Wicomico County holds public tax sale June 11; dozens of delinquent parcels sold, some repurchased by county

Wicomico County held a public sale of real property for unpaid taxes on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in the Midway Room of the Wicomico County Civic Center in Salisbury, the county’s tax auctioneer said. The sale, conducted under the Tax-Property Article of the Maryland Code, offered dozens of parcels to satisfy unpaid state, county and other certified taxes.

The auctioneer — who identified the office as the director of the county’s tax/finance collector — said the sale opened at about 10 a.m. and that properties were offered “as is” with bidders required to follow registration, payment and IRS-reporting rules. “You may not communicate with other bidders while the auction is in progress,” the auctioneer said, warning that collusion would prompt a warning and possible ejection.

Why it matters: Tax-sale auctions transfer delinquent tax liabilities into certificates or ownership and can change property ownership and local tax revenue collection. Purchasers at the sale typically receive certificates that may later be foreclosed to obtain title; property owners retain a statutory redemption period unless the certificate is validated and foreclosed by court order.

Key procedures and deadlines announced at the sale: - Registration: the county encouraged preregistration at the Department of Finance and allowed same-day registration at the Civic Center until 9:30 a.m. on the day of the sale. The auctioneer said registration forms were available from the Department of Finance and the county website. - Payment forms and timing: the auctioneer said taxes and charges due for prior years had to be paid by cash, money order, cashier’s check or certified check by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. Credit and debit cards were accepted only through 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. Purchasers were required to pay for properties they bought “by close of business today” to avoid disqualification from future sales. - Tax and IRS paperwork: bidders were required to complete a W-9 at registration; interest earned on redeemed properties would be reported to the IRS, the auctioneer said. - Redemption: the auctioneer announced that no redemptions would be permitted until Wednesday, June 18, 2025, after the sale. - County buybacks: the county reserved the right to “buy back” properties when there were no acceptable bids; the auctioneer repeatedly announced that the county would repurchase parcels where bidding did not open at the amount shown.

How the auction went: the auctioneer offered hundreds of parcels in sequence, calling each tax-sale number and opening bid. Many parcels were sold to the highest bidder that day; others were taken back by the county when bidding did not open at the listed amount. For example, the auctioneer announced that no bid opened on a parcel with $143,403.41 owed at 610 East Church Street and that “the county buys it back.” On other lots the auctioneer announced final sale amounts, including instances the transcript records as sold for $300,000 (110 Columbia Drive) and multiple other sales to individual bidder numbers recorded during the auction.

The auctioneer repeatedly reminded attendees that the properties were offered at the bidder’s risk and that neither the undersigned nor any other party made warranties about property condition or title. The sale list and parcel details were available on the county’s website and at the Department of Finance, the auctioneer said.

What purchasers should expect next: the director of finance/collector said the purchaser’s payment would be applied immediately; if a sale certificate were later invalidated by court order or voided by the collector through no fault of the purchaser, the county would refund the amount actually paid on the day of sale and that refund would be the collector’s sole liability. The auctioneer also reminded buyers that failure to pay for purchases in accordance with tax-sale procedures was a breach of contract that could disqualify them from registering for future auctions.

The county advised prospective bidders to investigate properties and seek legal advice before bidding. A printable list of delinquent parcels and sale results was posted on the Wicomico County Department of Finance web page and available at the Department of Finance office, the auctioneer said.