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Pennsylvania tax lien & tax deed sales

Pennsylvania is a tax deed state. It sells no tax lien certificates to investors. Read more…

In the 65 counties governed by the Real Estate Tax Sale Law, the county Tax Claim Bureau sells the property itself on a two-step ladder: an upset sale each September, and then a court-ordered judicial sale for anything the upset sale could not clear. The difference between the two matters more than the price. An upset sale conveys the property still subject to every recorded mortgage, lien and estate that was not covered by the upset price, while a judicial sale conveys it free and cleared of those claims. There is no redemption after the sale. Philadelphia and Allegheny County sit outside this act and enforce delinquent taxes through sheriff sales under the Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Law, which does carry a post-sale redemption right.

Rules verified Aug 9, 2026 against Pennsylvania Statutes.

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Sale type: Tax deed
Auction method: premium bid
Over-the-counter: Available
Counties: 67 counties

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Tax deed sales

A tax deed sale auctions the property itself to the highest bidder. Win, and you can take ownership, but the deed is not clean, insurable title on its own.

Auction method: premium bid (highest bidder)

Runs afterA statutory clock, not an investor's application. More…

Taxes unpaid at the end of the year they were due are delinquent on December 31. The collector returns them to the bureau by the following April 30, the bureau gives notice of the claim by that July 31, and the claim becomes absolute the next January 1 if it is still unpaid and no exceptions were filed. The property is then exposed to the upset sale that September, roughly 21 months after the delinquency date. If it does not sell there, the bureau petitions the court of common pleas for a judicial sale. Section 616 makes that petition mandatory on a two-stage clock: once 10 months pass after the scheduled upset sale with no petition filed under section 610 and no private sale, the bureau must file within the next two months, so the outer deadline is 12 months from the scheduled upset sale.

Run byCounty Tax Claim Bureau. A county may instead provide by ordinance for agents, collectors or a private sector entity to collect and sell under the same notices, time frames, fees and owner protections. More…

In Philadelphia and Allegheny County the sale is run by the sheriff under the Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Law.

DepositThe Real Estate Tax Sale Law sets no deposit and no buyer premium. More…

What it does require is pre-registration: anyone intending to bid at an upset or judicial sale must appear and register at the bureau no less than 10 days before the sale, once per scheduled sale, and a county may charge a fee for filing the application. The application names the applicant, and every officer, member and manager if the applicant is not an individual, and carries an affidavit that the applicant owes no delinquent real estate taxes anywhere in the Commonwealth, has no municipal utility bill more than one year outstanding, is not acting for a person barred under section 601(d), and has not let an uncorrected housing code violation stand after conviction in the last three years. A false statement is prosecutable as a second degree misdemeanor. The bureau sends the list of registered bidders to every municipality in the county at least five days before the sale.

Balance dueAt an upset sale the purchaser pays the entire purchase money to the bureau on the day of the sale, no later than one hour before the close of business or at another time that day the bureau designates. More…

Miss it and the sale is voided and the property is put up again at the same sale or at an adjournment. The act sets no payment window for a judicial sale; the bureau delivers the deed after the purchaser pays the price, and deeds for property exposed at a judicial sale may not be exchanged sooner than 20 days nor later than 45 days after the sale. Counties publish their own judicial-sale payment terms, and many require certified funds at strike-down. The deed is recorded at the purchaser's cost.

Surplus proceedsThe bureau distributes tax-sale proceeds, after repaying costs advanced by taxing districts and its own 5 percent commission, in this order: Commonwealth tax liens, then the taxing districts in proportion to the taxes due them, then taxing districts or municipal authorities for municipal claims, then mortgagees and other lien holders in order of record priority whether or not the sale discharged them, and last the owner of the property. More…

Before paying anything out the bureau petitions the court of common pleas to confirm the schedule of distribution, and an absolute confirmation is final and nonappealable as to every listed distributee. If no claim for the owner's balance is presented within three years of the sale, that balance goes to the taxing districts pro rata and the county keeps the interest it earned.

A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.

Redemption, delinquency, and over-the-counter at a glance

Redemption

How longUnder the Real Estate Tax Sale Law there is no redemption of any property after the actual sale. More…

The owner's last opportunity is to discharge the tax claim before the sale by paying the claim and interest, any other tax claim or judgment and interest, all accrued unpaid taxes, and the record costs, or a smaller amount the political subdivision agrees to accept. Payment before July 1 of the year following the notice of claim removes the property from the sale list entirely. Payment after that date but before the actual sale still stops the sale, though the parcel and the owner's name may already appear in the advertising.

