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Prince George's County tax sales, Maryland
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Prince George's County is the most completely documented jurisdiction in this Maryland set: registration fee, deposit, payment deadline, rates, premium and the assignment sale are all published on the county's own tax sale site. Two things changed for fiscal 2026 and both are stated on the county's pages: the redemption rates are now split, 10 percent per year for owner-occupied property and property of an heir of a deceased owner, and 20 percent per year for non-principal residences and unimproved parcels; and the county ran a 2026 Assignment Tax Certificate Sale for what the May sale left behind, by email only from June 10, 2026. One discrepancy is flagged, not resolved: the county's published premium formula is 20 percent of the amount by which the bid exceeds 40 percent of the assessed value, while the statute at 14-817(b)(2) states the Prince George's County premium as 20 percent of the excess over the greater of the lien amount or 40 percent of full cash value. The county's formula omits the lien amount prong; bidders should price the premium off the county's published worked examples and note the conflict.
Selling office: County Collector of Taxes, Office of Finance, Treasury Division (offices at 1301 McCormick Drive, Suite 1100, Largo)
Next sale: Award day Mon May 11, 2026, online (already run; bids opened May 4, 2026). The county's pattern is a May sale; the 2027 date is not yet published. Awards ran in three batches on Monday, May 11, 2026, closing 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.: batches 1 and 2 improved parcels, batch 3 vacant lots. The final list was updated after 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 8, 2026.
As of November 9, 2026, the May 2026 sale and its June assignment sale have both run. Certificates from the 2026 sale issue in November 2026 for non-principal property and February 2027 for principal residences, and the foreclosure window runs two years from the sale. The county's next main sale follows its May pattern in 2027, date not yet published; its registration window opened in mid April in 2026, which is the date to diary.
Dates and deadlines
| Next sale | Award day Mon May 11, 2026, online (already run; bids opened May 4, 2026). The county's pattern is a May sale; the 2027 date is not yet published |
| Registration | Online only, April 10 to April 24, 2026, closing 5:00 p.m.; Form W-9 upload required; bidder logins expire December 31 of the sale year. Fee: 150 dollars, non-refundable, by ACH debit. |
| Deposit | 1,000 dollars by ACH debit at registration, applied to purchases or refunded if nothing is awarded. |
| Payment | Invoice emailed by 4:00 p.m. on sale day; guaranteed funds, wire transfer, money order or cashier's check, must be received by 3:00 p.m. the day after the sale. Failure to pay forfeits the certificates, can bring a ban from future sales, and the award passes to the next highest bidder. |
| Redemption interest, new for FY2026 | 10 percent per year for owner-occupied property and property of an heir of a deceased owner; 20 percent per year for non-principal residences and unimproved parcels. |
| High-bid premium | Yes. The county's published formula: 20 percent of the amount by which the bid exceeds 40 percent of the assessed value, with worked examples on its Tax Information page. Flagged conflict: 14-817(b)(2) states this county's premium over the greater of the lien amount or 40 percent of full cash value. Refunded without interest on redemption or on delivery of a tax sale deed; non-refundable after the foreclosure deadline or if the action is dismissed. |
| Withholding thresholds | Parcels are withheld from sale below 1,000 dollars due for owner-occupied and heir property, and below 750 dollars for non-owner-occupied property and vacant land. A 30 dollar advertising fee is included in the sale amount. |
| The certificate | Certificates issue after six months (November) for non-principal property and nine months (February) for principal residences. A certificate is void if foreclosure is not filed within two years. Assignment is permitted with notice to the Treasury Division and an assignee Form W-9 (14-821). |
| Format | Internet based sealed (direct) bid auction using the high bid premium method, on the county's own tax sale website: The county's own site, taxsale.princegeorgescountymd.gov. Prince George's County does not use the shared RealAuction portal and names no third party vendor. |
| Selling office | County Collector of Taxes, Office of Finance, Treasury Division (offices at 1301 McCormick Drive, Suite 1100, Largo) |
Sources: Prince George's County Tax Sale, home. Prince George's County Tax Sale, Tax Information (updated April 16, 2026). Prince George's County Tax Sale, Bidding Rules (updated March 3, 2026). Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and parcels are pulled up to sale day.
