Skip to content
Tax Sale Atlas

Bucks County, PA tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Bucks County, seat of Doylestown: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how Pennsylvania tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Format
GovEase
Registration
Registration is in person at the Bureau even though bidding is online.
County office
215-348-6274
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 10, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Bucks County sells delinquent taxes

No tax lien certificate sale

Pennsylvania counties do not sell tax lien certificates to investors. The county Tax Claim Bureau holds the delinquent claim itself and later sells the property.

Tax deed sale

GovEase
Run by
Bucks County Tax Claim Bureau
Frequency
annual
Registration
Registration is in person at the Bureau even though bidding is online.
Sale list
Upset and judicial sale lists and past results
When it runs
The county states: "The Upset Sale is held each September by the Bucks County Tax Claim Bureau in accordance with Pennsylvania's Real Estate Tax Sale Law (RETSL). There is a continued Upset Sale as well as a Judicial Sale in December of each year." The department page adds that the sale is "not to be earlier than the 2nd Monday of September, but before October 1." For 2026 the county's bidder table lists the Upset Sale on September 15th 2026, and both the Adjourned Upset Tax Sale and the Judicial Sale on December 8th, 2026.
Registration and deposit

Registration is in person at the Bureau even though bidding is online. The county's 2026 notice states that House Bill No. 264 "requires prospective bidders to appear in person and register at the BUREAU" and that bidders must supply one fully completed original Bidder Individual, Bidder Non-Individual or Bidder LLC Registration form with a signed affidavit, a copy of the bidder's driver's license, and a $100.00 non-refundable bidder registration fee paid by certified check or money order. LLCs must also include their articles of incorporation or articles of organization. No fax or email submissions are accepted. The registration table on the bidder page lists registration for the September 15th 2026 Upset Sale opening July 1st, 2026 and closing August 21st, 2026 at 4:00PM, and registration for the December 8th, 2026 Adjourned Upset and Judicial Sales opening September 21st, 2026 and closing November 24th, 2026 at 4:00PM. Registering for the September Upset Sale automatically registers a bidder for the December Continued Upset Sale and the Judicial Sale. All bidders must be approved before bidding, and the county asks that the email on the registration form match the bidder's GovEase.com account email.

Sale format and venue
Bucks County runs the Pennsylvania RETSL ladder: an Upset Sale in September, a continued or adjourned Upset Sale in December, and a Judicial Sale in December, all conducted online. The county posted a banner for 2026 stating it changed online auction vendors to GovEase, and the page says "All of Tax Claim's sales are conducted virtually through GovEase, the County's approved third-party vendor, at https://www.govease.com/". Bidding rules from the county's registration packet: at the Upset Sale bidding opens at the upset price for each property, and at the Judicial Sale bidding begins at $1.00 over the Bureau's costs. Winning bidders must pay the full bid price plus transfer tax, recording fee, sale cost and administration fee by 5PM on auction day, and a sale is not final until the Bureau receives payment. A bidder who fails to pay on time is barred from future Bucks County tax sales. Title differs sharply between the two sales: the county's 2026 notice warns that at the Upset Sale "The buyer is responsible for any mortgage or lien on the property purchased at UPSET SALE. No liens will be divested," while the Judicial Sale is the route that clears liens. All properties are sold as is, with no county guarantee of condition or title. The current inventory is published as the "2026 Upset Sale List for September 15th 2026 (updated 08-07-2026)" PDF linked from the sales page, and the county cautions that the list can change up to the day of sale and that upset prices are approximate and can rise as more liens arrive. Unsold parcels move to a separate Repository Sale, where the county says parcels are "sold free and clear of all delinquent taxes and liens" with some bids starting at $500.00 and others at Bureau cost, submitted on a Repository Bid Form rather than by auction. One inconsistency to confirm before relying on it: the registration page table gives a November 24th, 2026 4:00PM cutoff for the December sales, while the county's 2026 Public Tax Sale Notice says November 14th 2026 and the bidder packet rules say November 13th 2026. Call the Bureau at 215-348-6274 to confirm the operative deadline.
Register on GovEase

Bucks County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Bucks County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Upset and judicial sale lists and past results for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.
  2. Register to bid

    Registration is in person at the Bureau even though bidding is online. Full requirements are in the sale card above.
  3. Sale day