What the owner paysThere is no post-sale redemption amount under the Real Estate Tax Sale Law. More…

To discharge a claim before the sale the payment is the outstanding taxes on the notice of claim plus interest at 9 percent a year, the amount of any other tax claim or tax judgment on the property plus interest, all accrued taxes returned and unpaid, and the record costs including the pro rata cost of the notices, unless the political subdivision agrees to accept less. Under the Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Law the redemption price is the amount bid at the sheriff's sale, the cost of drawing, acknowledging and recording the sheriff's deed, all taxes and municipal claims actually paid whether or not entered as liens, the principal and interest of estates and encumbrances not discharged by the sale and actually paid, and the insurance and other necessary expenses of the property actually paid, less rents or other income, plus a sum equal to interest at 10 percent a year on each of those payments from the time it was made.

Delinquency

How it startsTaxes are delinquent on December 31 of the year they were due, for every taxing district. More…

The tax collector returns the unpaid list to the county Tax Claim Bureau between January 1 and April 30 of the following year, or by an earlier uniform date the county commissioners set by resolution, and interest then runs at 9 percent a year from the first day of the month after the return. The bureau mails and posts notice of the claim by July 31 of that year, and a one-year period to discharge the claim starts running on July 1. If nothing is paid, the claim becomes absolute the next January 1 and the property is exposed to the upset sale that September. Property taxes are a first lien with priority over any mortgage, ground rent, judgment or other lien on the property, behind only the costs of sale and Commonwealth tax liens given priority by section 205.

Over-the-counter

How to buyProperty that remains unsold after it has been exposed to a judicial sale is placed in the county's repository for unsold properties. More…

The bureau maintains the list and must make it available to the general public during normal office hours, and may publish it in a locally circulating newspaper from time to time. With the written consent of every taxing district where the property sits, the bureau may set a minimum purchase price and accept any offer at or above it without court approval and without published notice of sale. A taxing district may not unreasonably withhold consent, and consent is deemed given if it does not respond within 60 days of receiving notice; a district may condition its consent on the buyer appearing before its governing body and supplying the section 502-A information. The buyer must provide an affidavit containing that same information. The property is conveyed free and clear of all tax and municipal claims, mortgages, liens, charges and estates except separately taxed ground rents, and the bureau records the deed at the buyer's expense. The price paid is deemed the fair market value for tax assessment purposes until a general reassessment, a resale, or an improvement. A former owner may not buy their own property out of the repository.

What is availablePennsylvania keeps no Lands Available for Taxes list of the Florida type and there is no escheat to the Commonwealth in this chapter. More…

A second non-auction route exists: after a property draws no bid equal to the upset price, the bureau may on its own motion, and must on a taxing district's written instruction, agree to sell it at private sale at any price the bureau approves, after notice to each taxing district and the owner and two newspaper publications about 10 days apart. Any taxing district, the owner, an interested party, or a would-be purchaser may petition the court within 45 days to disapprove the price, in which case the court fixes a floor and may order an auction-style bid among the parties.

Governing statutes

72 P.S. 5860.101 et seq.72 P.S. 5860.306 72 P.S. 5860.501 Act of July 7, 1947, P.L.1368, No.542, sec. 501-A 72 P.S. 5860.601 72 P.S. 5860.605 72 P.S. 5860.606 72 P.S. 5860.609 72 P.S. 5860.610 72 P.S. 5860.612 72 P.S. 5860.613 72 P.S. 5860.626 72 P.S. 5860.627 72 P.S. 5860.205 53 P.S. 7101 et seq.53 P.S. 7283 53 P.S. 7293 61 Pa. Code 91.135

All 67 Pennsylvania counties

Sales are organized by county. Search your city or county, or filter by whether the tax deed sale runs online or in person. Each row shows the certificate-sale platform for quick comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Does Pennsylvania sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax deeds. Pennsylvania sells no tax lien certificates to investors. In the 65 counties under the Real Estate Tax Sale Law the county Tax Claim Bureau sells the property itself, first at a September upset sale and then, for anything unsold, at a court-ordered judicial sale.

What is the difference between a Pennsylvania upset sale and a judicial sale?

What you get for your money. An upset sale conveys the property still subject to every recorded mortgage, lien, ground rent and estate that was not covered by the upset price, so a surviving mortgage is your problem. A judicial sale is ordered by the court of common pleas and conveys an absolute title free and cleared of all tax and municipal claims, mortgages, liens, charges and estates, except separately taxed ground rents. Both are sold to the highest bidder, but only the upset sale has a statutory minimum price.

When are Pennsylvania tax sales held?

The upset sale is scheduled no earlier than the second Monday of September and before October 1, and any continuation must finish by the end of the calendar year. Judicial sales are held on a date the court fixes, so the month varies by county. A property reaches its first upset sale in the September of the second calendar year after the year the taxes were due, roughly 21 months after the December 31 delinquency date.

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