Horry County tax sales, South Carolina

Verified

Horry County collects delinquent taxes through a Delinquent Tax Department inside the Treasurer office, and its standing delinquent tax page lays out the year without naming a sale date: taxes are delinquent March 17, delinquent notices are mailed April 1, certified notices follow 30 days later, levy notices are posted usually from May to October, delinquent real estate and mobile homes are advertised in a paper of general circulation for three consecutive Thursdays before the tax sale, and the tax sale time, date and location are listed in the newspaper advertisement in November. Secondary summaries of a county 2026 Tax Sale Information document report the 2026 sale for Tuesday, December 1, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. in Conway; that document could not be read in full on an official page for this file, so the 2026 date, venue and registration details in this entry are marked unverified wherever they appear.

Selling office: Horry County Treasurer, Delinquent Tax Department

Next sale: Tuesday, December 1, 2026 (unverified, see note). No dated 2026 sale was published on the Horry County Delinquent Tax page read November 9, 2026; that page states only that the tax sale time, date and location will be listed in the newspaper advertisement in November. Secondary summaries of the county 2026 Tax Sale Information document report an upcoming sale on Tuesday, December 1, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. at the Horry County Government and Judicial Building, 1301 2nd Avenue, Conway, SC 29526. Both the date and the venue are unverified in this entry, because the county document itself was not read for this file. The last sale date pattern those summaries cite is the first Tuesday of December, with the 2024 sale on Tuesday, December 3, 2024.

Horry is the Myrtle Beach county and one of the largest sale lists in the state in secondary reporting, which is exactly why its unverified items matter: the December 1, 2026 date, the venue, the registration fee and deadlines, and the parcel count in this entry all rest on secondary summaries of a county document that could not be read in full for this file, and each is marked unverified above. The verified planning facts are the county calendar in the stage rows: advertisement on three consecutive Thursdays before the sale and the sale details published in the November newspaper advertisement.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Tuesday, December 1, 2026 (unverified, see note)
The sale	One sale a year. The county delinquent tax page states that the tax sale time, date and location are listed in the newspaper advertisement in November and does not itself publish a date. Secondary summaries of the county 2026 information document report Tuesday, December 1, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. at the Horry County Government and Judicial Building, 1301 2nd Avenue, Conway; the date, time and venue are unverified.
The list	Delinquent real estate and mobile homes are advertised in a paper of general circulation within the county for three consecutive Thursdays prior to the tax sale, per the county delinquent tax page. How the list is posted online, and any list cost, were not published on the county pages. A secondary report put the 2026 list at 2,342 parcels; that parcel count is unverified.
Registration	The county delinquent tax page does not publish a registration rule. Secondary summaries of the county 2026 information document report that registration is required with a 25 dollar fee, that online registration ends at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 20, 2026, that in person registration ends at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, November 30, 2026, and that there is no registration on the morning of the sale. The fee and both deadlines are unverified.
Bidding and payment	Under the state frame the Delinquent Tax Collector opens bidding with the Forfeited Land Commission bid for all unpaid taxes, penalties, assessments and costs including the current year taxes, and the winner pays in full on the day of the sale. Secondary summaries of the county document describe open outcry bidding with numbered bidder cards, properties called in alphabetical order, and terms of cash or certified funds only, with no personal or business checks or wire transfers accepted, all bids paid at the close of the sale. Those county mechanics are unverified in this entry.
Redemption	The redemption period is twelve months from the date of the sale, per the county delinquent tax page, for the owner, a mortgage company or a grantee to pay the taxes and costs associated with the sale and regain ownership. Under Section 12-51-90 the redemption payment includes lump sum interest on the whole successful bid of 3 percent in months one to three, 6 percent in months four to six, 9 percent in months seven to nine, and 12 percent in the last three months, capped at the Forfeited Land Commission bid. The county Forfeited Land Commission page describes the redemption period for Commission parcels as one year and one day from the original tax sale date.
Unsold parcels	Properties that are advertised and presented at the annual delinquent tax sale but do not receive bid activity at or above the minimum bid become Forfeited Land Commission properties. The Commission, made up of the County Treasurer, Auditor and Register of Deeds, holds the assignment through the redemption period, takes title after it ends, and then disposes of the properties under its own policy and procedures. Assignments of Commission bids can also be sold during the redemption period.
Format	In person public auction: No online auction platform published on the county pages read November 9, 2026; the sale is an in person sale run by the Delinquent Tax Department
Selling office	Horry County Treasurer, Delinquent Tax Department

Sources: Horry County Treasurer, Delinquent Tax. Horry County, Forfeited Land Commission. Horry County Forfeited Land Commission, FLC Guidelines and Bid Form (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 Horry 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 Horry 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 Horry County

Registration rules for the Horry County sale were not published on the county Delinquent Tax page read. Secondary summaries of the county 2026 Tax Sale Information document report that a bidder must register and pay a 25 dollar registration fee, with online registration ending November 20, 2026 and in person registration ending November 30, 2026, and no registration on the morning of the sale. That fee, those deadlines, and the online registration route are unverified in this entry and should be confirmed with the Delinquent Tax Department at 843-915-5472 before travel.

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, Horry County	No deposit was published on the county pages. The only bidder money reported for Horry County is the 25 dollar registration fee in secondary summaries of the county 2026 information document, and that fee is unverified in this entry. Do not assume a deposit amount from other South Carolina counties; the Delinquent Tax Department publishes the sale terms in its November newspaper advertisement and its sale information document.
Payment, Horry County	The state rule, which the county follows, is payment in full on the day of the sale by cash, cashier check, certified check, or money order, with a defaulting bidder liable for up to 500 dollars in damages under Section 12-51-70. Secondary summaries of the county 2026 document state the county terms as cash or certified funds only, no personal or business checks or wire transfers accepted, with all bids paid at the close of the sale. Those county payment terms are unverified in this entry, because the county document was not read in full for this file.
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

The Horry County Forfeited Land Commission consists of the County Treasurer, the Auditor and the Register of Deeds, serving without compensation, under Title 12, Chapter 59. Properties become Commission properties when they were advertised and presented at the annual delinquent tax sale but did not receive bid activity at or above the minimum bid; the Commission holds the assignment during the redemption period and becomes the legal owner after it ends, and properties it owns can be sold and deeded after the redemption period, with bid assignments also sold during it. Its bid form and guidelines, state that Commission property is sold as is, where is, by quit claim deed with no warranty, that the minimum bid is the past and current taxes due plus penalties and costs plus 15 percent additional administrative fees, that bids are submitted in person to the Assessor office in Conway or by certified mail in a sealed envelope marked Confidential, FLC Bid, with no payment included, and that the Commission may accept a bid, decline a bid, or offer a compromise price, including an offer below the starting amount.

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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