Prince George's County, Maryland, USA
Interior Nat Harbor

Tax Sale Requirements

Each parcel of property offered at tax sale will be sold as an entirety (Section 14-814). No property will be sold for a sum less than the advertised price. When sold, the County’s lien on the property passes to the bidder/purchaser (Section 14-817). 

All tax sale bidders are subject to the following steps prior to being permitted to bid in the auction: 

  1. Register online at the tax sale website.  No mail-in or email registrations will be accepted. Online registration will begin and end in April of each year. All steps in the bidder registration process must be completed by 5 p.m. EST on the last business day of registration. A confirmation email will be sent to each registrant and will include a bidder number.
  2. Pay $150.00 registration fee and $1,000 deposit via ACH Debit.  The registration fee is non-refundable and will not be applied to the amount owed for certificates.  The deposit will be applied to the amount owed for certificates or refunded if no certificates are awarded.  Payment in USD (United States Dollars) is required. 
  3. Complete and upload a W-9 form to the website.
  4. Enter a valid bank account from which the registration fee will be debited. All bidders are required to monitor their auction account to ensure funds for all successful bids are available for payment at the close of the auction.
  5. Accept all terms in the “Tax Sale Information and Procedures” and the “Bidding Rules.”

Submitting a Bid 

All bids shall be submitted through the tax sale website. Bids may be submitted beginning the first Monday in May of the tax sale year. Certificates will be awarded to the highest bidder on the day of tax sale (the second Monday in May) in accordance with the batch listings that will be posted on the website. Batches are subgroups of the advertised list of properties that serve as a means of organizing tax certificates for the purpose of facilitating bid submission. Each tax certificate in each batch is offered independently of every other tax certificate in that batch. A unique closing time is established for each batch. 

Certificates will be grouped into batches and each tax lien will be awarded to the highest bidder. The tax sale, the first batch will close at 10 a.m. EST.,  the second batch will close at Noon EST., the third batch will close at 2 p.m. EST.  Acceptance of bids for the final batch ends at 3 p.m. EST. 

Bids may be submitted as a dollar value or in the form of a bid factor (a percentage of the assessed value). For example, a bid factor of .46 would indicate that the bidder is bidding .46 times the assessed value of the property. 

Bidder Responsibility 

All bids must be made in good faith. All bids placed, whether intentional or not, are the responsibility of the bidder and may not be withdrawn. Should a successful bidder not make full payment for any or all the certificates that are awarded in the tax sale, including any associated High Bid Premium, they will not be awarded any certificates, and they may be prohibited from participating in future tax sales. The certificates will be awarded to the next highest bidder. All bidders are required to monitor their auction account to ensure funds for successful bids are available for payment at the close of the auction. 

Each successful bidder will receive an invoice via email once the tax sale is completed. Guaranteed funds in the form of a wire transfer or cashier’s check must be received for payment of the total amount of awarded bids plus any associated high bid premium. Cashier’s checks must be delivered by 3 p.m. (EST) the day following the tax sale to: 

Prince George’s County Office of Finance
Wayne K. Curry Administration Building
1301 McCormick Drive, Suite 1100
Largo, MD 20774 

Wire transfers must be sent according to the instructions provided in the invoice and must be received in the County’s bank account by 3 p.m. (EST) the day following the tax sale. The County will send an email confirmation acknowledging receipt of the wire transfer.

High Bid Premium 

Pursuant to Tax Property Article 14-817(b), the County has established a high bid premium for all certificates sold at tax sale. This high bid premium is 20% of the amount by which the bid exceeds 40% of the property’s assessed value. The high bid premium is due and payable at the time the successful bidder pays the tax lien amount. The County will confirm with its bank the receipt of the payment. 

Successful Bidders are required to complete and return the electronic transfer form and the IRS form W-9, to complete the request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. 

The County will provide tax sale purchasers with IRS form 1099-INT Interest Income paid, as required by law.