Skip to content
Tax Sale Atlas

Butler County, PA tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Butler County, seat of Butler: 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.

Next sale
Tax sale scheduled for September 14, 2026.Monday · 2026
Format
In person
County office
724-284-5326
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 10, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Butler 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

In person
Run by
Butler County Tax Claim Bureau
Frequency
annual
Next sale
Tax sale scheduled for September 14, 2026.
Sale list
2026 Upset Tax Sale List
When it runs
Upset sale: "The second Monday of September every year, the Bureau will conduct an Upset Sale." The county notice sets the current one for "Monday, September 14, 2026 at 6:00 P.M. prevailing time" at the Butler County Government Center Annex, Level UL Conference room, Butler, Pennsylvania. Judicial sales are scheduled as parcels roll forward rather than on a fixed annual date, and begin promptly at 11:00 a.m. with all funds due by 2:00 p.m.; the most recent list posted by the county is the October 1, 2025 judicial sale. Repository bids are reviewed on the 4th Monday in February and August at 10 a.m., with bids due by 9 a.m. on the designated due date.
Registration and deposit

Bidder registration closes 10 days before the sale and carries a nonrefundable $20 fee due at registration. The county notice states: "BIDDER REGISTRATION WILL BE REQUIRED 10 DAYS PRIOR TO THE SALE INCLUDING A NONREFUNDABLE FEE OF $20.00 DUE AT TIME OF REGISTRATION." Bidders file the county Bidder Registration Form with a notarized Affidavit of Bidder certifying, under 72 P.S. 5860.619.1, 5860.618 and 5860.601(d), that they owe no delinquent real estate taxes to any taxing district in the county, have no municipal utility bill more than one year outstanding, do not own or represent the owner of the parcel, and have not had a Butler County landlord license revoked. Bidder name, address, phone and email become public record. Repository purchases skip the auction: submit the Repository Bid Form in person or by mail to the Tax Claim Bureau, P.O. Box 1208, Butler, PA 16003-1208. The bureau does not accept repository bids by email or fax.

Sale format and venue
The sale is conducted live at the courthouse annex, not online, so no internet auction platform applies. Payment is due the night of the upset sale in certified funds: cash, money order, cashier's check, certified check, or a local attorney's check payable to the Butler County Tax Claim Bureau. Personal checks are refused and all sales are final. Bidding moves in $100 increments at the director's discretion. Upset sale buyers take subject to existing liens: the county warns that "As a bidder in this sale, you will be responsible for all past due taxes, liens, mortgages, etc." and its notice adds that recent U.S. and Pennsylvania Supreme Court decisions suggest mortgages, judgments and other recorded liens may survive, so a title search before bidding is advised. Judicial sale parcels are those left unsold at upset; opening bid there is the bureau's costs plus deed recording and transfer fees, and title passes free and clear when all parties were properly notified. Unsold judicial parcels move to the repository list, where the minimum bid is the judicial sale price and each sale needs written consent from all three taxing districts, with payment in full within 30 days by two separate cashier's checks or money orders, one to the Tax Claim Bureau and one to the Butler County Recorder of Deeds. Owners lose the right to stay the upset sale after 10 a.m. on the sale date, and owners have 30 days after the sale to petition the court to overturn it. Upset sales are subject to confirmation by the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County and the county states deeds will be recorded on December 31, 2026. Deeds carry no warranty and do not guarantee transfer of mineral, oil, gas or coal interests; a Pennsylvania inheritance tax lien may also survive a judicial sale. Sales are subject to existing occupancy, and the bureau directs buyers to their own attorney for eviction. Failure to pay a winning bid bars the bidder from Butler County tax sales for the rest of the year plus two more years. In person at the Butler County Government Center Annex
Source: Butler County Tax Claim Bureau - 2026 Upset Tax Sale List and Notice of Sale of Properties for Delinquent Taxes· Verified Aug 10, 2026

Butler County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Butler 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 2026 Upset Tax Sale List for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.

  3. Sale day

    Tax sale scheduled for September 14, 2026. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.

  4. Confirm with the office

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

Before you bid in Butler County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from 2026 Upset Tax Sale List. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Bidder registration closes 10 days before the sale and carries a nonrefundable $20 fee due at registration. The county notice states: "BIDDER REGISTRATION WILL BE REQUIRED 10 DAYS PRIOR TO THE SALE INCLUDING A NONREFUNDABLE FEE OF $20.00 DUE AT TIME OF REGISTRATION." Bidders file the county Bidder Registration Form with a notarized Affidavit of Bidder certifying, under 72 P.S. 5860.619.1, 5860.618 and 5860.601(d), that they owe no delinquent real estate taxes to any taxing district in the county, have no municipal utility bill more than one year outstanding, do not own or represent the owner of the parcel, and have not had a Butler County landlord license revoked. Bidder name, address, phone and email become public record. Repository purchases skip the auction: submit the Repository Bid Form in person or by mail to the Tax Claim Bureau, P.O. Box 1208, Butler, PA 16003-1208. The bureau does not accept repository bids by email or fax.

  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

Butler County Tax Claim Bureau

724-284-5326

124 W Diamond Street, Butler, PA 16003 (mailing: P.O. Box 1208, Butler, PA 16003-1208)

Official website

County notes

  • Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The director listed on the county page is Janet L. Mentel at 724-284-5323; the bureau's general line is 724-284-5326 and the fax is 724-284-5430.
  • All three Butler County sales are live, in-person events. No online auction platform is confirmed for this county, so verify format with the bureau before travelling.
  • The upset sale runs in the evening at 6:00 p.m., which is unusual for Pennsylvania tax sales and worth noting when planning a visit.
  • The county posts a Butler County Excess Funds List and a Tax Certification Request Form on the same Tax Claim Bureau page.
  • Repository parcels skew toward severed coal and mineral rights and small residual lots, several with upset dates going back to the 1960s through the 1990s, so read the repository listing carefully before bidding.
  • Tied repository bids are not decided by the highest mailed offer. The bureau holds a competitive in-person bidding session among the timely bidders and awards to the highest bid from that session.

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 Butler 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 Butler County hold tax deed sales?

Butler County holds its tax deed sale once a year. Monday, September 14, 2026 at 6:00 P.M. prevailing time. 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 Butler 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 Butler County tax sale list?

Butler County posts its tax sale list at butlercountypa.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.

More Pennsylvania counties

Browse all 67 Pennsylvania counties

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

Pennsylvania tax salesDue diligence guide
Call Butler County Tax Claim Bureau