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Tax Sale Atlas

Taylor County, WV tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Taylor 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 Taylor County, seat of Grafton: 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
The Auditor has not posted a Taylor County auction date.
Format
In person
County office
(304) 265-5766
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Sep 11, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
Look up a sale detail

West Virginia State Auditor's Office, Land Division. In person. annual

Record quality: medium. Last verified: 2026-09-11.

Land Sale Listings and Pre-Registration, West Virginia State Auditor's Office (source accessed 2026-09-11)

Recorded reference information. Verify current sale conditions with the county. Read the full sale details.

Link to this detail

How Taylor 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)

In person
Run by
West Virginia State Auditor's Office, Land Division
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
The Auditor has not posted a Taylor County auction date.
Next expected
on a date the State Auditor sets, in practice between April and June, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Sale list
State Auditor land sale listings
When it runs
The Auditor has not posted a Taylor County auction date. By statute the Auditor certifies the year's list of lands on or after March 1 and on or before August 1, then sells the tax liens at public auction on a business working day within 90 days after that certification, held at the Taylor County Courthouse during the courthouse's normal operating hours. If the sale does not finish in one day it continues day to day between the same hours until every parcel has been offered. Watch the Auditor's land sale listings page through the spring for the Taylor County notice.
Registration and deposit

Register once a year with the State Auditor and you are eligible to bid in all 55 West Virginia counties, including Taylor; the pre-registration form is at https://www.wvsao.gov/CountyCollections/Registrations and multiple companies must be registered individually. A bidder who has not pre-registered may instead complete and execute a notarized affidavit at the sale affirming eligibility. To qualify you must not have failed to pay for a prior purchase at one of these auctions, must not be delinquent on real property tax you owe any West Virginia county, and must be clear of code-enforcement violations and unsatisfied raze or repair orders from the preceding five years. Corporations, LLCs and other entities must show proof at registration that they are registered with the West Virginia Secretary of State and authorized to transact business in the state.

Sale format and venue
West Virginia consolidated its tax lien sales in 2022, so the State Auditor, not the Taylor County Sheriff, conducts the annual auction. It runs live at the Taylor County Courthouse with no online bidding platform, and each tract or lot is sold whole to the highest eligible bidder at a price no lower than the taxes, interest and charges due to the date of sale. The Sheriff stays the tax collector: the office collects the taxes, publishes the second delinquent real estate list and notice of sale as a Class III-0 legal advertisement in a county newspaper on or before September 10, mails certified notice to owners and lienholders at least 30 days before the sale, and takes redemption payments by credit card, cashier's check, money order, certified check or cash until the close of business on the last business day before the October 31 certification to the Auditor. Two official sources name different payees for the winning bid, so arrive ready for both: W. Va. Code 11A-3-45 makes payment by check, U.S. currency or money order payable to the Auditor, while the Auditor's own land sale listings page says check or money order payable to the sheriff of the county. Either way, payment is due before the close of business on the day of sale. Taylor County publishes no auction parcel list of its own; the list for the sale is the Auditor's land sale listing for the county, and the Auditor's listings page carries no land sale listings at present, so no Taylor County parcel list is live yet. A registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose principal purpose is building housing or public facilities, and that notifies the Auditor of its intent to bid, can take the property with a bid up to five percent below the high bid. After a purchase, redemption runs through the Auditor at one percent per month on the taxes, interest and charges due at the sale, plus subsequent taxes the purchaser paid, statutory costs and the Auditor's fee, with the notice-to-redeem list and attorney title examination capped at $500. Liens that draw no bid are certified to the State and offered by mailed bid through the Auditor's Certified to State inquiry; that bid window closes September 30, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. eastern, with bids postmarked by the end of that business day. In-person auction at the Taylor County Courthouse in Grafton
Source: Land Sale Listings and Pre-Registration, West Virginia State Auditor's Office· Verified Sep 11, 2026

Taylor County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Taylor 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.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use State Auditor land sale listings for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.

  3. Sale day

    The Auditor has not posted a Taylor County auction 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.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use West Virginia State Auditor's Office, Land Division as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Taylor County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from State Auditor land sale listings. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Register once a year with the State Auditor and you are eligible to bid in all 55 West Virginia counties, including Taylor; the pre-registration form is at https://www.wvsao.gov/CountyCollections/Registrations and multiple companies must be registered individually. A bidder who has not pre-registered may instead complete and execute a notarized affidavit at the sale affirming eligibility. To qualify you must not have failed to pay for a prior purchase at one of these auctions, must not be delinquent on real property tax you owe any West Virginia county, and must be clear of code-enforcement violations and unsatisfied raze or repair orders from the preceding five years. Corporations, LLCs and other entities must show proof at registration that they are registered with the West Virginia Secretary of State and authorized to transact business in the state.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

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)

Taylor County Sheriff's Tax Office

(304) 265-5766

P.O. Box 189, Grafton, WV 26354 (Taylor County Courthouse, 214 W. Main Street, Grafton, WV 26354)

Official website

County notes

  • The West Virginia State Auditor runs the tax lien auction that covers Taylor County, and it is held in person at the Taylor County Courthouse in Grafton. The Sheriff's Tax Office collects the taxes and publishes the delinquent list but does not conduct the auction.
  • Taylor County posts no parcel list for the auction. The operative list is the Auditor's land sale listing for the county at https://www.wvsao.gov/CountyCollections/Default, backed by the Sheriff's delinquent real estate list, which runs as a legal advertisement in a county newspaper on or before September 10 each year.
  • One pre-registration with the Auditor covers every county for the year, so a single sign-up qualifies you for the Taylor County sale. If you skip it, plan to execute a notarized eligibility affidavit at the courthouse on sale day.
  • Screen a parcel's delinquency before bidding through the Sheriff's Tax Office online tax record search at taylor.softwaresystems.com, which filters by paid and unpaid and by tax year, or call the tax office at (304) 265-5766. The Sheriff's main line is (304) 265-3428.
  • Bring payment in a form that satisfies both official instructions: the statute directs payment to the Auditor, the Auditor's land sale listings page directs it to the sheriff of the county, and it is due before the close of business on the day of sale.
  • Redemption after the sale is handled by the Auditor, not the Sheriff, at one percent per month plus statutory costs, and an owner may redeem at any time before a tax deed issues.

West Virginia rules

Max interest rate
12% per year, set by statute (bidding is on price)
Minimum return
No statutory minimum return; what you earn is set by the price at the sale
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.
Governing statute
W. Va. Code ch. 11A, art. 3

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.

See the full West Virginiarules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Taylor County, West Virginia sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax lien certificates. In West Virginia investors buy the lien, not the property; the West Virginia State Auditor runs the sale.

When is the Taylor County tax certificate sale?

The Auditor has not posted a Taylor County auction date. By statute the Auditor certifies the year's list of lands on or after March 1 and on or before August 1, then sells the tax liens at public auction on a business working day within 90 days after that certification, held at the Taylor County Courthouse during the courthouse's normal operating hours. If the sale does not finish in one day it continues day to day between the same hours until every parcel has been offered. Watch the Auditor's land sale listings page through the spring for the Taylor County notice. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the West Virginia State Auditor before the sale.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. West Virginia's redemption rule: Until the tax deed is issued, with no fixed statutory deadline. Call the West Virginia State Auditor's Office, Land Division 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 Taylor County tax sale list?

Taylor County posts its tax sale list at wvsao.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 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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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

West Virginia tax salesDue diligence guide
Call Taylor County Sheriff's Tax Office