Mathews County, VA tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Mathews County, seat of Mathews: 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
- County site
- Registration
- Bidding is simulcast.
- County office
- 804-725-2341
On this page
How Mathews County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Taxing Authority Consulting Services, PC, Special Commissioner of Sale for the County of Mathews
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No fixed annual date.
- Registration
- Bidding is simulcast.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Bidding is simulcast. Attend in person at the Mathews County Historic Courthouse on Court Street in Mathews, or bid online after registering and being approved by the auctioneer. Registration and online bidding are free. The 2025 notice required a deposit of 25 percent of the bid or $1,000, whichever is higher, on the judicial parcel, plus a 10 percent buyer's premium with a $150 minimum. In-person winners pay the same day by check or money order and no cash is accepted; online winners have seven days to send certified funds, a cashier's check, money order or wire transfer.
Sale format and venue
Mathews County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Mathews 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 Mathews tax sale notices and parcel lists for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
No fixed annual date. Bidding runs on County site; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Taxing Authority Consulting Services, PC, Special Commissioner of Sale for the County of Mathews as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Mathews County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Mathews tax sale notices and parcel lists. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Bidding is simulcast. Attend in person at the Mathews County Historic Courthouse on Court Street in Mathews, or bid online after registering and being approved by the auctioneer. Registration and online bidding are free. The 2025 notice required a deposit of 25 percent of the bid or $1,000, whichever is higher, on the judicial parcel, plus a 10 percent buyer's premium with a $150 minimum. In-person winners pay the same day by check or money order and no cash is accepted; online winners have seven days to send certified funds, a cashier's check, money order or wire transfer.
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
- Mathews County publishes no tax sale calendar of its own. The operative notice is the Special Commissioner's auction notice from Taxing Authority Consulting Services, which posts each Virginia sale on its auction calendar and emails registered watchers about three weeks ahead.
- Sales are held at the Mathews County Historic Courthouse on Court Street in Mathews with simultaneous online bidding, so a bidder can win a parcel without traveling to the Middle Peninsula.
- One notice usually covers both sale tracks. Judicial parcels take a deposit of 25 percent of the bid or $1,000, whichever is higher, while low-value non-judicial parcels sold under Va. Code 58.1-3975 require the full bid amount at the auction. A 10 percent buyer's premium with a $150 minimum applies to both.
- Parcels leave the sale when an owner pays up. The July 2025 notice marked one listed property redeemed before the auction, so reconfirm a parcel is still in the sale on auction day before you bid.
- Mathews real estate taxes fall due June 5 and December 5, and the Treasurer at 804-725-2341 is the office to call for a payoff figure or to confirm whether a specific parcel has been certified for 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 Mathews County, Virginia sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Mathews County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Mathews 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 county office before you bid.
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