Unicoi County, TN tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Unicoi County, seat of Erwin: 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 month, date, or recurring schedule is published anywhere on the county's official website.
- County office
- (423) 743-9541
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 18, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
How Unicoi County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Unicoi County Clerk and Master, Chancery Court (Teresa W. Simerly, Clerk and Master)
- Frequency
- annual
When it runs
No sale month, date, or recurring schedule is published anywhere on the county's official website. The Clerk and Master page names the responsibility only, listing "Delinquent Property Taxes" in its "DUTIES OF THE OFFICE" list, and gives no sale calendar. Tennessee redeemable deed sales are set by the Chancery Court as each delinquent tax suit reaches judgment, so the date moves with the docket. Confirm the next sale directly with the Clerk and Master at (423) 743-9541 before planning around it.
Registration and deposit
No bidder registration procedure, deposit rule, bidding format, or sale location is published for Unicoi County. Terms are set by the Clerk and Master when a sale is noticed. Call the Clerk and Master at (423) 743-9541 or email [email protected] for the terms applying to the next sale.
Sale format and venue
The Unicoi County Clerk and Master of the Chancery Court is the office that handles delinquent property taxes and would conduct the county's redeemable tax deed sale. That much is confirmed in the county's own words: the Clerk and Master page lists "Delinquent Property Taxes" among the office's duties, under Clerk and Master Teresa W. Simerly, who has served since January 1, 1999. Beyond that duty statement, no sale logistics exist on the county's web presence. No page on the official site is a tax sale, land sale, delinquent list, or auction notice page, and the site's only downloadable document is a 2020 court costs list. The Trustee page confirms the delinquency clock, stating "On March 1st, County taxes become delinquent and begin to accrue a 1.5% per month interest," but says nothing about tax sales or a handoff to the Clerk and Master. The venue is deliberately left blank here. No auction platform is verified, and neither an online sale nor an in person courthouse sale should be assumed. GovEase, the platform several neighboring East Tennessee counties use, lists its Tennessee jurisdictions individually on its live auction selector, naming the City of Jackson, Coffee, Decatur, Hamblen, Hawkins, Henry, Lawrence, Madison, Montgomery, Obion, Sullivan, Washington, and Wayne, and Unicoi County is not among them. Tennessee statewide rules still govern whatever sale the county holds: the clerk bids the ascertained debt as the minimum, a purchaser bidding above it takes a redeemable deed, the redemption period runs from entry of the order confirming the sale, and a redeeming owner repays the purchase price with 12 percent per annum interest under Tenn. Code Ann. 67-5-2701. Because the confirmation date rather than the auction date starts the clock, ask the clerk for the confirmation entry when tracking a redemption window.
Source: Unicoi County, Tennessee official county website: Clerk and Master (Chancery Court)· Verified Aug 18, 2026
Unicoi County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Unicoi 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
A county sale-list URL is still being verified. Use the office and platform details on this page before relying on a copied list.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 auction platform is still being verified. Confirm the next sale date and registration window with the county before you bid.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Unicoi County Clerk and Master, Chancery Court (Teresa W. Simerly, Clerk and Master) as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Unicoi County
4 checks
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.Confirm registration and deposit
No bidder registration procedure, deposit rule, bidding format, or sale location is published for Unicoi County. Terms are set by the Clerk and Master when a sale is noticed. Call the Clerk and Master at (423) 743-9541 or email [email protected] for the terms applying to the next sale.
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
County notes
- No county-specific tax sale page exists. Nothing on the official Unicoi County website covers tax sales, delinquent lists, land sales, or auctions.
- Clerk and Master is Teresa W. Simerly, in office since January 1, 1999. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed 12:00 to 1:00 for lunch. Fax is (423) 735-1636 and email is [email protected]. The office publishes only a PO Box, not a street address.
- The suit runs through the Chancery Court Clerk and Master here, not the Circuit Court Clerk. The Circuit Court Clerk (Darren Shelton, 100 N. Main Ave., Erwin, (423) 743-3541) publishes an unfinished page whose duties and staff sections point to an attachment that is not posted, and it carries no tax sale content.
- County government address in the site footer is 100 North Main Avenue, Suite 102, Erwin, TN 37650, main line 423-743-9391.
- The Trustee (Katie Bennett, P.O. Box 7, Erwin, TN 37650, 423-743-3011) collects current property taxes and sets the delinquency clock at March 1 with 1.5 percent per month interest, but publishes nothing about tax sales or when a file moves to the Clerk and Master.
- No online auction platform was verified. Unicoi County does not appear on GovEase's live auction jurisdiction list, which names its Tennessee entities individually, so do not assume an online bidding path.
- The county home page links the Circuit Court Clerk to a separate host, unicoicourts.com, but that host is not a working site, so no court-run tax sale notices are reachable there.
- The unicoicountytn.gov domain, used for county staff email such as [email protected], serves no website. The working public site is unicoicountytn.com.
- Because no sale page, platform, date, or list was found, treat the Clerk and Master phone line as the only reliable route to current sale logistics, and expect the sale notice to run in a local newspaper rather than on the county site.
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 Unicoi 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 Unicoi County hold tax deed sales?
Unicoi 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 Unicoi County Clerk and Master, Chancery Court (Teresa W. Simerly, 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.
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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