Falling behind on property taxes in Georgia is more serious than most homeowners realize. The county does not need to take you to court to sell your house. After a few missed steps, the tax commissioner can have your property advertised and auctioned on the courthouse steps, and the buyer at that auction gets a deed to your home. This page walks through exactly how that happens in metro Atlanta, what it costs at each stage, and the options you still have, including selling before the tax sale so the equity you built stays yours.
How Georgia property taxes go from delinquent to a tax sale
Every year your county mails a property tax bill, usually in the summer. In Fulton and Cobb counties the county bill is due October 15. In Cherokee County it is due November 15. Some cities mail their own separate city tax bills with their own due dates, so make sure you are looking at every bill tied to the property.
Once the due date passes, the balance starts growing. Georgia counties charge interest of about 1% per month on unpaid taxes, and they add a one-time late penalty too: 5% in Cobb County, and 10% after 90 days in Fulton County. A $6,000 bill can grow by hundreds of dollars in a few months just from interest and penalties, before any legal action begins.
The county does not move to a sale right away, but it does not wait forever either. Counties mail late notices after the due date. Georgia law allows the tax commissioner to issue a tax execution, called a FiFa (short for the Latin term fieri facias), as early as 30 days after the due date once the owner has received a 30-day notice. In practice, most counties send several notices and work through their delinquent lists before they start the sale process, but the timeline is the county's choice, not yours. Cobb County's own delinquent-tax page states that any taxes remaining unpaid after October 15 are subject to levy and tax sale.
After the FiFa stage comes the levy and advertising. The sheriff or levying officer seizes the property on paper, and the upcoming sale must be advertised for four consecutive weeks in the county's legal newspaper. In Fulton County those ads run in the South Fulton Neighbor. By this point, title research and advertising fees have been added to what you owe, and in Cobb County, once a property is coded for tax sale, the county will no longer accept online payments for the delinquent years. At that stage only certified funds are accepted.
Then comes the sale. In Georgia, tax sales are held on the first Tuesday of each month (or the next business day if that Tuesday is a county holiday), the same day as foreclosure auctions. In Fulton County the sheriff conducts the auction on the courthouse steps at 136 Pryor Street in downtown Atlanta, starting at 10:00 AM. The minimum bid is the amount of taxes, penalties, and costs owed. Bidders pay with certified funds or cash on the spot.
What is a FiFa (fieri facias), and why it matters to you
A FiFa is the county's tax lien. It is a legal writ that says "cause it to be done," and it gives the county the authority to have the sheriff levy on and sell your property to satisfy the unpaid taxes. The FiFa is recorded at the county's Clerk of Superior Court, where it becomes a public record attached to the property and to you.
Three things about a FiFa matter for a homeowner:
- It costs you money just to exist. The county adds a small execution fee to your bill when the FiFa is issued.
- It shows up. Because a FiFa indicates non-payment, it can affect your credit standing, and any title search on the property will find it. You cannot sell or refinance the property without dealing with it first.
- It has to be cleared at closing. When a property with a FiFa is sold, the back taxes, penalties, and interest are paid off from the sale proceeds at the closing table, and the FiFa is then marked cancelled and satisfied. It stays in the public record as history, but it no longer clouds the title.
This is one reason a voluntary sale before the auction is cleaner than letting the property go to a tax sale. In a normal closing, the title company gets an exact payoff figure, pays the county, and the FiFa is released. Nothing is left hanging.
The first-Tuesday tax sale: what actually happens
Georgia does not sell tax lien certificates the way some states do. Georgia sells redeemable tax deeds. The winning bidder at the auction receives a tax deed to your property. That deed is not yet the same as full ownership, because you still have a right of redemption for 12 months, but it is a real interest in your home, recorded in the county records.
Bidding starts at the total amount owed: back taxes, penalties, interest, and the county's advertising and levy costs. Investors routinely bid far more than that opening number, especially on properties in desirable areas, because they know about the 12-month redemption premium and they want the property itself.
