One of the most important things to understand about a South Carolina tax sale is that it is not the end of the story. Unlike a mortgage foreclosure, where your rights end when the gavel falls, a property tax sale gives you a full year afterward to get your home back. That year is called the redemption period, and it can be the difference between losing your home and keeping it.
What “redemption” means
Redeeming simply means paying what is owed to reclaim your property after the tax sale. In South Carolina, the defaulting taxpayer - as well as certain others, like a mortgage holder - can redeem the property within 12 months of the sale date by paying the county the delinquent taxes, penalties, and costs, plus interest. When you redeem, the bidder gets their money back with interest, and you keep your home. It is as if the sale never took the property from you.
You keep possession during the redemption year
This is the part that eases a lot of fear: during the 12-month redemption period, you continue to live in and possess your home. The tax-sale bidder holds only a claim, not the keys. They cannot move in, rent it out, or force you out during that year. Their interest only becomes ownership if the redemption period runs out without a redemption.
How much it costs to redeem
To redeem, you pay the amount owed plus interest that grows the longer you wait. South Carolina sets the interest as a percentage of the winning bid, stepped up by quarter of the redemption year:
- Redeem in the first 3 months: 3% interest
- Redeem in months 4 to 6: 6%
- Redeem in months 7 to 9: 9%
- Redeem in the final 3 months: 12%
By law, the interest cannot be more than the taxes and costs the county was owed, so there is a cap. Your county Delinquent Tax office can give you an exact redemption figure for any given date.
The county has to warn you before time runs out
You will not lose the redemption window without notice. Between 20 and 45 days before the redemption period ends, the county must mail you a certified notice that the deadline is approaching. Watch for it, and do not ignore certified mail from the county.
What happens if you do not redeem
If the 12 months pass with no redemption, the county issues a tax deed transferring the property to the bidder, and you lose ownership. After that, there is a further period during which the deed can still be challenged on narrow grounds, but once roughly two years have passed from the sale the tax deed becomes very difficult to contest. In other words, the practical time to act is that first 12 months.
What about the extra money (“overage”)?
If your property sold at the tax sale for more than the taxes, penalties, and costs owed, that extra amount is called an overage. After any municipal tax liens are paid, the remaining overage belongs to you as the owner of record and can be claimed from the county (generally starting about 90 days after the tax deed is executed). Many people never realize this money is owed to them, so it is worth asking your county about.
Redeem, or sell? Two ways to protect your equity
Within the redemption year you generally have two good choices: redeem the property if you can pay the amount due, or sell the home (you still own it during redemption) to clear the taxes and walk away with your equity. Our guide on selling before a tax auction covers how a sale can work on this timeline.
If you are inside the redemption window and weighing whether to redeem or sell, we are a local, family-run company buying across Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, and Pickens counties, and we are glad to help you think it through at no cost.