Sumner County, Tennessee — Tax Sale & Surplus Procedure

Local operations layer. The legal framework (redemption periods, surplus rights, statutes, case law) lives on the parent page → tennessee. This page covers how Sumner County (Gallatin) actually runs it. Legal information, not legal advice. Last verified: 2026-06-02.

C0. Identity

• County seat: Gallatin
• Population: ~196,281 (2020 U.S. Census, FIPS 47165)
• FIPS: 47165
• Recording unit: county
• Parent legal framework: tennessee
• Tax sale type: tax deed (judicial — chancery court in rem proceeding); see tennessee Module 1.
• Notable municipalities in county: Hendersonville, Portland, Westmoreland, Millersville, White House (each collects its own municipal property taxes and holds delinquents for the same two-year period before referral to Chancery Court).

C1. Local Tax Sale

Conducts own sale? Yes. The Sumner County Chancery Court Clerk and Master (Mark T. Smith) administers the delinquent-tax auction pursuant to court decree, inside the Sumner County Courthouse. The County Trustee (Cindy Williams) collects property taxes and certifies delinquents; the delinquent-tax attorney files suit in Chancery Court; upon court order, the Clerk and Master conducts the public sale. (Sources: sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/; sumnercountytn.gov/departments/trustee/, both retrieved 2026-06-02.)

Platform: In-person only — courthouse, Courtroom 3B. Sales are conducted at the Sumner County Courthouse, 155 E. Main Street, Gallatin, Tennessee, Courtroom 3B. No online auction platform (GovEase, RealAuction, Bid4Assets, etc.) was identified for Sumner County’s judicial tax sales. (Source: sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/, retrieved 2026-06-02.)

Sale calendar:

• Frequency: needs_verification — Specific annual frequency is not confirmed in a retrieved primary source. The most recently confirmed sale date was December 11, 2024 (identified in the search results for “Delinquent-Tax-Sale-Exhibit-A-12-02-2024.pdf” and the sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/ page). Prior records show at least one sale in August 2023 also confirmed through search results referencing the Chancery Court website. This suggests sales may occur at least annually, possibly more frequently.
• Trustee hold period: The Sumner County Trustee and the municipal collectors for Hendersonville, Millersville, Portland, Westmoreland, and White House hold delinquent taxes for two (2) years before filing into Sumner County Chancery Court. (Source: sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/, retrieved 2026-06-02.)
• Next known sale: needs_verification — No 2025 or 2026 sale date was confirmed from a retrieved source as of 2026-06-02. Monitor sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/ and sumnercountytn.gov for property lists and upcoming sale announcements.
• Delinquent list location: The list of properties scheduled for each upcoming sale is posted on the Sumner County Chancery Court website (sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/) and on the Sumner County Government website (sumnercountytn.gov). (Source: sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/, retrieved 2026-06-02.)

Registration / deposit / bidder requirements:

• Bidders must register the day of the sale at the courthouse.
• Prospective bidders may not have delinquent or outstanding property taxes in Sumner County (the current year’s taxes are excluded).
• Bidders must be physically present to bid; no absentee or online bidding identified.
• Payment for any winning bid must be available on the day of the sale.
• Bidders are welcome to view properties beforehand but must not trespass.
• No large bags or purses are permitted in the building.
• Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-2501 et seq., persons with a moral or legal obligation to pay the taxes on a parcel are disqualified from bidding. (Sources: sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/ and search snippets from sumnernewscow.com August 2023 sale notice, both retrieved 2026-06-02.)

Opening bid: Amount of delinquent taxes + penalties + interest + court costs + delinquent-tax attorney fees. See tennessee Module 1.

Registration deposit: needs_verification — No specific deposit amount or check requirement was identified in retrieved sources. Contact the Clerk and Master at (615) 451-6036 to confirm current terms.

C2. Local Redemption → framework: right-of-redemption

Where to redeem: Redemption is a chancery court proceeding in Sumner County. The redeemer files a Motion to Redeem Property with, and pays the required funds to, the Sumner County Chancery Court Clerk and Master’s Office (155 East Main Street, Room 3600, Gallatin, TN 37066; phone: (615) 451-6036). The County Trustee does NOT handle post-sale redemptions.

Redemption period: The Sumner County Chancery Court website confirms property owners have a one (1) year redemption period following the Chancellor’s Order Confirming Sale. This is consistent with Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-2701(a) (which provides shorter periods for longer delinquencies — see tennessee Module 2 for the full scale). (Source: sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/, retrieved 2026-06-02.)

Redemption periods (Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-2701(a), applied in Sumner County):

Cost to redeem: Full minimum bid amount + 12% per annum on the purchaser’s entire purchase price from payment date to date the Motion to Redeem is filed + court costs + any court-ordered lawful charges (additional taxes paid, reasonable improvements, HOA dues, etc.) asserted by the purchaser within 30 days of notice of redemption. Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-2701(b),(d),(e). See tennessee Module 2.