    Bidding runs on GovEase; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.
  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Bucks County Tax Claim Bureau as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Bucks County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Upset and judicial sale lists and past results. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.
  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Registration is in person at the Bureau even though bidding is online. The county's 2026 notice states that House Bill No. 264 "requires prospective bidders to appear in person and register at the BUREAU" and that bidders must supply one fully completed original Bidder Individual, Bidder Non-Individual or Bidder LLC Registration form with a signed affidavit, a copy of the bidder's driver's license, and a $100.00 non-refundable bidder registration fee paid by certified check or money order. LLCs must also include their articles of incorporation or articles of organization. No fax or email submissions are accepted. The registration table on the bidder page lists registration for the September 15th 2026 Upset Sale opening July 1st, 2026 and closing August 21st, 2026 at 4:00PM, and registration for the December 8th, 2026 Adjourned Upset and Judicial Sales opening September 21st, 2026 and closing November 24th, 2026 at 4:00PM. Registering for the September Upset Sale automatically registers a bidder for the December Continued Upset Sale and the Judicial Sale. All bidders must be approved before bidding, and the county asks that the email on the registration form match the bidder's GovEase.com account email.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Pennsylvania due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.
  4. Set a walk-away number

    Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.

Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases

Every Real Estate Tax Sale Law county keeps a repository for unsold properties: anything still unsold after a judicial sale is placed there, and the bureau must make the list available to the public during normal office hours. The bureau may, with the written consent of each taxing district where the property sits, set a minimum purchase price and accept any offer at or above it without court approval and without published notice. Consent is deemed given if a district does not respond within 60 days, and a district may require the buyer to appear before its governing body. The buyer files an affidavit with the same information a bidder registration requires. The deed conveys free and clear of all tax and municipal claims, mortgages, liens, charges and estates except separately taxed ground rents, and the bureau records it at the buyer's expense. A former owner may not buy their own property out of the repository. Prices, forms and turnaround are set county by county, so confirm the process with the tax claim bureau.

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax sale office

Bucks County Tax Claim Bureau

215-348-6274

55 E Court Street, 5th Floor, Doylestown, PA 18901

Official website

County notes

  • Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:15 AM to 4:15 PM, and the Tax Claim Bureau states it will not accept cash until further notice.
  • The Bureau sits under the County Treasurer, and the department page lists Mark Moffa as Acting Treasurer.
  • Delinquency path per the county: unpaid municipal tax bills are returned to the Bureau after December 31, a Notice of Claim goes out by certified mail the following spring, the claim becomes absolute if unpaid by December 31 of that year, and in July of the second year after the original bill the property is advertised, posted by the Bucks County Sheriff and scheduled for the September Upset Sale.
  • An owner can stop the Upset Sale by paying before the close of business at the courthouse the day before the sale, so the published list shrinks up to the last minute.
  • After June 1 of the sale year the Bureau requires payment by cashier's check or money order.
  • Eligible properties are advertised in two newspapers of general circulation in Bucks County and in the Bucks County Law Reporter before the sale.
  • The 2026 Upset Sale list is large and mixes rural acreage with improved parcels, with upset prices on the August 7, 2026 version ranging from roughly $1,500 to over $150,000.
  • A list of completed bidder applications goes to every municipality in the county at least five days before the Upset Sale or Judicial Sale.

Pennsylvania rules

Redemption
Under the Real Estate Tax Sale Law there is no redemption of any property after the actual sale. 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.
Deed deposit
The Real Estate Tax Sale Law sets no deposit and no buyer premium. 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.
Surplus proceeds
The 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. 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.
Governing statute
72 P.S. 5860.101 et seq.

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.

See the full Pennsylvaniarules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Bucks County, Pennsylvania sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax deeds. Pennsylvania sells no tax lien certificates to investors; the County Tax Claim Bureau sells the property itself at a public tax sale.

How often does Bucks County hold tax deed sales?

Bucks County holds its tax deed sale once a year. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Pennsylvania's redemption rule: None after the sale in the 65 Real Estate Tax Sale Law counties; in Philadelphia, 9 months from acknowledgment of the sheriff's deed, and 3 months in Allegheny County and Pittsburgh. Call the Bucks County Tax Claim Bureau as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the Bucks County tax sale list?

Bucks County posts its tax sale list at buckscounty.gov. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

Verified Aug 10, 2026 against official county and state sources.

Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.

Browse all 67 Pennsylvania counties

Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

Call Bucks County Tax Claim Bureau