Delinquent Property Taxes in Virginia: A Circuit Court Suit, and a 72 Month Agreement That Stops It
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Virginia · Last updated October 21, 2026
Virginia collects a stubborn real estate tax bill by suing the land itself: an attorney employed by the county, city or town files a complaint in circuit court, and a special commissioner appointed by the judge sells the property and signs the deed (Va. Code 58.1-3966, 58.1-3967, 58.1-3969). A delinquent bill is one the locality's own due date has gone past, after which penalty and interest are added and the land can be sold to clear what is owed. No lien and no certificate is ever auctioned to an investor. The treasurer takes payment without penalty up to and including December 5, or such other date set by the governing body (Va. Code 58.1-3913), and the default charges after that are a 5 percent penalty (Va. Code 58.1-3915) and interest at 10 percent per annum (Va. Code 58.1-3918), either of which a local ordinance may replace within the caps in Va. Code 58.1-3916. The usual trigger is taxes still delinquent on December 31 following the second anniversary of the due date, and a city may by ordinance move at the first anniversary instead (Va. Code 58.1-3965, 58.1-3965.1). Two rules decide the ending. An owner may redeem at any time before the date set for the judicial sale, and a partial payment does not count (Va. Code 58.1-3974, 58.1-3965). And the treasurer may suspend the sale action on an installment agreement of up to 72 months, which parks the case on the court's docket rather than closing it (Va. Code 58.1-3965). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Virginia
Where are you with the unpaid property taxes?
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When can a Virginia locality sell my house for unpaid property taxes?
When any taxes on real estate in a locality are delinquent on December 31 following the second anniversary of the date on which such taxes have become due, the real estate may be sold to collect them (Va. Code 58.1-3965). Condemned, nuisance, derelict and blighted parcels run on a one year clock instead.
How much does it cost to buy a Virginia property back before the sale?
Everything that has accrued, not a set premium. The owner pays all accumulated taxes, penalties, reasonable attorney fees, interest and costs including the pro rata cost of publication (Va. Code 58.1-3965), and once a complaint is filed the money goes into court (Va. Code 58.1-3974). Partial payment does not redeem.
When exactly does the right to redeem end in Virginia?
At the sale. An owner, heir, devisee, successor or assign may redeem prior to the date set for a judicial sale (Va. Code 58.1-3974), and nothing reopens afterward. A party served only by publication may petition for a rehearing, for good cause shown, within 90 days of confirmation (Va. Code 58.1-3967).
Can a Virginia treasurer put a tax sale on hold while I pay?
Yes, and the pre-suit notice has to say so. The treasurer may suspend any action for sale on entering an agreement with the owner for payment of all delinquent amounts in installments over a reasonable period that in no event exceeds 72 months, with current taxes paid as they come due (Va. Code 58.1-3965).
Where a Virginia tax bill goes once the treasurer stops waiting
A Virginia real estate tax bill turns delinquent when the locality's own due date passes, and from there the treasurer adds penalty and interest and can eventually have the land sold to collect them. Three things set the state apart. Nobody buys a lien or a certificate: the county, city or town sues in circuit court and a court-appointed special commissioner conveys the property (Va. Code 58.1-3967, 58.1-3969). The rate is local rather than statewide, because an ordinance under Va. Code 58.1-3916 may fix penalty and interest within statutory caps, displacing the 5 percent and 10 percent per annum defaults. And the letter that must precede the suit by 30 days has to tell the taxpayer they may request a payment agreement running as long as 72 months (Va. Code 58.1-3965).
Two Roanoke treasurers, one county line, and two different clocks
Roanoke County and the City of Roanoke are separate taxing jurisdictions, each with its own elected treasurer, so the same 2,900 dollar arrears behaves differently on either side of the line. Take a county parcel whose 2023 real estate tax went unpaid. The Roanoke County Treasurer bills and collects county real estate tax and conducts the county's judicial sales, and could reach that parcel once the taxes stood delinquent on December 31 following the second anniversary of the due date (Va. Code 58.1-3965). Across the line the City Treasurer collects delinquent city tax on bills due April 5 and October 5, and a city may by ordinance sue a year sooner (Va. Code 58.1-3965.1). In both, the money has to be in before the date set for the sale (Va. Code 58.1-3974).