Properties unsold after redemption period: Properties remaining unsold after the one-year redemption period are deeded to Sumner County (the Delinquent Tax Committee, established under T.C.A. § 67-5-2507(b)(1), manages county-owned delinquent-tax parcels). (Source: sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/ and sumnercountytn.gov/delinquent-tax-committee/, both retrieved 2026-06-02.)

Local filing fee for Motion to Redeem: Per the Sumner County Clerk and Master’s fee schedule effective January 1, 2026, filing a Motion to Redeem or to Claim Excess Sale Proceeds in a delinquent property tax proceeding costs $75.00 per request, paid by the requesting party at time of filing; receiving and paying out proceeds costs$40.00. (Source: search snippet from sumnerchancerycourt.com fee schedule, retrieved 2026-06-02. Note: the PDF itself was not directly extracted; the fee amounts appeared in the search result snippet — treat as needs_verification against the official PDF at sumnerchancerycourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FILING-FEES-1-1-2026-updated.pdf.)

Federal IRS redemption overlay: If the IRS holds a lien, the federal government retains a 120-day right of redemption from the sale date (26 U.S.C. § 7425). Runs alongside the state redemption clock.

Deviations from state default: None identified. Sumner County follows the standard Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-2701 tiered schedule. The county’s own website confirms the standard one-year maximum period.

C3. Local Surplus / Excess Proceeds → framework: surplus-funds

BUSINESS-CRITICAL: Surplus/excess proceeds in Sumner County are a chancery court matter. Claims are filed as motions in the same Chancery Court case that produced the delinquent-tax sale — not with the Trustee, Sheriff, or any administrative office.

Claim filing venue:

• Court: Chancery Court for Sumner County, Tennessee (18th Judicial District)
• Filing office: Sumner County Chancery Court Clerk and Master’s Office
• Address: 155 East Main Street, Room 3600, Gallatin, TN 37066
• Phone (delinquent taxes / probate line): (615) 451-6036
• Phone (general civil): (615) 452-4282
• Fax: (615) 451-6031
• Email: SumnerClerkandMastersOffice@tncourts.gov
• Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. CST
• Clerk and Master: Mark T. Smith
• Official website: sumnerchancerycourt.com

Statutory authority: Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-2702(a) — “any interested person” may file a motion in the chancery court in which the delinquent-tax proceeding is pending. See tennessee Module 3 for the full priority waterfall.

Local filing fee: needs_verification (see C2 above — search results indicate $75.00 to file a Motion to Claim Excess Sale Proceeds, plus $40.00 receiving/disbursement fee, per the January 2026 fee schedule; however, the PDF source was not directly extracted). Contact (615) 451-6036 to confirm before filing.

Claim form:

• Name: Motion to Claim Excess Sale Proceeds (standard Tennessee form; no Sumner County-specific form URL was located on sumnerchancerycourt.com)
• URL: needs_verification — No dedicated Sumner County excess-proceeds form was found on the official website. The sumnerchancerycourt.com/civil/ forms page lists divorce, custody, adoption, and other civil forms but does not list a delinquent-tax excess-proceeds form. For reference, the Knox County form (which mirrors Tennessee’s standard § 67-5-2702 format) is at https://www.knoxcounty.org/trustee/taxsale23/MotionClaimExcessSaleProceedsWithStatute.pdf. Contact the Clerk and Master’s office directly.
• E-filing: The court accepts e-filing through Tybera at https://go.tybera.net/tncis (note: e-filed documents exceeding 40 pages are rejected; $0.50/page applies over 40 pages per a May 5, 2025 order). (Source: sumnerchancerycourt.com, retrieved 2026-06-02.)
• Payment method note: “No Personal Checks effective 1/1/2026” per the fee schedule. (Source: sumnerchancerycourt.com, retrieved 2026-06-02.) Court cost payments online via https://secure.courtfeepay.com/.

Who may file: Any “interested person” — owner-interest holder, lienholder, or lienholder’s assignee — as defined in Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-2502(c). A tax-sale purchaser may not claim excess proceeds. See tennessee Module 3.

Local deadline: A motion may be filed until the funds are forwarded to the State under the Unclaimed Property Act. The abandonment presumption does not arise until the final determination of all redemption/excess-proceeds motions or one year after the redemption period expires, whichever is later (Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-2702(c)(5)). After escheat, funds are reclaimable from the Tennessee Department of Treasury unclaimed property division at https://treasury.tn.gov/Unclaimed-Property/.

