Nelson County, VA tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Nelson County, seat of Lovingston: 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
- County office
- (434) 263-7060
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 23, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
How Nelson County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Special Commissioner of Sale appointed by the Nelson County Circuit Court, Robert C. Goad III of Shrader and Goad Law Office, Amherst
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No fixed annual date.
When it runs
No fixed annual date. A sale is scheduled once the Circuit Court enters decrees on a batch of delinquent parcels, which has produced roughly one auction every 12 to 24 months. Recent sales ran on "June 17, 2022, 10:00 a.m.", "JULY 28, 2023 at 10:00 a.m." and "MARCH 28, 2025, 11:00 a.m." Each date is advertised by legal notice and posted on the Treasurer's Tax Auctions page.
Registration and deposit
Bidders attend in person at the courthouse on sale day; the notice sets out no advance registration or bidder list. A deposit of "ten percent (10%) of the purchase price, in cash or certified funds made payable to 'Robert C. Goad III, Special Commissioner', is required as to each parcel", with the balance "due within thirty (30) days of approval of sale by the Nelson County Circuit Court." Call the Special Commissioner's office at (434) 946-5161 to confirm terms and the current parcel list before the sale.
Sale format and venue
This is a judicial sale under a Circuit Court decree, not an administrative auction. The Treasurer certifies the delinquency, the Special Commissioner files suit and advertises, and each winning bid is "subject to the approval and confirmation of the Nelson County Circuit Court." Parcels sell "AS-IS, WHERE-IS, IF-IS" and "in gross and not by the acre", with title research, title insurance and survey at the buyer's expense. Court-approved sales convey by Special Commissioner's Deed with special warranty of title, subject to subdivision restrictions, utility easements, current taxes and zoning ordinances, and the buyer pays all recording costs including grantor's tax. An owner may redeem at any time before the sale by paying the accumulated taxes, penalties, interest, attorney's fees and costs, so parcels can drop off the list up to sale day. Recent sales offered six to seven rural parcels each, mostly acreage and subdivision lots in the Wintergreen, Rockfish, Lovingston, Schuyler and Massies Mill magisterial districts, and the June 2022 notice also published an assessed value for each parcel. Live in-person auction at the Nelson County Courthouse, 84 Courthouse Square, Lovingston. There is no online bidding.
Source: Nelson County Treasurer: Notice of Judicial Sale for Delinquent Taxes, July 28, 2023· Verified Aug 23, 2026
Nelson County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Nelson 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 Tax Auctions: judicial sale notices and parcel lists for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.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.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Special Commissioner of Sale appointed by the Nelson County Circuit Court, Robert C. Goad III of Shrader and Goad Law Office, Amherst as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Nelson County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Tax Auctions: judicial 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
Bidders attend in person at the courthouse on sale day; the notice sets out no advance registration or bidder list. A deposit of "ten percent (10%) of the purchase price, in cash or certified funds made payable to 'Robert C. Goad III, Special Commissioner', is required as to each parcel", with the balance "due within thirty (30) days of approval of sale by the Nelson County Circuit Court." Call the Special Commissioner's office at (434) 946-5161 to confirm terms and the current parcel list before the 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
Tax sale office
County notes
- Nelson County uses no online auction platform. Bidding happens in person in a courtroom at the Nelson County Courthouse, 84 Courthouse Square, Lovingston. Sale notices have named both the General District Court courtroom and the Circuit Court courtroom on the second floor, so read the current notice for the room.
- The operative contact for the auction is the Special Commissioner rather than the Treasurer: Robert C. Goad III, Shrader and Goad Law Office, 330 South Main Street, P.O. Box 428, Amherst, VA 24521, (434) 946-5161. Call that office to ask when the next sale is set and to confirm the terms for a given parcel.
- The Treasurer's Tax Auctions page is the county's own notice board for these sales and carries the archived notices for the June 17, 2022, July 28, 2023 and March 28, 2025 auctions. Nelson County publishes no standing delinquent tax list; the parcel list, tax map numbers, last owners of record and Circuit Court file numbers appear inside each sale notice.
- Each parcel carries its own Circuit Court file number, for example CL24000086-00 in the March 2025 notice. Pull that file at the Nelson County Circuit Court Clerk's office to read the underlying suit before bidding, since the Special Commissioner supplies no title work and warrants nothing about the property.
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 Nelson 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 Nelson County hold tax deed sales?
Nelson 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 Nelson County Circuit Court, Robert C. Goad III of Shrader and Goad Law Office, Amherst 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 Nelson County tax sale list?
Nelson County posts its tax sale list at nelsoncounty-va.gov. 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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