- Aug 27, 2020

Pearl River County Tax Sale is Monday, August 31

Pearl River County will hold its annual tax sale on Monday, August 31, 2020, from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm. The tax sale will be available online at Pearl River County’s website pearlrivercounty.net with links on the Tax Assessor Collector page.

What is a Tax Sale?

When a property owner fails to pay their real property tax bill in Mississippi, the county/municipality will have a public auction to sell a lien on the property for the overdue amount. The main reason behind such sale is for the county/municipality to collect the much-needed revenue to allow the entity to function and meet budgets. The county uses this tax money to pay for schools, public services, libraries, roads, parks, etc. When taxes are not paid, county governments do not have the operating funds for these uses.

One common misconception among new tax lien buyers in MS is the ability to possess the property right away after purchasing a tax lien, which is not the case. With tax lien auctions, you are not purchasing the property, but you are purchasing a lien against the property. Your tax lien purchase is a legal claim against an owner's property to secure payment of the property taxes they owe with interest.

Mississippi Tax Lien Auctions are conducted by a "premium bid", meaning the highest bid wins. Bidders are bidding up from the face value amount (taxes, interest, fees, and penalties). Any amounts placed above the face value amount would be considered an "overbid". The purchaser does not earn interest on the "overbid", only on the face value amount. You are encouraged to investigate and research any parcel you have interest in prior to making any bids.

The owner of the property has a statutory redemption period of 2 years from the date of sale. If the owner of the property does not pay the taxes within 2 years from the purchase date, the priority lien holder can acquire the property. The process of acquiring the property is typically handled by the Chancery Clerks Office.