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Tax Sale Atlas

Chesterfield County, VA tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Chesterfield County, seat of Chesterfield: 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
No fixed annual date.
Format
In person
Registration
No online bidding and no absentee bidding.
County office
804-748-1201
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 23, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Chesterfield County sells delinquent taxes

No tax lien certificate sale

Virginia localities do not sell tax lien certificates to investors. The locality holds its own first-priority tax lien and enforces it through a judicial sale of the property.

Tax deed sale

In person
Run by
Special Commissioner of Sale appointed by the Chesterfield County Circuit Court; the Treasurer's Office refers qualifying parcels to the Law Office of James W. Elliott, which files the suit and conducts the auction
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
No fixed annual date.
Registration
No online bidding and no absentee bidding.
Sale list
Judicial sale auction calendar and represented jurisdictions
When it runs
No fixed annual date. Chesterfield refers parcels to its judicial sale attorney as they become eligible and the Circuit Court sets each auction, so the month moves from year to year. Recorded Chesterfield County auctions include August 7 and August 20, 2025, April 30, 2024, March 30 and October 26, 2023, June 9, 2022, and July 7, 2021. The county puts the whole process at several months to approximately 18 months from referral to sale, and new dates are posted on the attorney's Real Estate Tax Sales page as the court sets them.
Registration and deposit

No online bidding and no absentee bidding. Anyone intending to bid must attend the auction or have a representative attend on their behalf. Terms are cash, or a down payment of at least 25 percent of the bid price with the balance due to the attorney's office within ten days. Cash, cashier's check, certified check, personal check and money orders are accepted; credit and debit cards are not. A bid is a binding contract and every sale is subject to confirmation by the Circuit Court. To get auction notices and parcel lists ahead of a sale, subscribe to the attorney's mailing list for a $20 fee.

Sale format and venue
Chesterfield collects delinquent real estate taxes through the judicial sale process under Article 4 of Chapter 39, Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia. The Treasurer refers parcels once taxes are delinquent on December 31 following the second anniversary of the date they became due, the attorney files suit in Circuit Court, and after the court finds a sale warranted a special commissioner is appointed to take bids. Owners can redeem at any point before the sale by paying all taxes, penalties, interest and costs, and most parcels advertised early in the process are redeemed and never reach auction. Parcels sell as is, with all faults and no warranty, and neither the Treasurer nor the attorney can grant access for a physical inspection, so budget for a title search and drive-by diligence at your own cost. The court must be satisfied the price is fair and can reject a bid that falls so far below market value as to shock the conscience of the court, and the Treasurer can reject a bid that fails to cover the taxes and costs of sale. Winning bidders receive a special warranty deed from the special commissioner, generally thirty to forty-five days after the auction, with recording costs starting around $60 and paid by the buyer. The auction runs in person, typically in front of the Circuit Court, whose Courts Building sits at 9500 Courthouse Road, Chesterfield, VA 23832. Confirm the exact location with the attorney's office before the sale date.
Source: Chesterfield County Treasurer: Delinquent Billings, Late Payments and Judicial Sales· Verified Aug 23, 2026

Chesterfield County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Chesterfield 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.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Judicial sale auction calendar and represented jurisdictions for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    No online bidding and no absentee bidding. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    No fixed annual date. 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.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Special Commissioner of Sale appointed by the Chesterfield County Circuit Court; the Treasurer's Office refers qualifying parcels to the Law Office of James W. Elliott, which files the suit and conducts the auction as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Chesterfield County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Judicial sale auction calendar and represented jurisdictions. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    No online bidding and no absentee bidding. Anyone intending to bid must attend the auction or have a representative attend on their behalf. Terms are cash, or a down payment of at least 25 percent of the bid price with the balance due to the attorney's office within ten days. Cash, cashier's check, certified check, personal check and money orders are accepted; credit and debit cards are not. A bid is a binding contract and every sale is subject to confirmation by the Circuit Court. To get auction notices and parcel lists ahead of a sale, subscribe to the attorney's mailing list for a $20 fee.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

Chesterfield County Treasurer's Office

804-748-1201

P.O. Box 70, Chesterfield, VA 23832 (walk-in: 9901 Lori Road, Chesterfield, VA 23832)

Official website

County notes

  • Chesterfield refers every qualifying parcel to the Law Office of James W. Elliott, 7100 George Washington Memorial Highway, Building A, Yorktown, VA 23692, mailing address P.O. Box 1410, Yorktown, VA 23692, phone 757-898-7000, open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. That office, not the county, is the operative contact for auction dates, parcel lists and terms.
  • Parcel lists are not posted openly. The attorney sells a mailing list subscription for a $20 fee, after which auction notices and property lists arrive by email or US mail and post to the members area of the firm's site.
  • Two newspaper advertisements appear and they mean different things. The notice headed NOTICE OF JUDICIAL SALE OF REAL PROPERTY runs before suit is filed and exists to push owners to redeem, so most parcels on it never sell. The advertisement that actually announces an auction is headed COMMISSIONERS SALE OF VALUABLE REAL ESTATE.
  • A public auction is the usual route but not the only one. The special commissioner may instead take a private bid or list the property with a real estate agent, so a parcel you are tracking can leave the auction path entirely.
  • Chesterfield sales are irregular rather than annual. The attorney's calendar records Chesterfield County auctions in August 2025 (two separate dates), April 2024, March and October 2023, June 2022, July 2021, October 2020 and November 2019.
  • The same firm handles delinquent tax collection for Accomack, Alleghany, Augusta, Dinwiddie, Franklin, Gloucester, Northampton, Nottoway, Page and York counties and several Virginia cities, so one mailing list subscription covers auctions well beyond Chesterfield.

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.
Governing statute
Va. Code Title 58.1, Chapter 39, Article 4

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.

See the full Virginiarules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield County hold tax deed sales?

Chesterfield County holds its tax deed sale once a year. No fixed annual date. 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 Sale appointed by the Chesterfield County Circuit Court; the Treasurer's Office refers qualifying parcels to the Law Office of James W. Elliott, which files the suit and conducts 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 Chesterfield County tax sale list?

Chesterfield County posts its tax sale list at vataxsale.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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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

Virginia tax salesDue diligence guide
Call Chesterfield County Treasurer's Office