Research Prince George's County parcels before you bid
A sale list gives you the parcels, the date, and the opening terms. It does not give you the owner, the value, or the rest of the picture: liens, foreclosure status, and parcel history. PropertyRadar is the data platform for that layer. It carries owner records, assessed and market values, foreclosure and tax data, and property history for parcels across Prince George's County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.
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How Maryland tax sales work
- The collector must sell, on local law's calendar. Under section 14-808 the collector of each county, the Director of Finance in Baltimore City, proceeds to sell all property on which taxes are in arrears, at the time required by local law and, outside Baltimore City, no later than two years from the date the tax fell in arrears. Most Maryland counties sell in May or June; Baltimore County sells in late summer.
- What is sold is a certificate of sale, not the property. The certificate (section 14-820) sets out the property, the sale date, the amount, the taxes it was sold for, the rate of redemption, the foreclosure timing, and the warning that the certificate is void if foreclosure is not filed within two years. The owner keeps the property unless the right of redemption is foreclosed.
- The sale is a public auction with real notice behind it. All sales are at public auction to the highest good faith accepted bid (section 14-817(a)(2)), after the collector mails the owner a statement at least 30 days before first advertising (section 14-812) and publishes once a week for four successive weeks (section 14-813; three weeks in Frederick County, two insertions plus website posting in Baltimore City, two newspapers in Anne Arundel County).
- Payment is due by the day after the sale. The purchaser pays the full amount of taxes due, interest and penalties, sale expenses and any high-bid premium not later than the day after the sale (section 14-818); any residue of the purchase price remains on credit, and no deed issues until the balance and all post-sale taxes are paid. Several counties in this set take payment the same day by ACH, which is tighter than the statute.
- The high-bid premium is the collector's election, at a statutory formula. Any collector may establish a premium for all properties and must state it in the public notice (section 14-817(b)(2)): 20 percent of the amount by which the bid exceeds 40 percent of full cash value, except in Baltimore City and Prince George's County, where the threshold is the greater of the lien amount or 40 percent of full cash value. It is mandatory for group and sealed bid sales everywhere except Montgomery County. It is refunded without interest on redemption or deed delivery, and it is forfeited after the foreclosure deadline if the property was not redeemed and no foreclosure was filed.
- Redemption runs until the circuit court finally forecloses it. The owner or any interest holder may redeem at any time until the right is finally barred by decree (sections 14-827, 14-833(b)), paying the lien amount, interest at the rate of redemption, holder paid taxes and expenses (section 14-828). Rates are fixed locally under section 14-820, and for owner-occupied residential property the rate may not exceed 10 percent a year anywhere in the state (section 14-820(c)).
- The certificate carries a two year fuse. Foreclosure may be filed after six months, nine months for owner-occupied residential property, after two pre-suit notices (section 14-833(a) and (a-1)); a certificate on which no foreclosure is filed within two years is void and the purchase money is forfeited (section 14-833(c)(1) and (d)). A final judgment vests absolute and indefeasible fee simple title (section 14-844) and the collector then executes the deed (section 14-847). Property nobody buys is bought in and held by the governing body (section 14-824), which may later sell and assign the certificates (section 14-825).
How bidding works in Prince George's County
Online only at taxsale.princegeorgescountymd.gov, April 10 to April 24, 2026 for the 2026 sale, with a Form W-9 upload and a 150 dollar non-refundable fee by ACH debit. No mail or email registration exists.
- Price the premium as tied up, interest free money. Where a Maryland county charges a high-bid premium, the premium is 20 percent of the bid above the threshold and it earns nothing while it waits, returning only on redemption or deed delivery, and vanishing if you miss the foreclosure deadline. A bid that only pencils with the premium treated as invested principal does not pencil.
- Work backwards from the two year fuse. Every Maryland certificate must be in foreclosure within two years or it is void and the money is forfeited. The bid that matters is the one on a parcel whose owner, value and title you have already checked against that deadline: six months to wait, nine on an owner-occupied home, two notices to give, and a filing date that cannot slip.