If the winning bid is higher than what was owed, the leftover is called excess funds. Under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. 48-4-5), excess funds after paying taxes, costs, and expenses belong to the person authorized to receive them, usually the owner, but getting that money is not automatic. The tax commissioner can file an interpleader action in Superior Court to sort out who gets paid, lienholders get paid in order of priority, and the owner has to make a claim. Cobb County's policy is to interplead excess funds to the Cobb County Superior Court. In practice, many owners never claim their excess funds, or they wait years, or they hire third parties who take a large cut. Counting on excess funds after a tax sale is a bad plan.
Your 12-month right of redemption
After a Georgia tax sale, the owner, any creditor, or anyone with an interest in the property has 12 months from the date of the sale to redeem it. To redeem, you must pay the tax deed purchaser the amount they paid at the auction, plus any taxes they paid on the property after the sale, plus a premium: 20% for the first year (or any fraction of it), and 10% for each additional year or fraction of a year. This is set by Georgia law (O.C.G.A. 48-4-42).
During the redemption year, the tax deed buyer cannot take possession of the property, cannot collect rent from it, and cannot make improvements or grade the lot. If you redeem, the buyer issues a quitclaim deed back to the owner and the tax deed is released.
If nobody redeems within 12 months, the buyer can start the legal process to foreclose the right of redemption. After that process is complete, the buyer owns the property free and clear, and your ownership is gone. A court cannot give you more time after the redemption period expires, the deadline is final.
Redemption sounds like a safety net, but look at the math honestly. If you could not pay $8,000 in back taxes, can you pay $8,000 plus a 20% premium plus another year's taxes within 12 months, while the property sits in legal limbo? Some owners manage it with help from family or a loan. Many do not, and they lose the house at the end of the year anyway.
Your real options when you cannot catch up
1. Pay it all off
Pros: Stops the entire process immediately. The FiFa is cancelled and satisfied, penalties and interest stop growing, and your record with the county is clean.
Cons: Requires the full amount in cash, including penalties, interest, and fees. And next year's bill is already on its way. If the underlying problem (fixed income, job loss, an inherited house you cannot afford to keep) has not changed, this only buys time.
2. Set up a payment plan
Pros: Spreads the balance into manageable payments. Tax commissioners and, in Fulton County, the private investors who hold transferred tax liens, sometimes offer installment arrangements.
Cons: Interest and penalties usually keep accruing while you pay. Miss a payment and you can land right back on the sale list. And once a property is coded for tax sale in some counties, payment options narrow to certified funds only.
3. Claim exemptions and hardship relief
Pros: Georgia offers homestead exemptions plus extra relief for seniors, disabled homeowners, and veterans, and counties have hardship deferral programs. These can meaningfully shrink future bills.
Cons: Exemptions reduce what you owe going forward, they do not erase back taxes already owed. Eligibility has rules and deadlines, and the application is on you.
4. Sell before the tax sale
Pros: The back taxes, penalties, interest, and FiFa are paid from the sale proceeds at closing. You keep the equity above what you owe. No auction, no tax deed on your record, no 12-month limbo, no hoping you can claim excess funds through a court.
Cons: You are selling the house and moving. For some owners that is the right trade. For others, keeping the home matters more than the money.
5. Let it go to sale, then redeem
Pros: You get up to 12 more months in the house while you try to raise the money.
Cons: Redemption costs the auction price plus a 20% premium, and investors often bid well above the tax debt. You live with a tax deed holder waiting out the clock, and if you fall short, the buyer forecloses your right to redeem and keeps the house.
6. Do nothing
Pros: None, honestly.
Cons: The property is advertised and sold on a first Tuesday. A tax deed is recorded against it. You get 12 months to redeem at a premium, and then the house is gone, along with the equity.
The equity math: why owners sell before the auction
Think of your situation as simple arithmetic: home value minus everything owed equals your equity. The tax debt is usually a small fraction of the home's value. The danger of a tax sale is that the auction can transfer your property for far less than it is worth, and the difference leaks away in the buyer's premium, court claims for excess funds, and lienholder payouts.
