Tennessee Rules of the Auction

This page serves as a list of general rules for Tennessee GovEase auctions. These rules are subject to change and only apply to delinquent tax sales and not surplus sales. Please review the registration page for auction details, including bid clock time, clock reset, mininum bid increment and more. It is highly recommended to sign up for one of our on-demand Webinar Training sessions or view a Training Article/Video. 

• Bidding on each parcel will begin at face value (taxes owed plus fees and penalties) and continue in a 'bid up / overbid' manner until the auction reaches an end when time runs out
• You are responsible for paying the face value and the 'winning overbid amount' (face value+winning overbid = total due).
• There are two ways to bid during the live auction:
  • Place Bid - Enter the maximum overbid you would like to place on that parcel.
  • +$XX Quick Bid - This will add the dollar amount to the current overbid amount. (For Example, Carter County will have a +$100 Quick Bid)
• You will only enter the overbid (or excess bid) for the parcel on which you are bidding. It is understood that the ‘taxes owed / face value’ will be added to your overbid (or excess bid) as the total amount due to the county should you win the parcel.
• To place a bid for the Face Value amount only, with no overbid, you will enter “0” (zero) for your bid.
• You may enter a Max Overbid at any time after the parcels have been loaded into the “Auctions” page and  pre-bidding  has been enabled. This will register the maximum amount you wish to overbid for the parcel and will automatically bid in the increments set by the county over the next highest overbid. The system will automatically cut off proxy bids at your Max Overbid amount. The bidding increments may be different from county to county. If you put in a wrong bid increment, the website will show an error message. 
• Moving forward, there will be no bid clock reset for Tennessee delinquent tax sales with GovEase. Each parcel will be up for the time limit set by the county, and that is it. This may vary from county to county.  Once time has expired, the auction will close and the next parcel will come up for auction.
  • Please note, for the 2022 Greene County, TN Tax Sale there will be a 15-second clock reset.
• Ties are broken by selecting the first person to enter the bid. This includes Max Overbid entries prior to the live auctions beginning.
• The bidder should fully research all parcels prior to the auction beginning. Neither GovEase nor the county tax office can offer investment advice. Should you have specific investment questions, it is recommended that you seek the advice of a competent legal professional.
• All mapbox and third-party images obtained and provided by GovEase may not be 100% accurate. It is the bidder’s responsibility to carefully research each parcel on which they intend to bid.
• The clerk and master for each entity has the right to re-bid or remove a parcel at any time during or after the auction if they so choose. This is at the sole discretion of the clerk and master's office.
• The county handles payments, and it is the bidder's responsibility to read each registration document and understand the methods and deadlines for payments.

The list of Tennessee counties below shows the minimum bid increment and bid clock: