The statutory ceiling
This rate is set by statute rather than bid down at the sale, and competition happens on price instead. West Virginia states that rate in its redemption section, W. Va. Code 11A-3-56(a)(1), which governs what a redeeming owner pays. Senate Bill 552 left the payout sections unamended, and 11A-3-58(a)(1) returns the purchaser the amount paid at the sale without stating interest on it, so confirm with the State Auditor what a purchaser is paid before you bid. There is no statutory minimum return.
No minimum rate
West Virginia sets no statutory minimum return. Because the rate is not bid down, competition shows up in the price instead, which is what erodes your yield.
How interest accrues
The statutory rate is one percent a month, which is twelve percent a year, and it runs on the taxes, interest and charges due on the date of the sale rather than on anything bid above that floor. What reaches the purchaser is set by a separate section and is narrower than the rate suggests. On redemption the sheriff pays the purchaser the amount paid at the sale, then any later taxes the purchaser paid with one percent a month from the date of payment, then the cost of preparing the list of those to be served with notice to redeem and any licensed attorney's title examination with one percent a month, capped at five hundred dollars of principal, then any additional statutory costs. That first item states no interest on the amount paid at the sale, and W. Va. Code 11A-3-57(b) directs the sheriff to hold the base plus its one percent a month as surplus for disposition under W. Va. Code 11A-3-64. Senate Bill 552 repealed the sheriff sale redemption sections and left 11A-3-57 and 11A-3-58 untouched, and the Auditor's own public explanation of the bill says the change eliminates the interest purchasers used to collect. Read twelve percent as the rate on carrying costs and confirm the payout on the bid itself with the Auditor's land department before modelling a yield.
How the bidding works
Nothing is bid down in West Virginia and no lien can be bid to zero. Each tax lien is sold to the highest eligible bidder at the Auditor's auction, and the sheriff's published notice fixes the floor at the taxes, interest and charges due on the parcel to the date of sale, so the only competition is on price above that floor. Two rules change who wins. A private nonprofit corporation incorporated in West Virginia, certified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, whose principal purpose is building housing or other public facilities, is sold the parcel ahead of the high bidder if it notifies the Auditor of an intention to bid and then submits a bid no more than five percent lower than the high bid. And a sale is not final at the fall of the hammer: the sale is reported to the Auditor within 14 days, and the Auditor either approves it as being in the best interest of the state or disapproves it, refunds the purchase price and puts the parcel back up for sale. Two steps in the West Virginia calendar look like sales and are not. The sheriff's tax lien sale was repealed effective June 10, 2022, so an October or November sheriff sale still advertised on a county page is repealed law rather than a date. And the October 31 certification of the delinquent list to the State Auditor is a transfer of the roll with no bidders, no bidding and no instrument issued, not an auction.
When the certificates sell
The State Auditor holds one public auction a year for each county, at that county's courthouse, during normal courthouse hours on a business day. The Auditor certifies each county's list of lands subject to sale on or after March 1 and on or before August 1, and the auction must be held within 90 days of that certification. The Auditor's own published property tax calendar puts the county auctions in April, May and June. Dates are set centrally and the counties publish nothing, so the schedule comes from the Land Sale Listings at wvsao.gov and from the Auditor's notice of auction, which runs once a week for three consecutive weeks in the county legal newspaper before the sale.
The headline figure is a ceiling, not a forecast. To see what a certificate actually pays over a real holding period, run the numbers in the yield calculator, and compare West Virginia against other states on interest rates by state.
Verified Sep 10, 2026 against West Virginia statutes.
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.