Hampshire County, WV tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Hampshire County, WV tax sale, one of 2,862 counties in 36 states. West Virginia sells tax lien certificates paying up to 12%, redeemable for Until the deed issues. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from state rules plus what the county publishes on Sep 11, 2026.
How tax lien sales work in Hampshire County, seat of Romney: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how West Virginia tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- on a date the State Auditor sets, in practice between April and June, 2027
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- Register with the State Auditor, not with Hampshire County.
- County office
- 304-822-4720
On this page
How Hampshire County sells delinquent taxes
From lien to deed
West Virginia holds no separate tax deed auction. The deed goes to whoever bought the tax lien at the Auditor's auction, or bought the parcel afterward as unsold land, and it comes from the Auditor rather than from a second sale. Within 120 days after the Auditor approves the sale the purchaser must give the Auditor a list of everyone entitled to notice to redeem, supply the property's physical mailing address if it is Class II property, and deposit the cost of preparing and serving the notice. Miss that and the purchaser loses all benefits of the purchase. A written request filed within the following 30 days buys another 60 days, for one hundred dollars or ten percent of the amount paid at the sale, whichever is greater, plus a twenty five dollar certificate fee. The Auditor then serves the notice at least 45 days before the first day a deed may be issued, and no deed may issue sooner than 30 days after the notices were served.
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- West Virginia State Auditor
- Frequency
- annual
- Registration
- Register with the State Auditor, not with Hampshire County.
- Next expected
- on a date the State Auditor sets, in practice between April and June, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Register with the State Auditor, not with Hampshire County. Pre-registration is online at wvsao.gov/CountyCollections/Registrations and one sign-up covers every West Virginia county for the year, with multiple companies registered individually. The form asks for the deed name, the bidder or authorized agent, address, phone and email, and a prior bidder ID if you have one. You certify that you have not failed to make a payment owed at a prior public auction, are not delinquent on real property tax as the most recent owner of record in any West Virginia county, have no history of code enforcement noncompliance, are not subject to code enforcement proceedings over property you own, and have not failed in the preceding five years to comply with a raze or repair order. A domestic or foreign entity must show it is registered with the West Virginia Secretary of State and authorized to conduct business in the state. A bidder who has not pre-registered may instead complete and execute a notarized affidavit on the day of the sale. Payment is due before the close of business on the day of sale, and the two official statements of the payee differ: the Auditor's Land Sale Listings section directs a check or money order payable to the sheriff of the county, while W. Va. Code 11A-3-45 says check, U.S. currency or money order payable to the Auditor. Confirm the payee with the Auditor's land department before you travel.
Sale format and venue
Hampshire County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Hampshire 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 Certified to State parcel inquiry and Land Sale Listings, West Virginia State Auditor for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
on a date the State Auditor sets, in practice between April and June, 2027 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 West Virginia State Auditor as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Hampshire County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Certified to State parcel inquiry and Land Sale Listings, West Virginia State Auditor. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Register with the State Auditor, not with Hampshire County. Pre-registration is online at wvsao.gov/CountyCollections/Registrations and one sign-up covers every West Virginia county for the year, with multiple companies registered individually. The form asks for the deed name, the bidder or authorized agent, address, phone and email, and a prior bidder ID if you have one. You certify that you have not failed to make a payment owed at a prior public auction, are not delinquent on real property tax as the most recent owner of record in any West Virginia county, have no history of code enforcement noncompliance, are not subject to code enforcement proceedings over property you own, and have not failed in the preceding five years to comply with a raze or repair order. A domestic or foreign entity must show it is registered with the West Virginia Secretary of State and authorized to conduct business in the state. A bidder who has not pre-registered may instead complete and execute a notarized affidavit on the day of the sale. Payment is due before the close of business on the day of sale, and the two official statements of the payee differ: the Auditor's Land Sale Listings section directs a check or money order payable to the sheriff of the county, while W. Va. Code 11A-3-45 says check, U.S. currency or money order payable to the Auditor. Confirm the payee with the Auditor's land department before you travel.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the West 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.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
unsold certificates
A parcel that draws no bid at the auction, or whose sale the Auditor disapproves, or that was sold at one of these auctions within the previous five years and was neither redeemed nor deeded because the purchaser did not follow through, may be sold by the Auditor with no further auction and no additional advertising. The statute sets a priority order rather than a price contest: an owner of an adjacent tract or parcel first, with the highest bidder taking it if more than one adjacent owner wants the same parcel; then the municipality; then the county commission; then the West Virginia Land Stewardship Corporation for its Land Bank Program; then any willing buyer. The price is agreed between the Auditor and the buyer, and the Auditor may require the buyer to reimburse the cost of a licensed attorney's title examination or let the buyer engage one at their own cost. These are handled as written bids sent with a check to the Auditor's land department inside a bid window the Auditor posts on its Land/County Collections page.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what West Virginia calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
County notes
- The sheriff no longer runs the tax lien sale in Hampshire County. Senate Bill 552, effective June 10, 2022, replaced the sheriff's sale and the separate later Auditor sale of leftovers with one annual auction conducted by the West Virginia State Auditor in each county courthouse. The Hampshire County Sheriff's Tax Office still mails the tickets, collects the taxes and advertises the delinquent list, but it does not conduct the auction. Any page advertising an October or November sheriff's tax sale is describing repealed law, not a date you can bid at.