Relevant Laws
Va. Code 58.1-3913 (how long the treasurer takes payment without penalty)
Provides that each treasurer shall commence to receive local levies as soon as he receives copies of the commissioner's books and continue to receive the same without penalty up to and including December 5 of each year, or such other date set by the governing body. It also credits a payment first against the most delinquent local account unless an ordinance provides otherwise.
Va. Code 58.1-3915 (the default 5 percent penalty)
Provides that, except as otherwise provided by ordinance under 58.1-3916, any person failing to pay county, town and city levies on or before December 5 incurs a penalty of five percent, added to the taxes due. It also provides that no penalty shall be imposed for failure to pay any tax if the failure was not the fault of the taxpayer.
Va. Code 58.1-3916 (the local ordinance power, and its ceilings)
Lets the governing body of any county, city or town establish due dates for local taxes, provide for payment in one installment or two, set penalties for nonpayment in time, provide for interest on delinquent taxes, and recover attorney or collection agency fees not exceeding 20 percent. Interest may not exceed 10 percent per year, and for the second and subsequent years of delinquency the greater of the Internal Revenue Code section 6621 rate or 10 percent annually. A penalty for failure to pay may not exceed 10 percent of the tax past due on the property.
Va. Code 58.1-3918 (interest at ten percent per annum)
Provides that interest at the rate of ten percent per annum from the first day following the day such taxes are due shall be collected upon the principal and penalties of all taxes then remaining unpaid. The section expressly does not apply where penalty or interest is regulated by a local ordinance under 58.1-3916, which is why the operative rate is usually the locality's.
Va. Code 58.1-3340 (the tax lien, and the suit that enforces it)
Provides that there is a lien on real estate for the payment of taxes and levies assessed on it prior to any other lien or encumbrance, continuing until actual payment is made to the proper officer of the taxing authority, and that the lien is enforceable by suit in equity under Article 4 of Chapter 39. The words taxes and levies include the penalties and interest accruing on them.
Va. Code 58.1-3958 (administrative costs and collection fees)
Lets a locality impose on each person chargeable with delinquent taxes the administrative costs and the attorney or collection agency fees actually contracted for, with those fees capped at 20 percent of the amounts collected. Administrative costs are in addition to all penalties and interest and may not exceed 30 dollars where collection follows 30 or more days after a delinquency notice but precedes judgment, or 35 dollars after judgment.
Va. Code 58.1-3965 (when land may be sold, the notice, and the payment agreement)
The core section. Taxes delinquent on December 31 following the second anniversary of the date they became due expose the real estate to sale, with a first anniversary trigger for condemned structures, nuisances, derelict buildings and blighted property, a first anniversary route on a court finding where assessed value is 100,000 dollars or less, and a six month route for those same four categories in a qualifying locality with unpaid abatement costs. It requires mailed notice at least 30 days before any judicial proceeding, advising the taxpayer of a payment agreement of up to 72 months, and publication of the list at least 30 days before commencement. Subsection B lets the owner redeem at any time before the date of the sale and makes partial payment insufficient. Subsections C, D and E govern the installment agreement, the docket, and default.
Va. Code 58.1-3965.1 (a city may act a year earlier)
Provides that in addition to the authority in subsection A of 58.1-3965, a city may also, by ordinance, institute proceedings to sell any real estate when taxes on it are delinquent on December 31 following the first anniversary of the date on which such taxes have become due, provided proper notice is given in accordance with subsection A of 58.1-3965.
Va. Code 58.1-3966 (the attorney who brings the case)
Provides that proceedings under the article shall be instituted and conducted in the name of the county, city or town in which the real estate lies, by such attorney as the governing body or treasurer employs for the purpose, and lets the locality require that attorney to give bond, recorded by the circuit court clerk in his special commissioner's bond book.
Va. Code 58.1-3967 (the suit, the title it produces, and the surplus)
Requires the proceeding to be by a complaint filed in the circuit court of the county or city where the real estate is located, to subject it to the lien for the delinquent taxes, conducted like a creditor's equitable claim to enforce a judgment lien, with every interested person named a party defendant. A party served by publication may petition for a rehearing only for good cause and only within 90 days of entry of the confirmation of sale. The former owner and his heirs, devisees, successors or assigns are entitled to the surplus above taxes, penalties, interest, reasonable attorney fees, costs and liens, with the burden on the claimant, and surplus unclaimed two years after confirmation is paid to the locality.
