Dauphin County, PA tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Dauphin County, seat of Harrisburg: 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
- Two annual live sales.
- Format
- In person
- County office
- (717) 780-6125
On this page
How Dauphin County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Dauphin County Tax Claim Bureau
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Two annual live sales.
- Sale list
- 2026 Judicial Tax Sale list (PDF)
When it runs
Registration and deposit
In-person registration at the Tax Claim Bureau office only, during a fixed window that closes weeks before the sale, as required by PA Act 33 of 2021. For the 2026 judicial sale, registration ran "May 26th, 2026 through June 5th, 2026 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m." For the 2025 upset sale it ran August 25 to September 5, 2025, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The fee is $100 non-refundable, payable by cash or check only, with personal checks accepted only if drawn on a local Harrisburg bank. No debit or credit cards. Photo ID and a current mailing address are required. Bidders must complete a notarized bidder certification and affidavit, and every registrant is screened for delinquent property tax in any Pennsylvania county; anyone delinquent is barred until it is paid. Only registered bidders may enter the sale room, and there are no deed assignments, so register under the exact name the deed should be issued in.
Sale format and venue
Dauphin County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Dauphin 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.
Get the advertised list
Use 2026 Judicial Tax Sale list (PDF) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
Two annual live sales. 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.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Dauphin County Tax Claim Bureau as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Dauphin County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from 2026 Judicial Tax Sale list (PDF). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
In-person registration at the Tax Claim Bureau office only, during a fixed window that closes weeks before the sale, as required by PA Act 33 of 2021. For the 2026 judicial sale, registration ran "May 26th, 2026 through June 5th, 2026 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m." For the 2025 upset sale it ran August 25 to September 5, 2025, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The fee is $100 non-refundable, payable by cash or check only, with personal checks accepted only if drawn on a local Harrisburg bank. No debit or credit cards. Photo ID and a current mailing address are required. Bidders must complete a notarized bidder certification and affidavit, and every registrant is screened for delinquent property tax in any Pennsylvania county; anyone delinquent is barred until it is paid. Only registered bidders may enter the sale room, and there are no deed assignments, so register under the exact name the deed should be issued in.
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.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
unsold properties
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
Dauphin County Tax Claim Bureau
Dauphin County Administration Building, 2 South Second Street, First Floor, P.O. Box 1295, Harrisburg, PA 17108
Official websiteCounty notes
- Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, with payments accepted until 4:00 PM. The office fax is (717) 780-6485.
- The Bureau's letterhead lists Gregory S. Daylor, CPE as Director and Holly C. Martz as Deputy Director, with Ryan T. Gonder, Esquire as Solicitor.
- The physical office is at 2 South Second Street, First Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17101; the P.O. Box 1295, Harrisburg, PA 17108 address is used for mail.
- Judicial sale registration requires forms obtained in person: bidder registration forms are only available at the office at the time of registration, while the bidder certification and affidavit can be downloaded from the county site and must be notarized.
- Delinquent real estate tax can be paid online through the county's parcel portal at https://dauphinpa.devnetwedge.com, linked from the Tax Claim page. This is a payment system, not an auction system.
- Repository bidding for the 2026 cycle closed Friday, May 22, 2026, ahead of the June 29 judicial sale. The repository list itself remains posted and is refreshed after each sale cycle.
- Upset sale terms note that certain parcels may be subject to prior purchase agreements with a Land Bank, announced at the sale, and that the Bureau sells subject to existing occupancy.
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.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Does Dauphin County, Pennsylvania sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Dauphin County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Dauphin County tax sale list?
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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