Madison County, GA tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Madison County publishes no tax sale page. The official Tax Commissioner page confirms a "Madison County Delinquent Tax Sale" exists, but it carries no sale dates, no levy list, no bidder rules, and no auction platform.
• •Tax Commissioner Lamar Dalton leads the office. It sits in the Government Complex at 91 Albany Ave in Danielsville and is the county's single location for property, mobile home, and timber tax billing and collection. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm.
• •Excess funds are the one sale artifact the county does publish. The Tax Commissioner page links a Remaining Excess Funds PDF plus an Application for Excess Funds Request form. The current PDF lists parcel, taxpayer, purchaser, starting bid, ending bid, and excess for past sales, which is a usable read on historical bidding behavior in this county.
• •No online bidding. Two Bid4Assets courtesy notices describe Madison County sales as "Live/In Person" redeemable deed sales and disclose that Bid4Assets is not running them. Both notices also label the seller a "Treasurer's Office," which is wrong for Georgia; the conducting office is the Tax Commissioner acting as ex officio sheriff.
• •Plan on a phone call. Because neither the sale date nor the levy list is posted online, investors need to contact the Tax Commissioner's office at 706-795-6385 to learn when the next sale runs and which parcels are on it.
• •The county's Public Announcements page carried no tax sale notice at the time of research, so it is not a reliable channel for sale advertising.

Georgia rules

Redemption

The right to redeem runs for 12 months from the date of the sale and does not end there. It continues after the year until the tax deed purchaser forecloses it by serving and publishing the statutory barment notice, which cannot be started until 12 months have passed. The purchaser delivers the notice to the sheriff at least 45 days before the redemption deadline named in it, and publishes it once a week for four consecutive weeks in the six months immediately before that deadline. Redemption puts title back in the defendant in fi. fa. subject to the liens that existed at the sale, and the purchaser must execute and record a quitclaim deed. Title under a tax deed recorded on or after July 1, 1996 ripens by prescription four years after recording. Judicial in rem foreclosures under Article 5 run on a different clock: the owner has 60 days after the sale to redeem by paying the minimum bid price into the superior court.O.C.G.A. 48-4-40, who may redeem and when (2024 Code of Georgia)O.C.G.A. 48-4-40Verified Jul 30, 2026

Deed deposit

Georgia sets no statewide percentage deposit. A purchaser at a judicial sale may tender cash or a cashier's or certified check drawn for the purchase price and issued or certified by a federally insured financial institution. Counties publish their own payment terms, and many require payment in full at the close of the sale, so confirm the terms with the tax commissioner before bidding.O.C.G.A. 48-4-1, Procedures for sales under tax levies and executions (2024 Code of Georgia)O.C.G.A. 48-4-1Verified Jul 30, 2026

Surplus proceeds

Excess funds left after taxes, costs, and the expenses of the sale belong to the former owner and to recorded lienholders in order of priority. The officer who sold the property must mail notice of the excess funds by first-class mail within 30 days to the record owner at the time of the sale, to the holder of each security deed, and to every other party with a recorded equity interest or claim, and may file an interpleader action in superior court. Funds still unclaimed five years after the sale are paid over to the Georgia Department of Revenue, after which only a court order from an interpleader action releases them.O.C.G.A. 48-4-5, Payment of excess (2024 Code of Georgia)O.C.G.A. 48-4-5Verified Jul 30, 2026

Governing statute

O.C.G.A. Title 48, Chapter 4Official Code of Georgia Annotated, public access published for the Georgia General Assembly by the Georgia Code Revision CommissionO.C.G.A. Title 48, Chapter 4Verified Jul 25, 2026

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 Georgiarules and every county →