Albemarle County, VA tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Albemarle County, seat of Charlottesville: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Virginia tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Announcements
- The notice of sale gives the Circuit Court case number for each parcel, which is the fastest route to the underlying file.
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- There is no online bidding and no advance registration portal.
- County office
- (434) 296-5855
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 23, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
How Albemarle County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Special Commissioner of the Circuit Court of Albemarle County, Jonathan T. Wren of MartinWren, P.C., with Nicholls Auction Marketing Group conducting the auction
- Frequency
- annual
- Registration
- There is no online bidding and no advance registration portal.
When it runs
Sales are scheduled by court decree rather than on a fixed annual calendar, and recent Albemarle sales have fallen in spring. The 2026 notice set the sale for "Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 2:00 p.m." and the 2025 combined Albemarle and Charlottesville sale for "Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at 2:00 p.m." Earlier sales ran in July and November, so watch the Special Commissioner's notices rather than assuming a month.
Registration and deposit
There is no online bidding and no advance registration portal. Bidders attend in person at the courthouse and bid live. The high bidder signs an Offer of Purchase and Notice of Confirmation Hearing immediately after bidding closes on each parcel, and the purchase price is payable within fourteen days after the Circuit Court approves and confirms the sale. The Special Commissioner may withdraw any listed parcel or reject the last bid by declaring "No Sale".
Sale format and venue
Albemarle County follows Virginia's judicial sale route under Va. Code 58.1-3965. A special commissioner appointed by the Circuit Court brings the suit, the parcels are cried at public auction, and the court confirms each sale afterward. The notice of sale names each parcel by tax map number, magisterial district, acreage, last owner of record, current tax appraisal and Circuit Court case number. Parcels sell as-is with all faults and no warranty of condition or suitability, are conveyed by deed with special warranty of title, and the buyer pays the cost of any title search plus all recording costs including grantor's tax. Acreage is taken from land records and conveyances are in gross rather than by the acre. An owner may redeem a listed parcel at any time before the sale date by paying all accumulated taxes, penalties, interest, attorney fees and costs, so parcels can drop off the list right up to auction day. Announcements made the day of sale take precedence over the printed terms. Venue has moved: the 2026 sale was held at the temporary Albemarle County Circuit Courthouse at 350 Park Street, Charlottesville, while earlier sales were held at 501 E. Jefferson Street, so confirm the address in the current notice before you travel. Live in-person auction at the Albemarle County Circuit Courthouse, no internet bidding
Source: Notice of Combined Judicial Sale for Delinquent Taxes, Albemarle County, Nicholls Auction Marketing Group· Verified Aug 23, 2026
Albemarle County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Albemarle 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 Current Auction Calendar, Nicholls Auction Marketing Group for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
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 Special Commissioner of the Circuit Court of Albemarle County, Jonathan T. Wren of MartinWren, P.C., with Nicholls Auction Marketing Group conducting the auction as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Albemarle County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Current Auction Calendar, Nicholls Auction Marketing Group. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
There is no online bidding and no advance registration portal. Bidders attend in person at the courthouse and bid live. The high bidder signs an Offer of Purchase and Notice of Confirmation Hearing immediately after bidding closes on each parcel, and the purchase price is payable within fourteen days after the Circuit Court approves and confirms the sale. The Special Commissioner may withdraw any listed parcel or reject the last bid by declaring "No Sale".
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Virginia 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.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
County notes
- Albemarle County has no elected treasurer. Delinquent real estate collection runs through the Department of Finance and Budget's Office of Revenue Administration at 401 McIntire Road, and the sale itself is handled by a court-appointed special commissioner rather than by a county office.
- Direct sale and parcel questions to the Special Commissioner, Jonathan T. Wren of MartinWren, P.C., 400 Locust Avenue, Suite 1, Charlottesville, VA 22902, (434) 817-3100. The firm keeps an archive of its judicial sale notices, and Nicholls Auction Marketing Group, (540) 898-0971, lists each sale on its auction calendar.
- This is a live courthouse auction with no internet bidding. Plan to attend in person, bring the ability to sign the Offer of Purchase and Notice of Confirmation Hearing on the spot, and expect to fund the purchase within fourteen days of the court's confirmation order.
- Albemarle parcels are frequently sold at a combined sale alongside City of Charlottesville parcels. Charlottesville is an independent city and a separate jurisdiction with its own taxes and its own court case numbers, so read each parcel description to confirm which government you are buying from.
- Parcel research starts with the county land records at the Albemarle County Office Building, 401 McIntire Road, the Clerk's Office of the Albemarle County Circuit Court, and the county GIS mapping site. The notice of sale gives the Circuit Court case number for each parcel, which is the fastest route to the underlying file.
- Real estate taxes are due June 25 and December 5, with a 10 percent late penalty on the unpaid balance and 10 percent annual interest accruing monthly. Redemption payoffs on a listed parcel therefore climb steadily right up to the sale date.
Virginia rules
- Redemption
- An owner listed in the published notice, or the owner's heirs, devisees, successors, and assigns, may redeem the real estate at any time before the date set for the judicial sale by paying into court everything due. The right ends when the sale happens; Virginia gives no redemption window after the hammer falls and no redemption window after the deed is recorded. Partial payment does not redeem the property and does not suspend, invalidate, or moot the suit. The treasurer may instead suspend the sale by entering an installment agreement with the owner running no more than 72 months, and an owner who defaults on such an agreement cannot enter a second one for the same property for three years. The same before-the-sale-only cutoff applies on the nonjudicial track under 58.1-3975. What does exist after the sale is not redemption but a challenge: a party served only by publication may petition for a rehearing for good cause within 90 days of the order confirming the sale.
- Deed deposit
- No statewide deposit percentage exists. Article 4 leaves the terms of sale to the special commissioner and the confirming court, so the deposit is whatever the advertised terms of that sale require. Read the terms of sale published with each auction and confirm accepted funds with the commissioner before bidding.
- Surplus proceeds
- The former owner and the owner's heirs, devisees, successors, or assigns are entitled to the surplus received from the sale above the taxes, penalties, interest, reasonable attorney fees, costs, and any liens chargeable on the parcel, and the burden is on the claimant to prove entitlement. If no claim is made within two years after the date the sale is confirmed, the clerk pays the money to the locality that received the sale proceeds. On the nonjudicial track, excess proceeds sit in an interest-bearing escrow account held by the treasurer, a claimant has two years from the date of sale to schedule a hearing in circuit court, and unclaimed money goes to the locality's general fund.
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 Albemarle County, Virginia sell tax liens or tax deeds?
Tax deeds. Virginia sells no tax lien certificates to investors; the county sells the property itself at a public tax sale.
How often does Albemarle County hold tax deed sales?
Albemarle 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. Virginia's redemption rule: Until the date set for the sale. Virginia has no post-sale redemption period. Call the Special Commissioner of the Circuit Court of Albemarle County, Jonathan T. Wren of MartinWren, P.C., with Nicholls Auction Marketing Group conducting the auction 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 Albemarle County tax sale list?
Albemarle County posts its tax sale list at nichollsauction.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 23, 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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