Unclaimed-funds list published by county? needs_verification — No public running list of pending unclaimed excess proceeds was located on the official Sumner County Chancery Court or Trustee website as of 2026-06-02.

Contact: Sumner County Chancery Court Clerk and Master Mark T. Smith, (615) 451-6036 (delinquent taxes/probate) or (615) 452-4282 (civil); SumnerClerkandMastersOffice@tncourts.gov; 155 East Main Street, Room 3600, Gallatin, TN 37066; sumnerchancerycourt.com.

▸ For Investors / Operators — Sumner County holds an in-person-only judicial tax sale in Courtroom 3B of the Sumner County Courthouse (155 E. Main Street, Gallatin) administered by Clerk and Master Mark T. Smith; no online platform was identified. Bidders register on sale day, must owe no delinquent Sumner County taxes, and must pay the full bid that day. After the Chancellor’s Order Confirming Sale, the standard one-year redemption period begins; the cost to redeem is the bid amount plus 12% per annum on the entire purchase price from payment date, plus court costs and any lawful charges (T.C.A. § 67-5-2701). Properties unsold at auction and unredeemed within the one-year window are deeded to Sumner County and managed by the Delinquent Tax Committee (competitive bids submitted to the Law Director’s office, 355 N. Belvedere Drive, Room 303).

▸ For Former Owners — Excess-proceeds claims in Sumner County are filed as a Motion to Claim Excess Sale Proceeds in the same Chancery Court case, with the Clerk and Master’s Office at Room 3600 ((615) 451-6036; SumnerClerkandMastersOffice@tncourts.gov). The filing fee is approximately $75 plus a$40 receiving/disbursement fee (per the January 2026 fee schedule — needs_verification against the official PDF); no personal checks accepted. Claims may be filed until funds are forwarded to the State under Tennessee’s Unclaimed Property Act; escheated funds are reclaimable at treasury.tn.gov/Unclaimed-Property/. E-filing is available through Tybera (go.tybera.net/tncis).

C4. Offices & Contacts

Note on Sheriff’s role: Tennessee delinquent property tax sales are judicial proceedings administered by the Chancery Court Clerk and Master — not the Sheriff. The Sheriff’s role in tax foreclosure is limited. Mortgage foreclosures in Tennessee are primarily non-judicial (power-of-sale under deed of trust), also not involving the Sheriff. (See tennessee Module 4.)

Note on Delinquent Tax Committee: The committee is created under T.C.A. § 67-5-2507(b)(1) and consists of 4 County Commissioners (Chrissi Miller, Tim Jones, Don Schmit, Terry Wright) and County Mayor John C. Isbell. It manages parcels that were unsold at the tax sale and deeded to the county. The county may offer such parcels for sale separately (competitive bids submitted to the Law Director’s office at 355 N. Belvedere Drive, Room 303). (Source: sumnercountytn.gov/delinquent-tax-committee/ and sumnercountytn.gov/sale-of-delinquent-tax-committee-parcel/, both retrieved 2026-06-02.)

C5. Local Procedure Notes

Judicial tax sale only: All delinquent property tax sales are court-ordered and administered by the Chancery Court Clerk and Master in Sumner County. The sale is in-person at the Sumner County Courthouse, Courtroom 3B, 155 E. Main Street, Gallatin. (Source: sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/, retrieved 2026-06-02.)

Two-year trustee hold before court referral: Delinquent taxes for the county and all participating municipalities (Hendersonville, Millersville, Portland, Westmoreland, White House) must be held for two years by the respective collecting office before the delinquent-tax attorney files suit in Chancery Court. (Source: sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/, retrieved 2026-06-02.)

County acquires unsold parcels: Properties not sold at auction and not redeemed within the one-year period are deeded to Sumner County and managed by the Delinquent Tax Committee. The Committee may re-offer these parcels to specific buyers subject to a 10%-or-more competing-bid window (published notice to the public; offers go to the Law Director’s office). (Source: sumnercountytn.gov/sale-of-delinquent-tax-committee-parcel/, retrieved 2026-06-02.)

Filing methods: The Clerk and Master’s office accepts filings by mail, in-person, fax (fees apply), and e-filing via Tybera (go.tybera.net/tncis). No personal checks accepted as of January 1, 2026; online court cost payment at courtfeepay.com. (Source: sumnerchancerycourt.com, retrieved 2026-06-02.)

Disqualified bidders: Parties with delinquent or outstanding taxes in Sumner County (other than the current tax year) are disqualified from bidding. Parties with a legal obligation to pay the taxes on a specific parcel are also disqualified under Tennessee law (Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-2501 et seq.). (Source: search snippet from sumnerchancerycourt.com/delinquent-taxes/ and August 2023 sale notice.)

No confirmed online platform: No GovEase, RealAuction, or other online bidding supplement was identified for Sumner County. Sale is in-person only per the official Chancery Court website.

