West Virginia tax sale properties, straight from county records. Auction dates and opening bids can change at the county. Check the county link on a listing before you bid.
The West Virginia State Auditor sells tax liens at a public auction in each county to the highest bidder. If the owner redeems, you get back what you paid plus reimbursed costs, not interest on your purchase price. If nobody redeems after the notice to redeem is served, you receive a quitclaim deed.
Redemption Period
Until the deed issues
Tax lien sold by the State Auditor at a public auction to the highest bidder. The owner can redeem until the tax deed is issued. To get the deed you must, within 120 days after the Auditor approves the sale, give the Auditor the list of everyone to be served and pay for the notice to redeem; if nobody redeems, the deputy commissioner issues a quitclaim deed.
No fixed number of days: redemption ends when the tax deed is issued (W. Va. Code 11A-3-56). The deed cannot issue until at least 45 days after the notice to redeem is mailed (11A-3-55), and the buyer has 120 days after the Auditor approves the sale to set that notice in motion (11A-3-52), so the buyer sets the pace.
Avg Property Tax Rate
0.58%
Below the national average (1.1%). Lower tax rates often mean smaller opening bids and lien amounts.
Homestead Rules
Special Rules Apply
Homestead exemption for 65+.
Words used on this page
Redemption period
A window after the sale when the old owner can pay up and take the property back.
Surviving lien
A debt on the property that the tax sale does NOT wipe out. It becomes yours.
Homestead exemption
A tax break on an owner's main home. It changes what the minimum bid includes.
Tax lien
The county sells the unpaid tax debt, not the property. You collect interest, or later foreclose.
Before you bid in West Virginia
What can survive the sale and become yours
IRS federal tax liens (the IRS must get 25 days' notice or its lien survives; even when notified, the United States can redeem for 120 days)
Public service district water, sewer and stormwater liens (they rank equal with taxes; plan on paying them)
Severed coal, oil, gas and timber rights (taxed and sold separately)
Other things to check
West Virginia is a tax lien state.
Since 2022 the State Auditor, not the sheriff, sells delinquent tax liens: each county's liens go to a public auction at the courthouse to the highest bidder, with the taxes, interest and charges as the minimum, and full payment due the day of the sale.
Bidders register with the Auditor in advance (or sign a notarized affidavit on the day of the sale).
Liens that draw no bid can later be bought from the Auditor at a price the Auditor agrees to, with adjacent landowners first in line; the Auditor must approve every sale.
If the owner redeems, you get back what you paid at the sale plus the later taxes and notice costs you paid (title work capped at $500), those extras with 1% a month interest.
You do not earn interest on the purchase price itself.
The owner can redeem at any time until the deed issues.
Within 120 days after the Auditor approves your purchase (60 more with a paid extension) you must give the Auditor the list of everyone to be served and pay for the notice to redeem, or you lose the purchase.
The notice goes out at least 45 days before the deed can issue.
If nobody redeems, the deputy commissioner issues a quitclaim deed; a quiet-title suit is optional.
Anyone entitled to notice whom you fail to serve can sue to set the deed aside within two years after it is delivered (W.
Va. Code 11A-4-4).
Check for severed coal, oil, gas and timber rights.
How we rate these
Every listing says one of four things. Next to it is how many facts we hold
for it, and what that much evidence is good enough for.
Worth a look
We hold the four basics (what is being sold, when, for how much, and what the property is) and nothing we hold argues against it. A claim about our record, not a promise about the property.
Needs review
We hold the basics, but a named finding wants a human first: a possible lien under the owner's name, a flood or environmental record, no mapped public road, a property check that fired, an opening bid at or above the value we hold for the parcel, or a sale the county reports as postponed.
Screened out
We hold positive evidence of a problem: recorded debt or an IRS lien that survives the sale, a lot too small to be a real parcel, a sale the county reports as over, or a sale date already past. The card names it.
Not enough data yet
One of the four basics is missing. This is not a bad rating: missing data can never produce a negative verdict.
N of 12 facts on file
How many of the 12 facts we track for this parcel we actually hold: sale kind, auction date, entry price, property class, value, lot size, living area, legal description, road access, title search, condition, sale terms. The same count on the board, the deal page and in Flexy. Hover the bar on any card to see which are still missing.
One number cannot say both how good a parcel looks and how much we actually know
about it, and a low number reads as a verdict. So we do not print one.
“Not enough data yet” is not a judgement about the property.
West Virginia is a tax lien state. Tax lien sold by the State Auditor at a public auction to the highest bidder. The owner can redeem until the tax deed is issued. To get the deed you must, within 120 days after the Auditor approves the sale, give the Auditor the list of everyone to be served and pay for the notice to redeem; if nobody redeems, the deputy commissioner issues a quitclaim deed.
In West Virginia the owner can redeem at any time until the tax deed is issued. The buyer must ask the State Auditor to serve the notice to redeem within 120 days after the Auditor approves the sale, and the deed cannot issue until at least 45 days after that notice is mailed. So the window closes at the earliest about 45 days after the Auditor approves the sale, and later if the buyer is slow.
DeedFlex aggregates West Virginia tax sale listings from county auction platforms and gives each property a plain-English verdict: Worth a look, Needs review, Screened out, or Not enough data yet. Next to it is how far the research has got on it. Start with Pro ($59/mo, flat) to browse all available West Virginia properties with full deal analysis.
Key risks include: IRS federal tax liens (the IRS must get 25 days' notice or its lien survives; even when notified, the United States can redeem for 120 days), Public service district water, sewer and stormwater liens (they rank equal with taxes; plan on paying them), Severed coal, oil, gas and timber rights (taxed and sold separately). West Virginia is a tax lien state. Since 2022 the State Auditor, not the sheriff, sells delinquent tax liens: each county's liens go to a public auction at the courthouse to the highest bidder, with the taxes, interest and charges as the minimum, and full payment due the day of the sale. Bidders register with the Auditor in advance (or sign a notarized affidavit on the day of the sale). Liens that draw no bid can later be bought from the Auditor at a price the Auditor agrees to, with adjacent landowners first in line; the Auditor must approve every sale. If the owner redeems, you get back what you paid at the sale plus the later taxes and notice costs you paid (title work capped at $500), those extras with 1% a month interest. You do not earn interest on the purchase price itself. The owner can redeem at any time until the deed issues. Within 120 days after the Auditor approves your purchase (60 more with a paid extension) you must give the Auditor the list of everyone to be served and pay for the notice to redeem, or you lose the purchase. The notice goes out at least 45 days before the deed can issue. If nobody redeems, the deputy commissioner issues a quitclaim deed; a quiet-title suit is optional. Anyone entitled to notice whom you fail to serve can sue to set the deed aside within two years after it is delivered (W. Va. Code 11A-4-4). Check for severed coal, oil, gas and timber rights.
Opening bids vary widely by county and property. West Virginia has an average property tax rate of 0.58%, which influences opening bid amounts. DeedFlex shows the opening bid for every listed property. Where we hold a market value we can stand behind, we show it; where we do not, we say so rather than print a number we cannot support.
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