Franklin County, VA tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Franklin County, VA tax sale, one of 3,131 counties in 51 states. Virginia sells the property itself, so no statutory investor interest rate applies. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from the county’s own official pages on Aug 23, 2026.
How tax deed sales work in Franklin County, seat of Rocky Mount: 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
- Legal advertisements also run in The Franklin News Post ahead of each auction.
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- There is no online bidding and no absentee bidding.
- County office
- 540-483-3078
On this page
How Franklin County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Franklin County Treasurer's Office, with the auction conducted by the court-appointed Special Commissioner of Sale, the Law Office of James W. Elliott
- Frequency
- annual
- Registration
- There is no online bidding and no absentee bidding.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
There is no online bidding and no absentee bidding. The Special Commissioner states "Anyone intending to bid on property must attend the auction or have a representative attend on their behalf." Bidders appear at the Franklin County Government Center at the posted start time; no pre-registration form is published. Terms are "cash, or, in the alternative, a down payment of not less than 25% of the bid price with the balance due in ten days," payable by cash, cashier's check, certified check, personal check or money order. Credit and debit cards are not accepted at these auctions. Every bid is binding and "subject to approval by the County and the Circuit Court," and a winning bidder is released only by order of the Circuit Court. For advance parcel lists and sale notices, the Commissioner's office sells a mailing-list subscription for $20 that unlocks the members-only listings section and sends notices by email or U.S. Mail.
Sale format and venue
Franklin County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Franklin 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. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.
Confirm the advertised parcel list
Use Real Estate Tax Sale notice and parcel list as a starting reference. Check which sale or list it covers; a Lands Available or office information page is separate from an auction parcel list. Ask the sale office for the advertised parcels for the auction you plan to attend.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 Franklin County Treasurer's Office before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use the Franklin County Treasurer's Office as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Franklin County
4 checks
Confirm the parcel list before pricing
Open Real Estate Tax Sale notice and parcel list. Confirm whether this reference contains the auction parcels or covers a different list. Get the advertised parcel list from the county before you price a bid, and recheck it before the sale.Confirm registration and deposit
There is no online bidding and no absentee bidding. The Special Commissioner states "Anyone intending to bid on property must attend the auction or have a representative attend on their behalf." Bidders appear at the Franklin County Government Center at the posted start time; no pre-registration form is published. Terms are "cash, or, in the alternative, a down payment of not less than 25% of the bid price with the balance due in ten days," payable by cash, cashier's check, certified check, personal check or money order. Credit and debit cards are not accepted at these auctions. Every bid is binding and "subject to approval by the County and the Circuit Court," and a winning bidder is released only by order of the Circuit Court. For advance parcel lists and sale notices, the Commissioner's office sells a mailing-list subscription for $20 that unlocks the members-only listings section and sends notices by email or U.S. Mail.
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. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in Virginia before you price the title work.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
- Franklin County's tax sale is a live auction at the Franklin County Government Center, 1255 Franklin Street in Rocky Mount, with the June 2026 sale set for 1:00 p.m. There is no online platform and no absentee bidding, so plan to attend or send a representative.
- Two offices matter. The Treasurer, at 540-483-3078, certifies the delinquency and posts the parcel list. Special Commissioner James W. Elliott, at 757-898-7000, files the suit, conducts the auction and issues the deed. Call the Commissioner's office for the location and status of any particular sale.
- The Commissioner's mailing-list subscription, $20 through the Law Office of James W. Elliott, is the fastest route to parcel lists and priority sale notices. Legal advertisements also run in The Franklin News Post ahead of each auction.
- Most advertised parcels never reach the block. Owners and lienholders redeem right up to the sale and parcels can be withdrawn, so confirm a parcel is still in the sale before you travel.
- Bring 25 percent of your intended maximum bid in cleared funds. The deposit is due on the day, the balance within ten days, and cards are not accepted at these auctions.
- Bidding is binding. A winning bid is released only by order of the Circuit Court, and the court must confirm the sale before possession passes to the buyer.
- The June 2026 docket was mostly unimproved rural land, several parcels assessed under $5,000 and described only as lying off a named road. Parcels sell in gross with no survey and no warranty of title, so verify legal access, boundaries and prior liens before you bid.
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.
What the deed conveys: Title from a judicial sale under Article 4 is governed by the principles that apply to purchasers at judicial sales of real estate generally. It bars the disabilities of parties defendant and is free of all claims of any creditor, person, or entity, including beneficiaries under any deed of trust or mortgage, provided that the creditor was made a party defendant. Easements recorded before the date of sale are not affected. That proviso is the whole risk: the wipe-out depends on the plaintiff having named and served every interested party, so check the pleadings and the title work behind the sale. See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Franklin County, Virginia sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Franklin County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Franklin County 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 office that runs the sale before you bid.
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