Bristol City, VA tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Bristol City, seat of Bristol: 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.
- Next sale
- There is no fixed annual month.
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- Register with the auctioneer at the courthouse before bidding opens.
- County office
- 276-645-7311
On this page
How Bristol City sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Taxing Authority Consulting Services, PC, court-appointed Special Commissioner of Sale, on the delinquency certified by the Bristol City Treasurer's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- There is no fixed annual month.
- Registration
- Register with the auctioneer at the courthouse before bidding opens.
- Sale list
- Virginia tax sale notices, TACS
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Register with the auctioneer at the courthouse before bidding opens. You may not owe delinquent taxes to the City of Bristol and you may not be a defendant in a pending delinquent tax suit. On a judicial parcel the high bidder posts 25 percent of the bid or $1,000, whichever is higher, capped at $20,000 per parcel, on auction day, with the balance due within 15 days of court confirmation. Non-judicial parcels are paid in full at the auction. Payment is by personal check, cashier's check or money order, and no cash is accepted.
Sale format and venue
Bristol City tax sale list and auction calendar
For Bristol City 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 Virginia tax sale notices, TACS for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
There is no 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 Taxing Authority Consulting Services, PC, court-appointed Special Commissioner of Sale, on the delinquency certified by the Bristol City Treasurer's Office as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Bristol City
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Virginia tax sale notices, TACS. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Register with the auctioneer at the courthouse before bidding opens. You may not owe delinquent taxes to the City of Bristol and you may not be a defendant in a pending delinquent tax suit. On a judicial parcel the high bidder posts 25 percent of the bid or $1,000, whichever is higher, capped at $20,000 per parcel, on auction day, with the balance due within 15 days of court confirmation. Non-judicial parcels are paid in full at the auction. Payment is by personal check, cashier's check or money order, and no cash is accepted.
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
Tax sale office
County notes
- Bristol is an independent city and a county equivalent. It is not part of Washington County, and the Washington County treasurer has no role in Bristol parcels or Bristol's sale.
- Bristol, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee are two separate cities in two states. Only the Virginia side is billed and sold by the Bristol City Treasurer.
- Delinquent Bristol real estate accounts are handled by Taxing Authority Consulting Services, PC. Balances shown in the city's online tax records leave out the collection attorney's fees, so ask TACS at 804-545-2500 for the figure that actually clears an account.
- Real estate tax installments are due June 5 and December 5, with a 10 percent penalty and 10 percent interest on late payments. A parcel becomes eligible for the judicial sale once it is delinquent on 31 December following the second anniversary of the delinquency.
- Bidding happens at the courthouse, not online, and a bid on a judicial parcel is not yours until the circuit court enters an order confirming the sale.
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 Bristol City, Virginia sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Bristol City hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Bristol City tax sale list?
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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