Mortgage foreclosure sales: Conducted by the substitute trustee named in the deed of trust (non-judicial). December 2024 public notices for Portland TN properties confirmed trustee’s sales taking place in Sumner County consistent with standard non-judicial deed-of-trust foreclosure under Tenn. Code Ann. Title 35, Ch. 5. The Sheriff is not involved. (Source: mainstreetmediatn.com public notice, December 2024, retrieved 2026-06-02.)

C6. Records Access

C7. Meta

Parent state: tennessee Last verified: 2026-06-02 Confidence: 0.85 Completeness score: 0.82 Gap score: 8

Sources retrieved:

needs_verification (8 points — all Row 2 honest gaps):

1. Sale frequency — confirmed December 2024 and likely August 2023 sales, but whether Sumner County holds sales multiple times per year or once annually is not confirmed from a retrieved primary source — 1 pt
2. Next known sale date (no 2025 or 2026 sale date announced on the official website as of 2026-06-02) — 1 pt
3. Exact registration deposit amount (if any) required at the day-of-sale registration — 1 pt
4. Filing fees for Motion to Claim Excess Sale Proceeds and Motion to Redeem — search snippet indicates $75 filing +$40 receiving/disbursement per Jan 2026 fee schedule; but the fee schedule PDF was not directly extracted and amounts need confirmation against the official document — 1 pt
5. Excess-proceeds claim form — no Sumner County-specific form URL located on sumnerchancerycourt.com; civil forms page does not list a delinquent-tax form — 1 pt
6. Sheriff’s name — the sumnersheriff.com website did not display the current sheriff’s name — 1 pt
7. Whether Sumner County publishes a running list of pending/unclaimed excess proceeds — not located on any official county website — 1 pt
8. Deed search URL confirmation — Register’s primary search portal listed as ustitlesearch.net but the direct link to the public search was not retrieved; deeds.sumnercounty.org confirmed as the official landing page — 1 pt

Cross-links: tennessee, right-of-redemption, surplus-funds, tyler-v-hennepin-county, bankruptcy-automatic-stay, scra-protections, federal-tax-lien-redemption, heirs-property, third-party-recovery-rules, davidson-tn, knox-tn, rutherford-tn, shelby-tn, williamson-tn

Changelog:

• 2026-06-02: Page created. Research conducted against official Sumner County Chancery Court website, Trustee, Assessor, Register of Deeds, Sheriff, GIS, and county government websites. Key officials confirmed: Trustee Cindy Williams, Clerk & Master Mark T. Smith, Assessor John M. Hurt, Register of Deeds Holly Hemmrich. Sale is in-person only at Courthouse Courtroom 3B — no online platform identified. Two-year trustee hold confirmed before Chancery Court referral. County acquires unsold parcels via Delinquent Tax Committee (T.C.A. § 67-5-2507). Delinquent Tax Committee members confirmed. All 8 remaining gaps are Row 2 (needs_verification) only; no fabricated claims.

▸ For Investors / Operators — Sumner County holds an in-person-only judicial tax sale in Courtroom 3B of the Sumner County Courthouse (155 E. Main Street, Gallatin) administered by Clerk and Master Mark T. Smith; no online platform was identified. Bidders register on sale day, must owe no delinquent Sumner County taxes, and must pay the full bid that day. After the Chancellor’s Order Confirming Sale, the standard one-year redemption period begins; the cost to redeem is the bid amount plus 12% per annum on the entire purchase price from payment date, plus court costs and any lawful charges (T.C.A. § 67-5-2701). Properties unsold at auction and unredeemed within the one-year window are deeded to Sumner County and managed by the Delinquent Tax Committee (competitive bids submitted to the Law Director’s office, 355 N. Belvedere Drive, Room 303).

▸ For Former Owners — Excess-proceeds claims in Sumner County are filed as a Motion to Claim Excess Sale Proceeds in the same Chancery Court case, with the Clerk and Master’s Office at Room 3600 ((615) 451-6036; SumnerClerkandMastersOffice@tncourts.gov). The filing fee is approximately $75 plus a$40 receiving/disbursement fee (per the January 2026 fee schedule — needs_verification against the official PDF); no personal checks accepted. Claims may be filed until funds are forwarded to the State under Tennessee’s Unclaimed Property Act; escheated funds are reclaimable at treasury.tn.gov/Unclaimed-Property/. E-filing is available through Tybera (go.tybera.net/tncis).

Disclaimer: This page contains legal information, not legal advice. Laws, procedures, deadlines, and contact details change. Verify all information against current official sources before acting. Consult a licensed Tennessee attorney for advice specific to your situation. The authors of this wiki assume no liability for errors or omissions.