Charleston County

Where, when and how to register

The sale is Monday, November 9, 2026, at the North Charleston Coliseum, 5001 Coliseum Dr., North Charleston, SC 29418, in the Montague Room above the ticket office. If it does not finish that day, it resumes on the following days at 9:00 a.m. There are no lunch breaks. The county says the date and location are subject to change.

Registration opened on September 7, 2026 and is online this year, through the link on the county's Delinquent Tax Sale page; you can also register in the office with cash, check or credit card. The fee has gone up to $15. The web page says registration ends Wednesday, October 21, 2026 at 5:00 p.m., while the county's information sheet says it stops accepting registrations after October 23. Use the earlier date. There is no registration on the day of the sale, and if you win you will need a copy of a valid government-issued photo ID.

You do not need to register just to watch. The division's office is in the Lonnie Hamilton, III Public Services Building, 4045 Bridge View Dr., North Charleston (843-958-4200, option 2).

The lists, and what the amounts on them leave out

Since September 7 the county has posted a real property list and a mobile home list (PDF and Excel) on its site. They are updated periodically, but the finalized list is only available on the day of the sale, handed to registered bidders at the auction.

Read the amounts carefully. Bids start at the total due at the time of sale: taxes, assessments, penalties, costs and the current year's (tax year 2025) taxes. The figures on the lists published before the sale include only the delinquent taxes, so the real opening bid is higher than what you see in the spreadsheet.

Properties are auctioned in alphabetical order by owner's last name, real estate first and mobile homes after. A mobile home is sold on its own, without the land under it.

Paying: no cash, and the grouping rule

Cash is no longer accepted for bids. Pay by money order, certified check or bank wire (a $35 fee applies to every wire). Bids are due in full at the close of business on the day of the sale; if the sale runs to or past the end of the business day, by noon the next day. A late bid incurs a $500 default fee per bid and goes to the Forfeited Land Commission. Defaults can end your registration, bar you from future sales, and unpaid default fees are pursued as judgments.

If one owner has several properties in the sale, Charleston groups them. Once a bid on one of them raises enough to cover the taxes on all, only that one bid is collected and only that property is considered sold. Bidders on the owner's other parcels get no interest and no deed.

Bids can be assigned from November 16, 2026 through November 7, 2027.

Redemption: 3% to 12%, capped, and usually paid

The owner has one year from the sale to redeem. Interest is due on the whole bid according to the month of redemption: 3% in the first three months, 6% in months four to six, 9% in months seven to nine and 12% in the last three months (S.C. Code § 12-51-90). The interest can never exceed the opening bid submitted for the Forfeited Land Commission; the county posts a sample interest calculation on its page. Mobile homes also earn rent of one-twelfth of the 2025 original tax per month, at least $10.

Only the defaulting taxpayer, a grantee from the owner, or a mortgage or judgment creditor can redeem; a bidder cannot redeem a property it bid on. During the redemption year the county notifies any mortgage holder, and a mortgage holder that does not redeem loses its interest. Other liens, such as mechanic's, IRS or state liens, stay on the property.

Charleston puts its redemption rate at about 80%. Plan for the likely outcome: most of the time you get your bid back with 3% to 12% on top, not a house.

Voids, refunds and the deed

The Delinquent Tax Collector may overturn a sale at any time before the tax title is issued, for reasons such as a bankruptcy or a county error. Charleston says this happens to about 10% of sales. You then receive your full bid plus only the interest the money earned in the bank.

For any refund, after a redemption or a void, you must return the original receipt, usually on blue paper with the county seal on the back. The office does not start the refund until it has it, and refund checks take at least twenty business days.

If nobody redeems, the property is conveyed by tax title thirty days or more after the twelve months end. Tax deeds are quitclaim deeds and do not guarantee clear title; the county tells buyers to see an attorney to clear it. Mobile home buyers sign a limited power of attorney so the county can title the home with the SCDMV, and pay the DMV and county fees.

Unsold parcels and overages

Properties that draw no bid go to the Forfeited Land Commission and may be offered in a sealed-bid sale from January 26 to February 20, 2027, a silent auction using the county's form in a sealed envelope. The county says that, historically, every property has sold either at the auction or in the sealed-bid sale, and it currently has no leftover properties for an over-the-counter sale.

When the bid exceeds the taxes, penalties, levy costs and current-year taxes, the county creates an overage. If the property is conveyed to the bidder, the defaulting taxpayer is entitled to it; if the owner redeems, the bidder simply gets the bid back with interest. Charleston does not keep a published list of overages: each is handled case by case from the physical sale file, so former owners should contact the Delinquent Tax Division directly.

Four ways people lose money here

1. 1. Trusting the list amount as the opening bid

   Pre-sale lists show only delinquent taxes. The opening bid also includes current-year taxes, penalties and costs.

2. 2. Bringing cash

   Cash is no longer accepted for bids. Money order, certified check or wire ($35 fee) only.

3. 3. Losing the blue receipt

   No refund starts without the original receipt, whether the sale is redeemed or voided.

4. 4. Bidding on every parcel of one owner

   Only one property per owner is sold once the total debt is covered. The other bids get nothing.