Va. Code 58.1-3969 (the special commissioner who sells the land)
Provides that on proper service of process, a written real estate title certificate and an appraiser's report where title and value are undisputed, on the report of a commissioner in chancery, or on an assessor's affidavit averring value not exceeding 100,000 dollars, the court may appoint a special commissioner to sell the properties and execute the necessary deeds when a sale is found necessary or advisable. The auction price is prima facie but rebuttable evidence of value for approving the sale, and the court allows costs, publication, appraisal and attorney fees.
Va. Code 58.1-3970.1 (conveyance to the locality or a land bank in lieu of auction)
Lets a locality petition the circuit court to appoint a special commissioner to convey a parcel to the locality, its land bank entity or a designated nonprofit in lieu of sale at public auction, where the parcel is assessed at 125,000 dollars or less and the taxes and liens together exceed 50 percent of assessed value, or taxes alone exceed 25 percent, or, for a derelict building, taxes and liens exceed 25 percent. Surplusage still runs to lienholders and the former owner under 58.1-3967, no deficiency is charged, and lower thresholds apply in a locality scoring 100 or higher on the fiscal stress index.
Va. Code 58.1-3974 (redemption before the date set for the sale)
Provides that any owner of real estate described in a notice published under 58.1-3965 or a complaint filed under the article, or his heirs, devisees, successors and assigns, has the right to redeem prior to the date set for a judicial sale by paying into court all taxes, penalties and interest due, including amounts owed to a town or other concurrent taxing entity, together with all costs including costs of publication and a reasonable attorney fee set by the court. A person who has paid taxes on the real estate has a lien for them plus interest at six percent per year.
Va. Code 58.1-3975 (the treasurer's auction of minimal size and value parcels)
Lets the treasurer or other collecting officer auction, without a court suit, a parcel assessed at 15,000 dollars or less where the taxes are delinquent on December 31 following the third anniversary of the date they became due, and parcels assessed up to 30,000 or 40,000 dollars on tighter conditions as to mortgage liens, acreage, buildability, condemnation, nuisance, dereliction, blight or a revitalization zone. It sets certified or registered mail notice and posting at least 30 days out, publication at least seven days out, redemption at any time prior to the date of the sale, a special warranty deed to the highest bidder, and excess proceeds held in an interest bearing escrow account claimable within two years.
Constitution of Virginia, Article VII, Section 4 (an elected treasurer in every county and city)
Provides that there shall be elected by the qualified voters of each county and city a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney for the Commonwealth, a clerk who is clerk of the court in the office of which deeds are recorded, and a commissioner of revenue, with duties and compensation prescribed by general law or special act. This is why the office that holds a delinquent real estate bill is a locally elected treasurer rather than a state agency.
Chesterfield County Treasurer: delinquent billings, late payments and judicial sales
A county treasurer page setting out the local figures and the practical sequence: a 10 percent late payment penalty applied the day following the due date, 10 percent annual interest accruing the month following the due date, a 30 dollar administrative fee under 58.1-3958, a tax payment plan application, and a judicial sale that can take several months to roughly 18 months, during which the owner can redeem at any time prior to the sale by paying all taxes, penalties, interest and costs.
Roanoke County Treasurer: judicial sales of delinquent lands
A county treasurer page stating that the Code of Virginia 58.1-3965 instructs the Treasurer to commence with the sale of real property which are delinquent for more than 2 years as of December 31, that the office reviews delinquent parcels annually, that owners are notified before a list of lands delinquent and subject to sale is published in the newspaper and on the site, and that inclusion on the list does not by itself subject a parcel to sale.
City of Roanoke Treasurer: real estate tax information
An independent city treasurer page showing how differently the same statutory scheme is administered a county line away: city real estate taxes are paid twice a year with due dates of April 5 and October 5, bills are mailed at the end of February and the end of August, and a late payment draws a 10 percent penalty. It is the City Treasurer, not any county office, that collects city tax.
Regional Variances
Virginia delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Sale mechanism
Judicial. An attorney employed by the county, city or town files a complaint in the circuit court where the land lies to subject it to the lien for the delinquent taxes, every interested party is named a defendant, and the court appoints a special commissioner to sell the property and execute the deed, with the sale reported back for confirmation (Va. Code 58.1-3966, 58.1-3967, 58.1-3969). No lien or certificate is sold to an investor.
Second and third routes
A treasurer may auction minimal size and value parcels with no court suit at all, starting at parcels assessed at 15,000 dollars or less that are delinquent on December 31 following the third anniversary (Va. Code 58.1-3975). Separately, for low value parcels where the arrears are large relative to assessed value, the court may convey the land to the locality, its land bank entity or a designated nonprofit in lieu of auction (Va. Code 58.1-3970.1).
