DeKalb County Tax Sale: Bidding, Redemption, and Excess Funds

A DeKalb County tax sale is a public auction where properties with unpaid property taxes are sold to the highest bidder to satisfy the delinquent tax debt. The Tax Commissioner runs these sales on the first Tuesday of any given month on the courthouse steps, starting at noon or sooner.¹ Winning a bid is the beginning of a longer process, not the end. What you receive is a tax deed, and turning that deed into clear, marketable title takes at least a year and several more steps.

When and Where the Sales Happen

Sales are held on the first Tuesday of the month, at noon or sooner, on the courthouse steps. If that Tuesday lands on a legal holiday, the sale typically shifts to the next eligible date. The Tax Commissioner has statutory authority to conduct the sale from the Tax Commissioner’s office or another location identified in the required notice.²

Before any sale, notice must be published once a week for four consecutive weeks in The Champion, DeKalb County’s legal organ newspaper.¹ The Tax Commissioner’s website also posts updated lists of scheduled properties. Parcels come off the list any time an owner pays what’s owed, sometimes right up to the day of the auction. Check both the paper and the website close to sale day if you want an accurate picture of what will actually be called.

Researching a Parcel Before You Bid

Each property is listed by its parcel identification number and the name of the owner of record. Do your homework on every parcel that interests you. Pull the tax history, search for recorded liens and encumbrances at the Clerk of Superior Court, and drive by the property if you can. The county gives no guarantees about condition, buildability, or title status. The Tax Commissioner’s office does not have information about building code compliance, sewer access, whether the lot qualifies for a septic system, or the existence of easements. Any title research the office does is internal and not something you should rely on.

Registering, Paying, and Bidding

Bring valid government-issued photo identification to register. DeKalb County accepts three forms of payment: cash, a bank-issued cashier’s check, or a bank wire transfer, all made payable to the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner. Personal checks, business checks, money orders, and debit or credit cards are not accepted once a property has been scheduled for tax sale.³ If you plan to bid on multiple parcels, carrying several cashier’s checks in different denominations gives you room to cover varying totals.

The auctioneer announces each property by parcel number. Bidding opens at the total of delinquent taxes plus costs, which include the levy, recording, advertising, and commissions.¹ Bidders call offers out loud, and the property goes to the highest bidder once no one raises the price. That verbal bid is binding.

If you win, all funds must be received in hand by 1:30 p.m. the day of the sale. Miss that deadline and the parcel gets re-auctioned at 2:00 p.m.⁴ There is no grace period. Have payment ready before you raise your hand.

What the Tax Deed Actually Gives You

This is where new bidders get into trouble. Georgia law applies caveat emptor to all sales under judicial process, and the purchaser is responsible for investigating the title and condition of anything sold.⁵ The Tax Commissioner provides no warranty of title. The deed you receive conveys a defeasible interest, meaning it can be undone if the former owner redeems the property or if a title defect existed before the sale.

You are buying whatever interest the delinquent taxpayer had, with every flaw attached. Invalid legal description, unrecorded easement, boundary dispute, it’s yours.

After payment clears, the Tax Commissioner’s office issues a tax deed in the winning bidder’s name and hands over post-auction paperwork. Expect to receive the deed by mail or pick it up at the office within a few weeks. Record it promptly with the DeKalb County Clerk of Superior Court. Recording puts the world on notice that you hold a tax deed interest and protects you against competing claims from anyone who didn’t check the public records.

The 12-Month Redemption Period

A tax deed does not give you immediate ownership. Georgia law grants the former owner, and anyone else with a recorded interest, a 12-month window to redeem the property by paying off the full amount.⁶ During those twelve months your title is inchoate. You cannot take possession, collect rent, make improvements, or evict occupants. Georgia courts have consistently held that the tax sale purchaser cannot be put in possession during the redemption window.

What a Redeemer Has to Pay

To reclaim the property, the redeeming party pays the full amount you paid at the tax sale plus:

Any property taxes you paid on the parcel after the sale.
Any special assessments levied against the property.
A premium of 20 percent of the total for the first year or any fraction of a year between the sale date and the redemption payment, plus 10 percent for each additional year or fraction of a year after that.

If redemption happens after a barment notice has been served, the former owner also owes the sheriff’s cost of service and any publication costs.⁷ That 20 percent first-year premium is your primary return if the property gets redeemed. If it takes longer, the 10 percent annual premium keeps accruing.

