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Tax Sale Atlas

Cumberland County, PA tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Cumberland County, seat of Carlisle: 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
Judicial sale scheduled for September 18, 2026.Friday · 2026
Format
Bid4Assets
Registration
Register online with Bid4Assets, not in person at the county.
County office
717-240-6367
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 10, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Cumberland 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

Bid4Assets
Run by
Cumberland County Tax Claim Bureau
Frequency
annual
Next sale
Judicial sale scheduled for September 18, 2026.
Registration
Register online with Bid4Assets, not in person at the county.
Sale list
Upset and judicial sale property list and conditions of sale
When it runs
Annual, in September. The county's 2026 conditions of sale state: "The Upset & Judicial Tax Sale is scheduled for September 18, 2026, opening at 10:00 a.m. through September 21, 2026, closing at 10:00 a.m." The county's Upset Tax Sale Questions and Answers gives the annual sale as "September 18-21, 2026" starting at 10:00 a.m. Properties were eligible for the upset sale as of July 1, 2026 and for the judicial sale as of August 21, 2026. Terms and the property list were advertised in the Cumberland Law Journal on July 17, 2026, the Shippensburg News Chronicle on July 15, 2026, and the Patriot News on July 16, 2026.
Registration and deposit

Register online with Bid4Assets, not in person at the county. The 2026 conditions state registration "WILL BEGIN AUGUST 1, 2026, AND MUST BE COMPLETED BY SEPTEMBER 7, 2026. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE PERMITTED." The county notes the 10-day-before-sale registration cutoff is set by state law and cannot be waived. New bidders sign up at www.bid4assets.com/registration/signup/step1 or by phone at 1-877-427-7387 for non-online proxy bidding; existing account holders complete deposit and PreVest steps at the county storefront. A non-refundable $35 registration fee applies and a single $500 deposit is required to bid on any property, due to Bid4Assets by 5:00 PM ET Friday, September 11, 2026 (checks must clear by September 14, 2026). Every bidder signs a bidder affidavit certifying no delinquent property taxes, no utility bills more than a year outstanding, and no landlord violations, and submits a copy of identification; business bidders also submit proof of corporation and a letter of proxy on company letterhead. Bidders must be at least 18 and are vetted by the Bureau. Bid4Assets collects all registration documents, including the affidavit.

Sale format and venue
Pennsylvania sells the deed, not a lien certificate, and Cumberland County runs the two-step ladder under the Real Estate Tax Sale Law: the upset sale first, then a judicial sale for what does not sell. For 2026 the Bureau combined both into one online event on Bid4Assets rather than a live courthouse auction. The distinction that matters to bidders is title: upset sale properties are sold subject to other outstanding liens, mortgages and encumbrances, which become the purchaser's responsibility, while judicial sale properties are sold free and clear as provided in the Real Estate Tax Sale Law. Bidding is highest bidder above a fixed minimum bid that covers current and delinquent taxes, penalties and costs, with excess bid increments of at least $100. On top of the bid price the winner pays a $105.75 recording fee (or $17.00 for a mobile home, with no transfer tax), realty transfer tax, a $35 per-parcel administrative fee, and a 5 percent Bid4Assets buyer's premium with a $100 minimum. Full settlement is due to Bid4Assets by 5:00 PM ET Tuesday, September 22, 2026, and missing it forfeits the $500 deposit and bars future participation. There is no redemption after the sale, though owners may file objections with the Court of Common Pleas within thirty days of the court's confirmation nisi. The Bureau delivers a deed with no warranty, roughly 45 days to 3 months after sale per its Q&A and about four months per its conditions of sale. Bid4Assets here is the actual auction host, named in the county's own conditions document and collecting registration, deposits and settlement, so it is the platform rather than a courtesy listing. Sale lists post about 45 days before the sale date.
Register on Bid4Assets
Source: Cumberland County Tax Claim Bureau - Upset Tax Sale and Judicial Tax Sale Online Auction, Conditions of Sale (2026)· Verified Aug 10, 2026

Cumberland County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Cumberland 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 property list and conditions of sale for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Register online with Bid4Assets, not in person at the county. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    Judicial sale scheduled for September 18, 2026. Bidding runs on Bid4Assets; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.

  4. Confirm with the office

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

Before you bid in Cumberland County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Upset and judicial sale property list and conditions of sale. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Register online with Bid4Assets, not in person at the county. The 2026 conditions state registration "WILL BEGIN AUGUST 1, 2026, AND MUST BE COMPLETED BY SEPTEMBER 7, 2026. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE PERMITTED." The county notes the 10-day-before-sale registration cutoff is set by state law and cannot be waived. New bidders sign up at www.bid4assets.com/registration/signup/step1 or by phone at 1-877-427-7387 for non-online proxy bidding; existing account holders complete deposit and PreVest steps at the county storefront. A non-refundable $35 registration fee applies and a single $500 deposit is required to bid on any property, due to Bid4Assets by 5:00 PM ET Friday, September 11, 2026 (checks must clear by September 14, 2026). Every bidder signs a bidder affidavit certifying no delinquent property taxes, no utility bills more than a year outstanding, and no landlord violations, and submits a copy of identification; business bidders also submit proof of corporation and a letter of proxy on company letterhead. Bidders must be at least 18 and are vetted by the Bureau. Bid4Assets collects all registration documents, including the affidavit.

  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

Cumberland County Tax Claim Bureau

717-240-6367

Historic Courthouse, One Courthouse Square, Room 104, Carlisle, PA 17013

Official website

County notes

  • The Bureau lists a walk-in office at 2 Courthouse Square, Room 104, Carlisle, PA 17013 and a mailing address of 1 Courthouse Square, Room 107, Carlisle, PA 17013. Sale documents give the office as Historic Courthouse, One Courthouse Square, Room 104. Confirm the room before mailing anything time-sensitive.
  • Toll-free line: 1-888-697-0371, extension 6367. Email: [email protected]. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Melissa F. Mixell is the Tax Claim Director.
  • Repository sales are the third tier, covering properties unsold at the judicial sale. They are not an online auction: a buyer submits a written bid with a certified check or money order payable to the Cumberland County Tax Claim Bureau at One Courthouse Square, Room 107, Carlisle, PA 17013, and the Bureau presents that bid to the county, municipal and school taxing authorities for approval. Repository properties convey free and clear of tax and municipal claims, mortgages, liens and charges, except ground rents separately taxed. The county's repository list was last updated March 2026.
  • The county's Tax Claims Forms and Resources page carries the current conditions of sale, bidder registration forms, the repository bid sheet, the results of the last upset and judicial sales, and the sale surplus claim procedure.
  • The Upset Real Estate Tax Sale page links a GIS map of sale parcel locations at gis.ccpa.net/taxsales, but that map did not render usable content when fetched, so treat the county sale page and the conditions document as the reliable list sources.
  • The county disclaims accuracy on its own sale page, stating it makes no representations or warranties that the web page information is true, accurate, or up to date. Verify dates with the Bureau before committing funds.

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 Cumberland 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 Cumberland County hold tax deed sales?

Cumberland County holds its tax deed sale once a year. Annual, in September. 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 Cumberland 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 Cumberland County tax sale list?

Cumberland County posts its tax sale list at cumberlandcountypa.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.

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