Carol Hazard has a look at the city tax delinquent property auction process on richmond.com:

The city of Richmond is ramping up to handle a backlog of as many as 5,800 properties on which the owners have not paid property taxes.

This month, it will auction 22 of them to collect back taxes as part of a quarterly auction process initiated this year.

The city hopes to eventually increase the number of sales at the quarterly auctions to 60 or more properties, Nick Feucht, who works in the city’s economic and community development office, said Friday.