Washington County, AL tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Washington County, AL tax sale, one of 2,553 counties in 30 states. Alabama sells tax lien certificates paying up to 12%. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from state rules plus what the county publishes on Jul 27, 2026.
How tax lien sales work in Washington County, seat of Chatom: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Alabama tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- Not scheduled.
On this page
How Washington County sells delinquent taxes
From lien to deed
Alabama holds no routine county tax deed auction under the tax lien regime. A holder of all the sold, unexpired, outstanding tax lien certificates on a parcel may file an action in circuit court to foreclose the right to redeem and quiet title, but only once four years have passed since the tax lien auction and no later than ten years after it. The holder must mail a notice of intent at least 30 days and no more than 180 days before filing, to the owner of record, every recorded lienholder, the tax collecting official, and anyone else who may reasonably be believed to hold an interest.
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Washington County Revenue Commissioner (the office brands itself the Washington County Revenue Office; Mary Ann Dees, Revenue Commissioner). The Alabama Department of Revenue county directory lists the same official title, Revenue Commissioner, for Washington County.
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- No sale month, date, or time is published.
- Next expected
- between March 1 and June 15, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
When it runs
Registration and deposit
No bidder registration process, deposit requirement, or bidder packet is published on any Washington County site. Call the Revenue Commissioner at 251-847-2915 for registration instructions. Buyers of state-held (sold to state) parcels do not bid: the Alabama Department of Revenue takes an electronic price quote application, emails the quote, and the applicant then has 10 calendar days from the date on the price quote to remit payment, postmarked no later than the 10th calendar day.
Sale format and venue
Washington County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Washington 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.
Get the advertised list
Use Alabama DOR transcript of tax delinquent land available for sale, Washington County (state-held inventory, refreshed weekly) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
Not scheduled. The auction platform is still being verified. Confirm the next sale date and registration window with the county before you bid.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Circuit court of the county; the circuit clerk executes the deed as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Washington County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Alabama DOR transcript of tax delinquent land available for sale, Washington County (state-held inventory, refreshed weekly). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
No bidder registration process, deposit requirement, or bidder packet is published on any Washington County site. Call the Revenue Commissioner at 251-847-2915 for registration instructions. Buyers of state-held (sold to state) parcels do not bid: the Alabama Department of Revenue takes an electronic price quote application, emails the quote, and the applicant then has 10 calendar days from the date on the price quote to remit payment, postmarked no later than the 10th calendar day.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Alabama due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.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
unsold certificates
Liens that draw no bid at the auction stay with the county. At any time after the auction date the tax collecting official may sell an unsold lien at private sale for no less than all taxes, interest, penalties, costs and fees due, plus any amount owed to a prior certificate holder. The rate is agreed with the tax collecting official and cannot exceed 12 percent, so over-the-counter liens often carry the full rate. Ask the county for its list of unsold liens.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Alabama calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Washington County Revenue Commissioner (Washington County Revenue Office), Mary Ann Dees
45 Court Street, Chatom, AL 36518 (mailing: P.O. Box 847, 45 Court St, Chatom, AL 36518)
Official websiteCounty notes
- Office confirmed on three official sources: the Revenue Commissioner's own site, the county government site (wcalabama.com), and the Alabama Department of Revenue county directory, which lists Mary Ann Dees, Revenue Commissioner, P.O. Box 847, Chatom, AL 36518, phone 251-847-2915, appraisal 251-847-3886, fax 251-847-3944.
- Street address discrepancy across official sources: the Revenue Commissioner's own site and its About Us page give 45 Court Street, Chatom, AL 36518, while the county government site and the county GIS site give 401 Court Street, Chatom, AL 36518. Use the P.O. Box for mail and confirm the street address by phone before visiting.
- Office hours published by the office and the county site are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Central Time.
- Washington County publishes no tax sale page, no sale notice, no bidder registration form, and no delinquent list of its own. Its FAQ covers mailing address, millage, due dates, assessment, business personal property, current use, deeds, and manufactured homes, with no tax sale question at all.
- Washington County does not appear on GovEase's Alabama county contact list, and it is not shown on Ingenuity Auctions. No online platform is asserted here because none was verified.
- Because Alabama counties elect their collection method under Code of Alabama 1975 section 40-10-180, confirm with the Revenue Commissioner whether Washington County runs the traditional tax sale or the tax lien auction. The county publishes no election notice online.
- The Alabama DOR transcript of state-held tax delinquent land for Washington County (WWW_TRANS_65.PDF) was header only, with no parcel rows, as of the 07/20/2026 date printed on the file. Recheck weekly rather than treating the empty file as permanent.
- Property research support: the county's public parcel viewer is at https://washington.alabamagis.com/washington/, hosted by Flagship GIS and linked from the Alabama Department of Revenue directory.
Alabama rules
- Redemption
- A tax lien can be redeemed at any time before the circuit court enters judgment in a foreclosure action, and the holder cannot file that action until four years after the auction or the tax official's private sale. If the holder does not commence a foreclosure action within ten years of the auction or sale, the certificate expires and the lien becomes void. A certificate holder has no right to enter or possess the property, make repairs, or charge rents before it receives the circuit clerk's deed. In a county that uses the Article 1 property tax sale instead, land sold to a purchaser other than the state may be redeemed within three years from the date of sale, and land bid in for the state may be redeemed at any time before title passes out of the state.
- Surplus proceeds
- In a court-ordered auction the proceeds pay the cost of the auction first, then the certificate holder up to the redemption amount plus taxes it paid before filing and the court-allowed costs and fees. Any surplus goes to the owner or the owner's heirs or successors as the court determines, and Alabama's unclaimed property law applies to whatever is left. In a county that instead uses the Article 1 property tax sale, the excess over the decree is held in a separate county account for three years for a party who redeems, and Section 40-10-28 opens later windows in which the owner or a redeeming party can claim it.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Does Washington County, Alabama sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Washington County tax certificate sale?
How often does Washington County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Washington County tax sale list?
Verified Jul 27, 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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