Delinquent Tax Sale

The Montgomery County Trustee's Office, in conjunction with the City of Clarksville and Montgomery County Chancery Court, holds tax sales throughout the year to sell property for delinquent taxes. The delinquent properties appear in a "Notice of Tax Sale" listing in a local paper.* This listing includes parcel number, names of all owners, base amount due,** and a brief description, along with the time and location of the sale. In addition to the listing, a notice of the tax sale is sent by certified mail to the last known address of the present owner. For information on the annual sale, www.mcgtn.org/chancery/tax-sale.

According to T.C.A. taxes are the first lien. All liens except state and federal liens are cleared as result of a tax sale. The new owner cannot take possession of the property until one year from the day of the sale has expired and the property that was sold at the tax sale was not redeemed by the property owner.

Properties with taxes delinquent for two (2) or more years are eligible for placement in the Montgomery County Tax Sale. Montgomery County conducts the tax sale every year to force property owners who are unwilling to pay property taxes to pay or risk losing their property.

A listing of delinquent properties appears in a designated local newspaper. This listing includes parcel number, names of all owners, base amount of taxes due and a brief description, along with the date, time and location of the sale. A notice of the tax sale is also sent by certified mail to the last known address of the present owner(s).

The purpose of the tax sale is to sell properties that have unpaid delinquent County and City property taxes. If a property owner is unwilling to pay the property taxes, the Trustee has no choice but to place the property up for sale at a public auction. The tax sale occurs only after all efforts to collect property taxes have been exhausted.

The tax sale is held in the Montgomery County Courts Center, Room located at 2 Millennium Plaza in Downtown Clarksville.The Montgomery County Chancery Court orders the sale of the property for cash, subject to a one-year redemption period, whereby the property owner/lien holder has the right to pay taxes, interest, penalties and costs (attorney's fees, clerk's fees, publication fees, postage fees and recording fees) to redeem the property from the sale. Upon redemption, the sale proceeding is terminated.

Montgomery County Government or the City of Clarksville begin the tax auction sale by announcing an opening bid for the amount of the taxes the property is being sold for, after that the bidding is open to the public and property is sold to the highest cash bidder. In the event there are no other bids, the government entity that made the opening bid becomes the purchaser of the property.

Amount due may include delinquent city (if any) and county taxes, accrued interest and penalty charges, court costs, attorney fees, as well as service and title costs will be added to the costs of each respective parcel of property ordered to be sold by the court.

Employees or relatives of employees of the Montgomery County Trustee's Office are not eligible to bid on properties in tax sale.

Guidelines

The following guidelines have been established for tax sales as follows:

• You or an authorized representative must be present to purchase property.
• Bidders must register the day of the sale to receive a bidder number. No fee is charged to register for the tax sale.
• Accepted forms of payment will be cashiers check or cash on the day of the sale. A bank letter of credit must be presented and filed at the time the bidder registers the morning of the sale in order for a personal check to be honored.
• Full payment on the day of the sale is required within 2 hrs of the conclusion of the sale.  Failure to pay is a breach of contract.  The Delinquent Tax Sale is a legal auction and all bids constitute a legal and binding contract.
• Montgomery County Government opens the bids with a beginning bid for the amount of taxes due including interest, penalty and additional fees, and then bidding is open to the public with the property being sold to the highest bidder at the auction.
• At the request of the new owner, the Delinquent Tax Attorney can issue a Quit Claim Deed at the time of the sale. A recording fee is paid to the attorney whenever the deed is issued.
• The redemption period will last for one year from the date of the order of the decree confirming the sale. The original owner, lien holder or heirs of the property may redeem the property from the purchaser for the bid price plus up to 10% per annum interest.
• Properties on which no bid other than the opening bid made by Montgomery County Government or the City of Clarksville is purchased by that government entity. If the original owner does not redeem the property, it is added to the surplus property inventory of that government entity at the end of the redemption period.
• A public sale of County or City owned surplus property may be conducted periodically.
• All sales are final.

The Montgomery County Trustee's Office does not assist with foreclosure sales.

Redemption of Property

If a taxpayer's property was sold in a county tax sale: The current owner of the property should contact the Montgomery County Trustee's Office, 350 Pageant Lane, Suite 101-B, Clarksville, TN (931) 648-5717 to obtain the correct amount needed to redeem the property. The exact date of the redemption must be given in order to verify the correct amount. After the payment is received, a Tender of Redemption and a Clerk's Notice of Redemption are filed. The new owner at the time of the sale then has 30 days to object to the redemption. If there is an objection to the redemption, a hearing date is set and the Chancellor must decide who gets to keep the property. After the 30 days has expired and there is no objection to the redemption from the new owner, a Decree of Redemption is signed by the Chancellor and then recorded at the Register of Deeds office.

How do I purchase property from Montgomery County?

Individuals interested in purchasing property from surplus Montgomery County owned properties should contact the County Trustee's Office at 350 Pageant Lane, Suite 101-B in Clarksville or by phone at (931) 648-5717.

CURRENTLY, MONTGOMERY COUNTY HAS NO AVAILABLE SURPLUS PROPERTY FOR SALE.