Terms: what a bid actually costs
| Deposit, Prince George's County | 1,000 dollars by ACH debit at registration, applied to purchases or refunded if nothing is awarded. This is a published 2026 figure from the county's Bidding Rules. |
| Payment, Prince George's County | Guaranteed funds, wire transfer, money order or cashier's check, received by 3:00 p.m. Eastern the day after the sale, against an invoice emailed by 4:00 p.m. on sale day. Non-payment forfeits the certificates and can bring a ban. |
| What is sold | A tax lien certificate of sale under section 14-820, carrying the amount the property was sold for, the taxes, interest, penalties and expenses, the rate of redemption, and the certificate's own warning: it is void if foreclosure is not filed within two years. The property is not sold and the owner keeps it unless the right of redemption is foreclosed. |
| The minimum bid | No sale below the lien amount, the taxes, interest, penalties and expenses for which the property is liable (section 14-817), except certified abandoned property, which the collector may sell for less, at a minimum the collector sets (section 14-817(c)). Counties express the floor as the advertised amount due. |
| The high-bid premium | Where the collector establishes one and states it in the public notice: 20 percent of the amount by which the highest bid exceeds 40 percent of the property's full cash value, or, in Baltimore City and Prince George's County, exceeds the greater of the lien amount or 40 percent of full cash value (section 14-817(b)(2)). Refunded without interest on redemption or on delivery of the deed; forfeited after the foreclosure filing deadline if the property was not redeemed and no foreclosure was filed. Whether a given county charged one in 2026 is a per county fact, stated on each page. |
| Redemption interest | Fixed locally under section 14-820(b): each county in this set sets its own rate, from Frederick County's 8 percent to the 18 percent counties, and the rate is stated on each county page with its source. One statewide override: on owner-occupied residential property the rate may not exceed 10 percent a year (section 14-820(c)), whatever the county's headline rate says. |
| The two year fuse | The certificate is void unless a proceeding to foreclose the right of redemption is filed within two years of the date of the certificate of sale, and on voiding the holder's rights cease and the money the collector received is forfeited (section 14-833(c)(1) and (d)). No other state in the Pine set kills an idle certificate this completely; Maryland certificates are working assets with a deadline, not holdings. |
| The deed | On final judgment the court vests absolute and indefeasible title in fee simple in the plaintiff (section 14-844), and the collector executes a deed when the plaintiff pays the balance of the purchase price plus post-sale taxes, interest and penalties (section 14-847). The deed is prepared by the holder at the holder's expense. |
The leftover channel: the 2026 Assignment Tax Certificate Sale
Unsold and over the counter accounts were listed on the county's tax sale website on June 2, 2026, and certificates were available for purchase by email only starting June 10, 2026, through TAXSALE@CO.PG.MD.US: the 2026 Assignment Tax Certificate Sale. The county itself is listed as purchaser of what nobody bought, under purchaser code C26, consistent with the governing body's duty to buy in and hold under 14-824 and its power to sell and assign under 14-825. This is the fastest documented leftover channel in the Maryland set: roughly a month after the main sale.
Before you bid
- Check the owner-occupied question first. It changes both numbers that matter: the redemption rate is capped at 10 percent on an owner-occupied home whatever the county publishes, and the foreclosure wait is nine months instead of six. A Maryland model that does not split owner-occupied from everything else is wrong in the county's favor or yours, and you will not know which until redemption.
- Read the county's public notice for the premium. The premium exists only where the collector established it and stated it in the notice, and two counties in this set show the spread: Frederick and Prince George's publish theirs in detail, Carroll's published terms contain none at all. The notice, not the state frame, is the document that prices your bid.
- Calendar the two year deadline the day you buy. A Maryland certificate not in foreclosure within two years is void and the money is forfeited. Diary the pre-suit notices (first notice not before four months, seven for owner-occupied homes) and the filing date when the certificate arrives, not when the redemption period feels close.
- Set the maximum before the sale opens. The free Max-Bid Calculator below works backwards from your exit value to the highest bid you can pay, with the costs shown.
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