West Virginia runs 2 different redemption windows
Which one applies is decided by the parcel, not by the state, so read the condition before trusting the headline figure.
How the clock works
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.
Who can redeem
The owner, any other person who was entitled to pay the taxes on the real estate whose interest is not subject to separate assessment, and any person holding a lien on the real estate or on an undivided interest in it. A person who has to redeem the whole parcel to protect an interest in part of it gets a lien on the other owner's interest, provided the claim is filed with the clerk of the county commission within 30 days of payment.
What the owner pays to redeem
The taxes, interest and charges due on the date of the sale with interest at one percent a month from the date of sale; all other taxes the purchaser has since paid, with one percent a month from the date of payment; the expense 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 excluding that interest; all additional statutory costs paid by the purchaser; and the Auditor's fee and commission, which is twenty dollars for each item certified plus a commission of seven and one half percent and interest on each sale or redemption, capped at one hundred and twenty dollars. Where the purchaser has not given the Auditor proof of the notice and title examination expenses, the person redeeming pays a flat five hundred dollars plus one percent a month, refundable to them if the purchaser never documents the expense.
How your 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.
What happens when it ends
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.
A redeemed certificate, plus your accrued interest, is what makes the wait profitable; see how redemption periods work across states. An unredeemed certificate is instead your path to the property through a tax deed sale, which still does not convey marketable title on its own, so budget for a quiet title action.
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.