Delinquency date
Local, with a statutory default. The treasurer receives levies without penalty up to and including December 5, or such other date set by the governing body (Va. Code 58.1-3913), and the governing body may set due dates and split the bill into two installments (Va. Code 58.1-3916). So there is no single statewide date: the City of Roanoke, for one, bills real estate with due dates of April 5 and October 5.
Penalty and interest before any sale
Default is a 5 percent penalty for missing December 5 (Va. Code 58.1-3915) plus interest at ten percent per annum from the first day following the due date, charged on principal and penalties alike (Va. Code 58.1-3918). An ordinance may displace both within caps: penalty up to 10 percent of the tax past due, interest up to 10 percent a year and, from the second year of delinquency, the greater of the Internal Revenue Code section 6621 rate or 10 percent (Va. Code 58.1-3916).
Time before sale
Taxes delinquent on December 31 following the second anniversary of the date they became due, which is the general rule, dropping to the first anniversary for a condemned structure, a nuisance, a derelict building or blighted property, and on a court finding where assessed value is 100,000 dollars or less (Va. Code 58.1-3965). A city may by ordinance use the first anniversary for any parcel (Va. Code 58.1-3965.1), and in a qualifying locality a parcel in those same four categories with unpaid abatement costs can be reached at six months.
Redemption period and clock
There is no period measured in years and nothing after the sale. The owner, or an heir, devisee, successor or assign, may redeem at any time prior to the date set for the judicial sale (Va. Code 58.1-3974), and a partial payment neither redeems nor suspends the suit (Va. Code 58.1-3965). The only later route is narrow and is not a redemption: a party served by publication may seek a rehearing for good cause within 90 days of confirmation (Va. Code 58.1-3967).
Redeemer's charge
Pay in full at local rates, with no redemption premium at all. Not a bid-down rate, not a flat penalty and not one statewide figure. The redeemer pays all taxes, penalties and interest due, including amounts owed to a town or other concurrent taxing entity, plus all costs including publication and a court-set reasonable attorney fee (Va. Code 58.1-3974). The underlying interest is the local ordinance rate within the 58.1-3916 ceiling, or ten percent per annum by default (Va. Code 58.1-3918).
Other costs of redeeming
The pro rata cost of the newspaper publication, the cost of any title examination done to satisfy the notice rules, and reasonable attorney fees set by the court all become part of the tax, collected even if the owner pays before any court proceeding starts (Va. Code 58.1-3965). Add administrative costs of up to 30 dollars before judgment and 35 dollars after, plus attorney or collection agency fees capped at 20 percent (Va. Code 58.1-3958).
Notice to the owner
Mailed notice at least 30 days before any judicial proceeding, to the owner's last known address in the treasurer's records and to the property address if different, and it must advise the taxpayer of the payment agreement of up to 72 months. The locality must also publish the list of real estate at least once, at least 30 days before proceedings commence (Va. Code 58.1-3965). In the suit, every interested person must be served as a party defendant (Va. Code 58.1-3967).
Where to redeem
The treasurer, or other officer responsible for collecting taxes, of the county or city where the land lies, and once a complaint is filed 58.1-3974 directs the money into court. Virginia cities are independent of counties and a treasurer is elected in each county and city (Const. of Va. art. VII, 1 and 4), so Roanoke County's Treasurer and the City of Roanoke's City Treasurer are two separate offices with separate bills and separate sales.
Surplus proceeds
Claimable, on a two year clock. The former owner and his heirs, devisees, successors or assigns are entitled to the surplus above taxes, penalties, interest, reasonable attorney fees, costs and any liens chargeable on the property, and the burden is on the claimant to prove entitlement; unclaimed two years after the date of confirmation, the clerk pays it to the locality (Va. Code 58.1-3967). On the treasurer's auction route the excess sits in an interest bearing escrow account instead (Va. Code 58.1-3975).
Payment plan
The strongest lever in the statute. The treasurer may suspend any action for sale on an agreement to pay all delinquent amounts in installments over a reasonable period not exceeding 72 months, secured by the locality's lien, with current taxes paid as they come due; the pending suit is continued on the docket and struck when the agreement is satisfied (Va. Code 58.1-3965). Default makes it voidable on 15 days notice and bars another agreement on that property for three years.
Frequently Asked Questions
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