Florence County tax sales, South Carolina

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Florence County held its 2026 delinquent tax sale on Monday, October 5, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. The county is the most itemized publisher in this set: it prints a per step delinquent cost schedule (a $20 delinquent notice, a $30 certified mail levy, a $35 personal levy, a $25 advertisement charge, a $10 auction fee and a $60 land mortgage search), sells in alphabetical order by the defaulting taxpayer's last name with real estate before mobile homes, and sets a $25 minimum bid increment. Two county documents differ on the venue wording, the FAQ page saying the Florence County Parking Lot and the 2026 Buyers Information Sheet saying the County Parking Garage; both wordings are carried here as published.

Selling office: Delinquent Tax Office, Florence County, Room 107, County Complex, 180 N. Irby St., Florence, SC 29501; phone (843) 665-3095

Next sale: Annual sale held Monday, October 5, 2026 (2026 cycle complete). The date and 10:00 a.m. start come from the county's 2026 Buyers Information Sheet. For the 2026 cycle the owner may redeem until October 6, 2027, at 5 p.m. No 2027 sale date is published.

The advertised list was posted on the county website and updated weekly, and also advertised in a local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks. The county publishes no parcel count for the sale in the sources read.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Annual sale held Monday, October 5, 2026 (2026 cycle complete)
Sale date and venue	Monday, October 5, 2026, 10:00 a.m. Venue as published differs between county documents: the county FAQ page says Florence County Parking Lot; the 2026 Buyers Information Sheet says County Parking Garage.
Registration	Registration is required; the registration form was available online and in the office from September 1, 2026. Bidder paddles are provided and picked up on the day of sale. Bids are in person only; no mail bids. The county page refers to a registration fee but states no amount, so none is stated here.
How bids are placed	In person. Bidding starts at the Forfeited Land Commission minimum bid and proceeds in increments of no less than $25. Properties are sold in alphabetical order by the defaulting taxpayer's last name; real estate is sold before mobile homes.
The list	Posted on the county website and updated weekly; advertised in a local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks. A parcel count is not published.
Redemption	The county page states the period as a year and a day. The redemption amount rises 3 percent of the bid per quarter (3, 6, 9, 12 percent), capped so the interest never exceeds the tax or opening FLC bid amount. For the 2026 cycle the owner may redeem until October 6, 2027, at 5 p.m.; the tax deed or bill of sale is recorded or issued around the end of March 2028. The county also publishes the mobile home rent rule.
Format	Live in person auction; no mail bids and no online bidding.
Selling office	Delinquent Tax Office, Florence County

Sources: Florence County Delinquent Tax Office. Florence County Buyers Information Sheet, October 5, 2026 (PDF). 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 Florence 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 Florence County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How South Carolina tax sales work

The debt builds fast, then the county takes possession on paper. Taxes unpaid after January 15 take penalties under Section 12-45-180: 3 percent, then 7 percent more on February 2, then 5 percent more on March 17. The treasurer issues an execution, and the officer charged with collecting delinquent taxes mails the delinquency notice on April 1, takes exclusive possession by certified mail or posting, and advertises the sale once a week for three consecutive weeks under Section 12-51-40.
The sale is a public auction, and the county opens every parcel. Under Section 12-51-50 the property is sold at public auction at the courthouse or another convenient place in the county on the advertised date; the statute sets no statewide date, and counties in this set sell between October and December. The officer must open each parcel with a bid for the county Forfeited Land Commission equal to all unpaid taxes, penalties, assessments and costs, including the taxes levied for the year the redemption period begins (Section 12-51-55). Public bidding starts at that amount.
The winner pays in full that day and leaves with a receipt. Section 12-51-60 requires payment of the full bid on the day of the sale, in cash, cashier's check, certified check or money order, and the buyer receives a receipt, not a deed. A bidder who fails to pay has the bid cancelled, faces up to 500 dollars in damages, and the property is readvertised (Section 12-51-70). Any part of the bid above the taxes, penalties and costs is held by the collector and belongs to the former owner, who is notified of the excess after the tax deed issues.
Redemption runs twelve months and pays a lump sum, not a rate. The defaulting taxpayer, a grantee from the owner, or a mortgage or judgment creditor may redeem within twelve months of the sale under Section 12-51-90, paying the debt plus interest on the whole successful bid: 3 percent if redeemed in the first three months, 6 percent in months four to six, 9 percent in months seven to nine, 12 percent in the last three months. The interest charged may never exceed the amount of the Forfeited Land Commission bid, so money bid above the county's opening bid earns no interest at all.
The deed comes after the year runs, and unsold parcels sit with the Commission. If nobody redeems, the collector issues a tax title to the purchaser under Section 12-51-130, and after one more year that deed is incontestable (Section 12-51-90(C)). Parcels the Forfeited Land Commission takes in, because nobody outbid its opening bid, are held through the same redemption period; the Commission then holds title and sells forfeited lands through its own posted sale process, which is the year round leftover channel in every South Carolina county.

How bidding works in Florence County

Florence County is a live, in person auction with a published floor on competition: bidding starts at the Forfeited Land Commission minimum bid and moves in increments of no less than $25. Failure to pay is the harshest in this set: a $500 fine, declaration as a non qualified bidder for future Florence County tax sales, and forfeiture of all bids, with the Buyers Information Sheet capping default damages at $500 per bid per parcel.

Bid the redemption math, not the parcel. If the owner redeems, your entire return is the quarter's lump sum percentage, capped at the county's own opening bid. Every dollar bid above that opening bid earns zero interest in the redemption outcome and is handed to the former owner in the deed outcome. The rational bid ceiling in South Carolina is set by Section 12-51-90, not by the parcel's market value.
Full payment is due before you leave the room. South Carolina sales settle on the spot, in legal tender, and a failed payment cancels the bid, readvertises the parcel, and exposes the defaulting bidder to up to 500 dollars in damages (Section 12-51-70). Registered bidders bring certified funds sized to their maximum bid, not to their expected bid.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Deposit, Florence County	No deposit separate from the bid is published. The county page refers to paying a registration fee but states no amount, so none is stated here.
Payment, Florence County	The winning bid must be paid in full on the day of sale, by 5:00 p.m. per the Buyers Information Sheet, at the Delinquent Tax Office, Room 107, by cash, postal money order, cashier's check, or certified check. A receipt is issued per property; a duplicate receipt costs up to $10.
What is sold	The property itself, but title does not move on sale day. The winning bid buys a receipt and a claim: if the owner redeems within twelve months the sale unwinds, and only if nobody redeems does the collector issue a tax title. There is no lien certificate in South Carolina at any stage.
The opening bid	Set by statute, not by the market. Under Section 12-51-55 the officer bids for the Forfeited Land Commission in an amount equal to all unpaid taxes, penalties, assessments and costs, including the taxes levied for the year in which the redemption period begins. Every public bid is measured against that floor.
Excess bid	Any part of the winning bid above the taxes, penalties, assessments and costs is held by the delinquent tax collector, and once the tax deed has been issued the collector must notify the former owner of the excess due (Section 12-51-60). Money bid above the debt is never bidder profit in either outcome: on redemption it earns no interest, and without redemption it belongs to the former owner.
Redemption	Twelve months from the date of the sale, by the defaulting taxpayer, a grantee from the owner, or a mortgage or judgment creditor, paying the debt plus lump sum interest on the whole successful bid: 3 percent in the first three months, 6 percent in months four to six, 9 percent in months seven to nine, 12 percent in the last three months, and never more than the amount of the Forfeited Land Commission bid (Section 12-51-90).
The tax title	Issued by the collector after the redemption period ends if nobody redeems (Section 12-51-130), and incontestable after one additional year (Section 12-51-90(C)). A tax title is not a title insurance policy: owners of record, occupants, and surviving interests are the buyer's homework, and a quiet title action is the usual finishing step.
Costs on top of the bid	The full bid is due on sale day in legal tender; there is no financing window and no deposit installment structure in the statute. Current year taxes are already inside the opening bid. After the sale the costs are time and process: twelve months of redemption to wait out, then deed and recording charges as the county publishes them.

Unsold parcels: the Forfeited Land Commission

Unsold properties are turned over to the Forfeited Land Commission. Per the county page, an FLC Bid Assignment List will be available in November, and buyers are directed to contact the Delinquent Tax Office for further information. No standing posted FLC list was found beyond that statement.

Before you bid

Price the year, not just the parcel. Every South Carolina purchase includes twelve months of illiquidity before a deed can issue, and the owner can unwind the sale at any point in that year. Decide in advance whether you are buying the redemption return, the deed, or both, because the right bid is different for each.
Verify the venue and the registration close. South Carolina sales are live events, and registration closes days before the sale in most counties, sometimes with a fee and never on sale day in the larger ones. The registration deadline, not the sale date, is the gate that decides whether you bid at all.
Read the Forfeited Land Commission list after the sale. Parcels nobody outbids are taken in by the Commission and return through its own sale process after redemption runs. That list, published by each county's Commission, is the second chance at the same inventory, priced by the Commission's rules.
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.

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