- Split your questions between two offices. Ask the Hampshire County Sheriff's Tax Office at 66 North High Street in Romney, 304-822-4720 or [email protected], about a current bill, the delinquent amount and paying off before certification. Ask the State Auditor's land department at 1900 Kanawha Blvd. East, Building 1, Room W-100, Charleston, WV 25305, 304-558-2251 or toll free 877-982-9148, about the auction itself, bidder registration, redeeming after the sale and buying parcels that went unsold.
- The Hampshire County delinquency clock, from the Sheriff's Tax Office: statements are mailed around July 15, the first half installment becomes delinquent if not paid before October 1 and the second half if not paid before the following April 1, interest of nine percent a year runs from the delinquency date, taxes still unpaid on April 30 are subject to publication and pick up additional fees, and delinquent real estate still unpaid as of October 31 of the following year is certified to the West Virginia State Auditor's Office.
- The October 31 certification to the State Auditor is not a sale. Nobody bids, nothing is sold and no instrument is issued; it moves the parcels from the sheriff's roll to the Auditor's, and the auction follows later under the Auditor's schedule.
- Check unpaid tickets before you bid. The Sheriff's Tax Office runs an online tax inquiry for Hampshire County that filters to unpaid items by tax year, name, address, ticket, account or map and parcel, and the Romney office answers by phone at 304-822-4720. A second tax office window is open at the Capon Bridge substation, 195 Capon School St, Capon Bridge, at 304-856-3143.
- Parcels that draw no bid are bought by written bid, not at the auction. The Auditor's Certified to State pages carry a NO BID status and post an open bid window with a stated closing date; the deadline currently posted is September 30, 2026 at 4:00pm eastern standard time, with bids postmarked by the end of business that day.
- One office runs all 55 counties, so every schedule, notice and registration form sits on the same statewide pages. A sale date found at wvsao.gov or in the Auditor's legal notices belongs to whichever county that notice names, which is often not Hampshire County.
West Virginia rules
- Redemption
- West Virginia runs three redemption windows in sequence, and only the last one involves the investor. Before the sheriff certifies the parcel to the Auditor on October 31, the owner pays the sheriff the taxes, interest and charges due. After certification and before the Auditor certifies the list for sale, the owner redeems from the Auditor at twelve percent a year on the amount due at certification. After the Auditor's auction, the owner or any other person entitled to pay the taxes, or any lienholder, may redeem at any time before a tax deed is issued. There is no fixed number of days on that last window: it closes when the deed issues, which cannot happen until the Auditor has served the notice to redeem at least 45 days beforehand and at least 30 days have passed since service. A person whose primary residence was sold may petition the Auditor, on grounds of financial hardship, to redeem in up to three installments before the deed is issued.
- Surplus proceeds
- The former owner is entitled to the surplus received at the Auditor's sale over and above the taxes and interest charged or chargeable including all costs of the sale, but only if a claim is filed in the circuit court of the county where the land sits within two years after the date the sale was confirmed. Unclaimed surplus is paid to the Auditor for credit to the general school 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 Hampshire County, West Virginia sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Hampshire County tax certificate sale?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Hampshire County tax sale list?
Verified Sep 11, 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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