Elk County, PA tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Elk County, seat of Ridgway: 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
- Upset sale in September.
- Format
- In person
- County office
- (814) 776-5326
On this page
How Elk County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Elk County Tax Claim Bureau
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Upset sale in September.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Every bidder must file a notarized Bidders Certification with the Tax Claim Bureau 10 business days before the sale to receive a bidding number. The form downloads from the county site or can be picked up at the Tax Claim office. It certifies the bidder is not delinquent on Elk County real estate taxes or municipal utility bills, is not the owner, a family member, friend, partner or shareholder of the owner, and has not had a landlord license revoked in an Elk County municipality. Judicial sale buyers are also responsible for current year real estate taxes. The full purchase price is due immediately after the auction by check, money order or certified funds, plus realty transfer tax and recording fees.
Sale format and venue
Elk County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Elk 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 Upset Sale Properties (current listing, refreshed each Friday afternoon) 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
Upset sale in September. 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 Elk County Tax Claim Bureau as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Elk County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Upset Sale Properties (current listing, refreshed each Friday afternoon). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Every bidder must file a notarized Bidders Certification with the Tax Claim Bureau 10 business days before the sale to receive a bidding number. The form downloads from the county site or can be picked up at the Tax Claim office. It certifies the bidder is not delinquent on Elk County real estate taxes or municipal utility bills, is not the owner, a family member, friend, partner or shareholder of the owner, and has not had a landlord license revoked in an Elk County municipality. Judicial sale buyers are also responsible for current year real estate taxes. The full purchase price is due immediately after the auction by check, money order or certified funds, plus realty transfer tax and recording fees.
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
Elk County Courthouse Annex, 300 Center Street, P.O. Box 448, Ridgway, PA 15853
Official websiteCounty notes
- The Elk County Tax Claim Bureau collects delinquent real estate taxes for the county, 12 municipalities and 6 school districts, operating under the Pennsylvania Real Estate Tax Sale Law, Act 542 of 1947.
- Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Fax is (814) 776-5305. The director is Kris Roselli and the supervisor is Tyler Daniels.
- Taxes unpaid by December 31 are returned to the Bureau in January, and the Bureau states interest then accrues monthly at an annual rate of 9 percent.
- Sale notices are advertised in the Ridgway Record and the St. Mary's Daily Press at least 30 days before the scheduled sale date.
- The Bureau also publishes a Surplus Funds and Excess Funds list on its main page for parties claiming overage from prior sales.
- An owner facing upset sale may apply for an Agreement to Stay Tax Sale, requiring at least 25 percent down on the delinquency with the balance paid by April of the following year, at the Bureau's discretion.
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 Elk County, Pennsylvania sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Elk County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Elk 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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