The published sale list PDF is a scanned image with no text layer, so parcel data cannot be extracted programmatically from 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.
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 Sumner County, Tennessee sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Sumner County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Sumner County tax sale list?
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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