Northumberland County, VA tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Northumberland 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 Northumberland County, seat of Heathsville: 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.
- Format
- Online
- Registration
- Registration and bidding are free.
- County office
- (804) 580-5201
On this page
How Northumberland County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Special Commissioner appointed by the Circuit Court of Northumberland County, with Taxing Authority Consulting Services, PC (TACS) as the county's delinquent tax counsel and Big Red Auctions as auctioneer; the Northumberland County Treasurer handles the low-value parcels sold under Va. Code 58.1-3975 in the same auction
- Frequency
- annual
- Registration
- Registration and bidding are free.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Registration and bidding are free. Online bidders must register and be approved through the auctioneer's site at bigredauctions.hibid.com before the auction, and anyone without internet access can call Big Red Auctions at (804) 577-7449 to arrange bidding. To qualify as a purchaser you may not owe delinquent taxes to Northumberland County, and on the Special Commissioner parcels you may not be a defendant in a pending delinquent tax matter. On those parcels the high bidder posts a deposit of 25 percent or $1,000, whichever is higher, capped at $20,000 per parcel, plus a 10 percent buyer's premium with a $150 minimum; bids under $1,000 are paid in full at the auction, and the balance plus recording costs is due within 15 days of court confirmation. On the Treasurer's Va. Code 58.1-3975 parcels the full bid, buyer's premium and recording costs come due once the auction closes. In person bidders pay on sale day by personal check, cashier's check or money order, with no cash accepted; online winners sign a purchase contract by email and have seven days to pay by certified funds, cashier's check, money order or wire, payable to County of Northumberland and sent to TACS.
Sale format and venue
Northumberland County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Northumberland 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 Northumberland County sale notice, parcel list and bidder information packets (TACS) 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
Bidding runs on Online; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use the Northumberland County Treasurer as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Northumberland County
4 checks
Confirm the parcel list before pricing
Open Northumberland County sale notice, parcel list and bidder information packets (TACS). 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
Registration and bidding are free. Online bidders must register and be approved through the auctioneer's site at bigredauctions.hibid.com before the auction, and anyone without internet access can call Big Red Auctions at (804) 577-7449 to arrange bidding. To qualify as a purchaser you may not owe delinquent taxes to Northumberland County, and on the Special Commissioner parcels you may not be a defendant in a pending delinquent tax matter. On those parcels the high bidder posts a deposit of 25 percent or $1,000, whichever is higher, capped at $20,000 per parcel, plus a 10 percent buyer's premium with a $150 minimum; bids under $1,000 are paid in full at the auction, and the balance plus recording costs is due within 15 days of court confirmation. On the Treasurer's Va. Code 58.1-3975 parcels the full bid, buyer's premium and recording costs come due once the auction closes. In person bidders pay on sale day by personal check, cashier's check or money order, with no cash accepted; online winners sign a purchase contract by email and have seven days to pay by certified funds, cashier's check, money order or wire, payable to County of Northumberland and sent to TACS.
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
- Pam King is the Northumberland County Treasurer. The office sits at 72 Monument Place in Heathsville, takes mail at P.O. Box 297, and is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.
- The auction is simulcast, so you can bid in the room at 220 Judicial Place in Heathsville or online through Big Red Auctions on HiBid; both routes bid into the same sale.
- A 10 percent buyer's premium with a $150 minimum is added to every winning bid on both tracks, so build it into your maximum before you bid.
- Catalogs are small and rural, roughly six to seven parcels per track, weighted toward subdivision lots and acreage around Reedville, Callao, Lottsburg and Edwardsville rather than improved homes.
- The auctioneer has changed between cycles: For Sale At Auction ran the 2023 sales and Big Red Auctions ran 2024 and 2025, so confirm the current bidding site on the TACS notice before you register.
- Anyone who owes delinquent taxes to Northumberland County, or who is a defendant in a pending delinquent tax suit, is barred from bidding.
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 Northumberland County, Virginia sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Northumberland County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Northumberland 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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