Munson, B: South Carolina Sheriff's Sales - Volume 2 - 1840-

This Book is the second in a series that compiles sales advertised in South Carolina newspapers by sheriffs of property to pay debts, etc. What is a Sheriff's Sale? This question was clearly answered by The Rev. W. Becket Soule, Tribunal Office, Diocese of Charlotte, in his review of my first book in this series-South Carolina Sheriff's Sales 1836-1839-which appeared in the North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal, Volume 46, Number 1. Quoting Rev. Soule:
"A sheriff's sale is a public auction where property is repossessed; the proceeds may be used to repay mortgage lenders, banks, tax collectors, or other litigants who have lost money on the property. A sheriff's sale occurs at the end of the foreclosure process, when the initial property owner can no longer make good on mortgage payments, but such a sale can also occur to satisfy judgments and tax liens. The legal document which sets this process in motion, technically a writ of execution, is referred to as fieri facias, usually abbreviated as fi. fa. (Latin for "you cause to be made").