Orangeburg County tax sales, South Carolina

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Orangeburg County's 2026 delinquent tax sale is still ahead: Monday, December 14, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at the Orangeburg County Conference Center, resuming December 15 if necessary. Registration is online only, began November 2, 2026, and carries the highest fee in this set, $50 per bidder, non refundable, with no registration accepted on the day of sale. One payment term is unique in this set: personal checks are accepted when accompanied by a letter of credit from the bidder's financial institution. The county pages read do not publish a redemption period or schedule, so none is stated beyond the statewide frame.

Selling office: Delinquent Tax Collector Office, Orangeburg County, 1437 Amelia Street, Room 108, First Floor, Orangeburg, SC 29115; mailing address P.O. Drawer 9000, Orangeburg, SC 29116; phone 803-533-6142

Next sale: Delinquent tax sale Monday, December 14, 2026. The county's Bidding Procedure and Location page gives Monday, December 14, 2026, 10:00 a.m., at the Orangeburg County Conference Center, 1645 Russell Street, Orangeburg, resuming at 10:00 a.m. on December 15, 2026 if necessary. Unpaid taxes become delinquent March 17, and the Treasurer issues a warrant of execution to the Delinquent Tax Collector.

Delinquent property lists for real estate and mobile homes are linked from the county's delinquent tax pages. The county publishes no parcel count in the sources read, and no registration closing date is published on the page read (only the November 2, 2026 opening).

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Delinquent tax sale Monday, December 14, 2026, 10:00 a.m.
Sale date and venue	Monday, December 14, 2026, 10:00 a.m., at the Orangeburg County Conference Center, 1645 Russell Street, Orangeburg, SC 29115; if necessary, the sale resumes at 10:00 a.m. on December 15, 2026.
Registration	Begins November 2, 2026; online only; $50.00 per bidder, non refundable, paid at completion of the registration form. No registration or registration fees are accepted on the day of sale, no exceptions. A closing date is not published on the page read.
How bids are placed	In person. Property is auctioned in advertised order to the highest bidder. The opening bid is submitted on behalf of the Forfeited Land Commission and includes the delinquent taxes, penalties, cost, and the current tax year; if there is no bid, the property is considered purchased by the Forfeited Land Commission for that amount. Receipts are issued in the names on the bidder registration form. When a defaulting taxpayer has more than one item, selling stops once sufficient funds have accrued to cover that taxpayer's taxes, assessments, penalties and costs. Mobile homes are sold separately, and buying land with a mobile home on it does not include the mobile home.
The list	Delinquent property lists (real estate and mobile homes) are linked from the county's delinquent tax pages. A parcel count is not published.
Redemption	Not published on the county pages read for this record. The statewide frame is twelve months from the sale under Section 12-51-90; no county published schedule is stated here.
Format	Live in person auction at the Orangeburg County Conference Center; registration online only; no online bidding.
Selling office	Delinquent Tax Collector Office, Orangeburg County

Sources: Orangeburg County Delinquent Tax. Orangeburg County Bidding Procedure and Location. 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 Orangeburg 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 Orangeburg 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 Orangeburg County

Orangeburg County is a live, in person auction in advertised order, and it is the one county in this set that accepts personal checks, only when accompanied by a letter of credit from the bidder's financial institution. All sales are final, and failure to comply with the payment terms results in a $500 fine. Note that the county page still carries COVID era entrance language (temperature check, face mask, social distance) alongside the 2026 registration details; it is reproduced on the county page as published.

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, Orangeburg County	No deposit separate from the bid is published. The registration fee is $50.00 per bidder, non refundable, paid online at completion of the registration form.
Payment, Orangeburg County	Property must be paid on the day of the sale with cash, money order, certified check, or personal checks with a letter of credit from your financial institution. All sales are final; failure to comply results in a $500 fine. Refunds of overpayment by check or money order are processed in ten business days.
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

Beyond the opening bid rule on the county's bidding page (if there is no bid, the property is considered purchased by the Forfeited Land Commission for the amount of the taxes, penalties and costs), a separate FLC sale process and current availability are not published on the pages read, so no leftover channel is stated here.

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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New York tax sales · Florida tax deed sales · Texas tax sales · Pennsylvania tax sales · Georgia tax sales · North Carolina tax foreclosure sales · Ohio tax foreclosure sales · Illinois tax lien sales · Michigan tax foreclosure sales · Arizona tax lien sales · California tax defaulted property sales · Colorado tax lien sales