Johnston County tax foreclosure sales

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Johnston's foreclosure dates are, in the county's own framing, randomly selected by the foreclosure attorney: there is no sale day to circle, and the county's Upcoming Foreclosure Auctions page currently states "No Sale Scheduled At This Time." The same page carries the county's second channel, its county owned surplus property list, which is empty at the moment but fully documented.

Selling office: A private foreclosure attorney assigned by the Tax Office, with a court appointed commissioner conducting the sale and announcing the actual opening bid. The attorney's name is not published on the county tax pages.

Next event: No Sale Scheduled At This Time (the county page's own words). The Upcoming Foreclosure Auctions page carries an empty owner, parcel and minimum bid table, and was last updated February 13, 2026. When sales resume, dates post on that page, on the courthouse bulletin board, and in the Smithfield Herald.

No 2025 or 2026 dated sale notice appears on the official county sources read.

Dates and stages

Next event	No Sale Scheduled At This Time (the county page's own words)
Sale track	Not stated by statute number on the county pages. The published mechanics are a filed foreclosure lawsuit ending in a Commissioner's Deed.
Sale pattern	Rolling, per property, on dates randomly selected by the foreclosure attorney, normally beginning at 10:00 a.m. Dates and times are posted on the courthouse bulletin board (old section of the Courthouse), in the Smithfield Herald for two weeks prior to sale, and on the county website.
Upset bids	Upset bids are filed at the Clerk of Court's office in the courthouse: an increase of 5 percent or $750, whichever is greater. The county FAQ adds a point most counties do not publish: the owner keeps a payoff right during the first ten day period, and can redeem even after a sale as long as the sale has not been confirmed by the Court.
The list	The Tax Administration's About the Foreclosure Auctions page, which carries the upcoming list and the county owned surplus list on one page, plus the courthouse bulletin board and the Smithfield Herald.
Format	In person, on the Johnston County Courthouse steps, 212 E Market St, Smithfield, facing Market Street.
Selling office	A private foreclosure attorney assigned by the Tax Office, with a court appointed commissioner conducting the sale and announcing the actual opening bid. The attorney's name is not published on the county tax pages.

Sources: Johnston County Tax Administration, About the Foreclosure Auctions. Johnston County Tax Administration, FAQs. Johnston County, Procedure for Purchasing Surplus Real Property. Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and owners can pay the judgment and stop a sale at any point before the upset bid period expires.

Research Johnston 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 Johnston County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How North Carolina tax foreclosure works

There is no tax lien sale in North Carolina. Property taxes are a lien on the property itself, and the county's remedy is foreclosure of that lien, not an auction of the lien. Guilford County's page states it in one line: North Carolina state law prohibits the sale of property tax liens. Any site selling you a North Carolina tax lien certificate is selling something the state does not issue.
Track one: judicial foreclosure (NCGS 105-374). The taxing unit files a foreclosure action in superior court, takes a judgment, and the court appoints a commissioner to sell the property. The commissioner advertises the sale (published once a week for two weeks and posted at the courthouse, at least 20 days in the counties that state the posting period), cries it at the courthouse, and on confirmation executes a Commissioner's Deed. It works like a mortgage foreclosure, because the statute builds it on one.
Track two: in rem foreclosure (NCGS 105-375). The taxing unit dockets a judgment with the Clerk of Superior Court without a full court action, and the judgment is enforced by execution: the sheriff advertises and sells the property, and conveys by Sheriff's Deed. Counties choose the track, and some in this set use both; the track decides who sells and which deed you get.
The sale itself is only the opening price. The officer or commissioner files a report of sale, and the price stands open for 10 days. The taxing unit itself often bids the judgment amount at the sale, so a winning bid below the tax debt is not the bargain it looks like until the upset period runs.
The upset bid period is the real auction. For 10 days after the report of sale (or after the last notice of upset bid) is filed, any person may file an upset bid with the Clerk of Superior Court: a bid exceeding the reported price by at least 5 percent, with a minimum increase of $750, backed by a deposit of at least 5 percent of the upset bid and never less than $750 (NCGS 1-339.64 for in rem and execution sales; NCGS 45-21.27 states the same math). Each valid upset bid restarts a fresh 10 day period, with no limit on rounds. Only when a period expires with no upset bid do the rights of the parties become fixed; the sale is then confirmed and the deed issues. The owner can still pay the judgment and costs and stop the process at any point up to the end of the upset period.

