Washington County, TN tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Sarah Lawson, J.D. is the Clerk and Master. The office sits on the second level of the George P. Jaynes Justice Center at 108 W. Jackson Blvd., Jonesborough, which is a different building from the Washington County Courthouse at 100 E. Main Street.
• •The county's own department directory lists a PO Box 219 for the courthouse; the Clerk and Master's own contact page lists PO Box 919. Use the Clerk and Master's own listing for tax sale correspondence.
• •One GovEase auction covers delinquent tax suits for Washington County, the City of Johnson City, and the Town of Jonesborough.
• •The Trustee (Rick Storey, 423-753-1602) collects current property taxes and publishes nothing about the tax sale. Delinquent accounts move to the Chancery Court suit handled by the Clerk and Master.
• •The Clerk and Master's site is a WordPress blog that posts each sale notice individually and removes older notices, so the sale terms, deposit rules, and property list for a given year appear only in the weeks around that sale.

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.Tenn. Code Ann. 67-5-2701, procedure for redemption, the tiered redemption periods, and the 12 percent interest owed the purchaser (2025 Tennessee Code)Tenn. Code Ann. 67-5-2701Verified Aug 18, 2026

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.Tenn. Code Ann. 67-5-2501, sale of land generally in delinquent tax suits (2025 Tennessee Code)Tenn. Code Ann. 67-5-2501Verified Aug 18, 2026

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.Tenn. Code Ann. 67-5-2702, motions claiming excess sale proceeds (2025 Tennessee Code)Tenn. Code Ann. 67-5-2702Verified Aug 18, 2026

Governing statute

Tenn. Code Ann. Title 67, Chapter 5, Parts 25-27Tennessee Code, free public access portal published by LexisNexis for the State of TennesseeTenn. Code Ann. Title 67, Chapter 5Verified Aug 18, 2026

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.

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