A Note on Federal Tax Liens

If the property carried a federal tax lien when it was sold, the IRS has its own separate redemption right of 120 days from the date of sale or the period allowed under state law, whichever is longer.⁸ Georgia’s 12-month period is longer, so the state period controls. But when you later try to obtain title insurance or close on the property, the IRS right will show up as a title exception. Getting a release or waiver from the IRS before closing is the cleanest path.

Barring the Right of Redemption

Once 12 months pass without redemption, you can permanently cut off the former owner’s right to reclaim by serving a formal barment notice. This is not optional if you want to move toward clear title. Until the barment is complete, the redemption right technically continues indefinitely.⁹

Notice must be served on three categories of people who reside in the county where the property sits: the former owner named in the tax execution, any occupant of the property, and anyone with a recorded interest or lien. For those living outside the county, the notice must be sent by certified mail, registered mail, or statutory overnight delivery if their address is reasonably ascertainable. On top of that, the notice must be published once a week for four consecutive weeks in the newspaper where sheriff’s advertisements appear, within the six months before the redemption deadline stated in the notice.⁹

You deliver the notices and a list of people to be served to the sheriff, who has 15 days to serve copies on each. If the sheriff cannot locate someone for personal service, publication serves as the fallback. Errors in service or publication can leave the redemption right alive, and a former owner could reclaim the property years later on that basis.

Getting Marketable Title

Even after you bar redemption, a tax deed alone is usually not enough to sell the property or get title insurance. Title companies treat tax deeds as inherently clouded because of how the property was acquired. Converting a tax deed into something the market will accept typically requires filing a quiet title action in the Superior Court of the county where the property is located.

Georgia recognizes two forms. A conventional quiet title under O.C.G.A. § 23-3-40 targets specific known clouds, like an old lien or an unreleased security deed, and runs like a regular civil lawsuit with no jury. A quiet title against all the world under O.C.G.A. § 23-3-60 eliminates unknown claims too, with a court-appointed special master, published notice, a property survey, and a title report. For tax deed properties, the conventional action under O.C.G.A. § 23-3-44 is the more common route because it specifically addresses removing clouds caused by equities of redemption from tax sales.

Legal fees for a quiet title action generally run from a few thousand dollars and up, depending on the complexity of the title history and whether any defendants contest. Budget for this before you bid. Without it, your deed may be worth far less than you paid.

Excess Funds When a Property Sells for More Than Is Owed

When a property sells at auction for more than the taxes and costs owed, the surplus doesn’t disappear. Georgia law requires the selling officer to send written notice of excess funds within 30 days of the sale to the record owner at the time of the sale, the holder of each recorded security deed, and any other party with a recorded equity interest.¹⁰

The surplus is distributed by priority: tax liens first, then other liens in the order they were recorded, and the former owner gets whatever remains. When parties dispute priority, the Tax Commissioner can file an interpleader in Superior Court and let a judge decide. The litigation costs, including attorney’s fees, come out of the excess funds.¹⁰

Filing a Claim in DeKalb County

Former owners and lienholders claiming surplus must complete the Claim Form for Excess Bid from the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s office. The form asks for the parcel ID, property address, tax sale date, amount claimed, and contact information. All signatures must be notarized. Lienholders must also state the lien amount (principal plus interest and costs) and its priority relative to other liens. A Georgia-licensed attorney may file on your behalf. A power of attorney alone is not accepted.¹¹

Claims can be filed in person or by mail at the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s office, 4380 Memorial Drive, Suite 100, Decatur, GA 30032. The office evaluates claims individually and does not commit to processing timelines. After five years from the sale date, unclaimed excess funds are turned over to the Georgia Department of Revenue, and recovering them after that requires a court order from an interpleader filed in the county where the sale occurred.¹⁰

1
DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office. Tax Sales
2
Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-1 – Procedures for Sales Under Tax Levies and Executions
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DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office. Delinquent Taxes
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DeKalb County Tax Commissioner. Delinquent Property Tax Sale
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Justia. Georgia Code 9-13-167 – Purchaser to Ascertain Title and Soundness of Property
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Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-40 – Persons Entitled to Redeem Land Sold Under Tax Execution
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Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-42 – Amount Payable for Redemption; Additional Costs
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 2410 – Actions Affecting Property on Which United States Has Lien
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Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-45 – Notice of Foreclosure of Right of Redemption
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Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-5 – Payment of Excess
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DeKalb County Tax Commissioner. Claim Form for Excess Bid