How bidding works in Johnston County

No bidder registration is published. The commissioner announces the actual opening bid at the sale; the county's figure is the delinquent taxes plus interest and legal costs. All property is sold as is, where is, with no title certification.

There are two deposits, not one. The sale deposit goes to the officer, commissioner or attorney at the sale itself, at the percentage your county's row above states. The upset bid deposit goes to the Clerk of Superior Court if you enter or raise during the 10 day window. They are different money, paid to different offices.
The upset window is where North Carolina sales are actually decided. A parcel can look won on sale day and change hands twice more inside successive 10 day periods. Work the Clerk's file for the parcel, not just the sale day result.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Deposit, Johnston County	5 percent of the final bid, required at the time of the auction. The form of funds is not published in the county FAQ read. A warning with teeth: a bidder who fails to produce the purchase price on the attorney's demand faces immediate loss of all deposits, and civil and contempt exposure.
Payment, Johnston County	The balance of the bid must be paid at the end of the ten day upset bid period and confirmation of the sale.
Sale deposit	Set by each sale's notice, not by one statewide figure. In this set the published sale deposits run from 5 percent of the bid (New Hanover, Union) through 10 percent (Durham) to 20 percent (Guilford, Gaston), in cash or certified funds. The county figure is in the deposit row above; the notice for your parcel controls.
The upset bid raise	An upset bid must exceed the reported sale price, or the last upset bid, by a minimum of 5 percent, and in any event by at least $750. One of the two numbers is always bigger; compute both and use the larger.
The upset bid deposit	Filed with the Clerk of Superior Court with the bid: cash, a certified check or a cashier's check of at least 5 percent of the amount of the upset bid, and never less than $750. Several counties in this set use the standard form AOC-CV-414 for the bid.
The clock	Ten calendar days from the filing of the report of sale or the last notice of upset bid, expiring at the close of the Clerk's normal business hours on the tenth day. Weekends count inside the period; where the tenth day falls on a day the courthouse is closed, the filing rolls to the next open day, as Gaston and Guilford state expressly. Every upset bid restarts the full 10 days.
Title and redemption	The deed is a non-warranty Commissioner's Deed or Sheriff's Deed. There is no post sale redemption in North Carolina tax foreclosure: the owner's right is to pay the judgment and stop the sale, and it ends when the upset period expires and the sale is confirmed. A tax foreclosure sale may also leave the buyer subject to taxes and assessments that were not part of the judgment, as Forsyth's list states expressly; read the notice's subject to language before pricing a bid.

County owned property

Published, on the same auctions page: a County Owned Surplus Property section for real property the county acquired at foreclosure. The surplus table is currently empty. The county's published procedure: a written bid of at least the minimum (taxes plus costs, including attorney's fees), with a 20 percent deposit in certified funds; the bid is advertised in The Smithfield Herald; upset bids run 10 days and must be at least 10 percent above the last bid, a different and steeper rule than the tax sale's 5 percent, each with its own 20 percent deposit, followed by a telephone round among bidders. The winner takes a non warranty deed and must pay the balance in certified funds within 10 days of notification or forfeit the deposit. General county surplus personal property is sold separately through GovDeals.

Before you bid

The hammer price is an opening offer. Budget and plan for the upset period: anyone in the state can outbid you at the Clerk's office for 10 days, and each raise restarts the clock. Your real closing date is the day a period finally expires.
Read the notice's subject to language. Tax foreclosure deeds are non-warranty, and taxes or assessments outside the judgment can survive the sale. The notice for the parcel, not the county page, is the full term sheet.
Know the track. Judicial sales run through a court appointed commissioner and end in a Commissioner's Deed; in rem sales run through the sheriff and end in a Sheriff's Deed. The track also decides who holds your deposit and who answers questions.
Set the maximum before the sale opens. The free Max-Bid Calculator below works backwards from your resale or hold value to the highest bid you can pay, with the costs shown. In an upset bid state, set two numbers: your sale day bid and your walk away upset ceiling.

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