A simple example: your home is worth $350,000. You owe $40,000 on the mortgage and $9,000 in back taxes with penalties. If you sell for a fair price, the closing pays off the $49,000 and the rest, roughly $300,000 minus normal closing costs, goes to you. If the property goes to a tax sale instead, the opening bid is around $9,000 plus costs. An investor might bid $50,000 or $80,000 to win it. The amount above the taxes and costs is technically excess funds you can claim, but claiming means going through the Superior Court process, waiting, and paying lienholders first. Most owners in this position never recover anything close to their real equity.
A voluntary sale before the auction keeps the math simple and keeps the equity with the person who built it: you.
How a sale to North Atlanta Home Buyers works
- Reach out. Call (470) 779-2869 or send the form below. Tell us about the house and what you know about the taxes, including whether a sale date has been advertised.
- We do the research. We pull the tax records, find every FiFa and payoff amount, check for other liens, and look at comparable sales in your neighborhood.
- You get a written cash offer. A real number on paper, with the math shown: the offer, minus the tax payoff, minus the mortgage and any liens, equals what you walk away with. No obligation to accept.
- We close at a local title company. The back taxes, the FiFa, the mortgage, and any other liens are paid from the proceeds. You get the rest. We can close in as little as 7 days, or on your timeline if you need more time to move.
- No repairs, no showings, no agent fees. We buy as-is. You do not clean, fix, or stage anything, and there is no 6% commission coming out of your equity.
If a sale to us is not your best move, we will tell you. If you can realistically pay the taxes off or get a payment plan that works, that is usually better for you than selling, and we will say so.
Where we buy
We buy houses across metro Atlanta's northern suburbs. Pick your city for county-specific details:
Frequently asked questions
How far behind on taxes do I have to be before Georgia sells my house?
Georgia law allows a FiFa to be issued as early as 30 days after the due date once you have received a 30-day notice. In practice, counties send late notices and work their delinquent lists for months before advertising a property, but the timeline is the county's decision. Cobb County states plainly that any taxes unpaid after October 15 are subject to levy and tax sale. Do not wait for the advertisement to appear in the legal newspaper. Call the tax commissioner's office as soon as you know you are behind.
Does Georgia sell tax liens or tax deeds?
Tax deeds. Georgia sells redeemable tax deeds at public auction. The winning bidder gets a tax deed to the property, and the owner has 12 months to redeem it by paying the auction price plus a 20% premium (10% more for each additional year). There is no separate "tax lien certificate" to buy.
What does it cost to redeem my property after a tax sale?
You must pay the tax deed holder the amount they paid at auction, plus any property taxes they paid after the sale, plus a 20% premium for the first year or any part of it. If redemption stretches past a year, the premium grows by 10% per additional year. Any owner, lender, or interested party can redeem within the 12-month window.
If my house sells at a tax sale for more than I owe, do I get the extra money?
Under Georgia law the excess belongs to the person authorized to receive it, usually the owner, but it is not mailed to you automatically. The tax commissioner can send the funds to Superior Court through an interpleader action, lienholders are paid in priority order, and you must file a claim. Many owners never claim their excess funds. Do not count on getting your equity back this way.
Will selling my house pay off the FiFa and back taxes?
Yes. At closing, the title company gets an exact payoff from the tax commissioner and pays the back taxes, penalties, interest, and the FiFa from your sale proceeds. The FiFa is then marked cancelled and satisfied. This is routine in Georgia closings.
My property is already advertised for the next tax sale. Can I still sell it?
Yes, up until the auction happens. A voluntary sale with a fast close can still beat the sale date. This is exactly the situation where days matter, so call (470) 779-2869 right away and tell us the advertised sale date. We will tell you honestly whether we can close in time.
Do I have to fix up the house or clean it out before you buy it?
No. We buy as-is. You do not need to make repairs, clean, or remove belongings you do not want. Leave what you want to leave and take what matters to you.