All sales of real property under tax certificate foreclosures made between January 1, 1927, and March 13, 1937, where the original notice of sale was published for four successive weeks, and any notice of resale was published for two successive weeks, preceding said sales, whether the notice of sale was required to be published in a newspaper or at courthouse door, or both, shall be, and the same are in all respects validated as to publication of said notice: Provided said publication was completed as above set out within 10 days of the date of the sale.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to the Counties of Alleghany, Beaufort, Cabarrus, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Currituck, Halifax, Harnett, Henderson, Hertford, Hyde, Iredell, Johnston, Jones, Macon, Mitchell, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Perquimans, Pitt, Polk, Rowan, Rutherford, Scotland, Surry, Wake, Warren, Washington, and Wayne. (1937, c. 128; 1971, c. 806, s. 1; 1987, c. 777, s. 4(1).)