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Tax Sale Atlas

Franklin County, PA tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Franklin County, seat of Chambersburg: 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 every September, judicial sale two to three months later.
Format
In person
Registration
Pre-registration is mandatory and closes 10 days before the sale.
County office
717-261-3884
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 10, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Franklin 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
Franklin County Tax Claim Bureau
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Upset sale every September, judicial sale two to three months later.
Registration
Pre-registration is mandatory and closes 10 days before the sale.
Sale list
Upset Sale List 2026 and sale notice
When it runs
Upset sale every September, judicial sale two to three months later. The county page states "An upset sale is held every year in September and a judicial sale is normally held two-three months after an upset sale." The 2026 notice states the Bureau "will hold a tax sale of the properties listed below on Monday, September 14, 2026 beginning at 9:30 am E.D.S.T., at the Franklin County Administration Building, 272 N Second Street Chambersburg, Pennsylvania." The most recent judicial sale notice reads "NOTICE OF JUDICIAL TAX SALE TO BE HELD DECEMBER 17, 2025" at the same building at 9:00 am. Repository bids are taken year round.
Registration and deposit

Pre-registration is mandatory and closes 10 days before the sale. The 2026 upset sale notice states "Bidder registration will be required by September 4, 2026 in the office of the Tax Claim Bureau at 272 N Second St., Suite 200, Chambersburg PA 17201." The Bureau's pre-registration sheet states that all prospective bidders must pre-register 10 days prior to the sale date, that registration begins August 1, and that no registrations are accepted after the cutoff. Required items are a Bidder Registry Form, a copy of photo ID, the signed sale conditions and instructions, and a signed and notarized affidavit of bidder swearing the applicant owes no delinquent Pennsylvania real estate taxes, has no municipal utility bill more than one year outstanding, is not acting as agent for a barred bidder, and has no uncorrected housing code violation. A corporation or LLC must list every director, shareholder, member, manager and other owner and file its organizing documents. Registration packets are available on the county site or at the Bureau office. The judicial sale uses the same process with its own deadline, set at December 7, 2025 for the December 17, 2025 sale.

Sale format and venue
Franklin County runs its tax sales live and in person at the Franklin County Administration Building, 272 North Second Street, Chambersburg. No online auction platform is named in any county sale document and no internet bidding is offered. The sale list is advertised in the Chambersburg Public Opinion, the Waynesboro Record Herald and the Franklin County Law Journal, and the county page states the list "will also be updated and maintained daily on Franklin County's website." The opening bid at an upset sale equals the upset price announced for that parcel, which covers the two year delinquency plus municipal and state tax liens. Upset sale title passes under and subject to every recorded mortgage, lien, judgment, ground rent and commonwealth tax lien not covered by the upset price, and the notice states the rule of caveat emptor applies. A parcel that does not sell at upset sale moves to judicial sale, which under a court order is sold free of liens. Payment in full is due when the property is struck down, and if the buyer does not pay by the close of the sale the purported sale is void and the parcel can be re-exposed the same day. The 2026 notice states no personal checks or cash will be accepted, while an older conditions sheet in the same folder lists cash and personal checks, so confirm accepted funds with the Bureau before bidding. The buyer also pays 2 percent realty transfer tax, recording costs and the current year real estate taxes. Every sale needs confirmation by the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County, and the notice says roughly four months pass from the sale before a transfer document is available. Entering the property before the deed is recorded is prohibited. Parcels unsold at judicial sale go to the repository, where bids may be submitted at any time and must be approved by the county, the municipality and the school district. Franklin County sheriff sales for mortgage foreclosure are run by the Sheriff and are a separate process, so third party auction listings for county sheriff sales do not cover the Tax Claim Bureau upset or judicial tax sale. In person at the Franklin County Administration Building, 272 North Second Street, Chambersburg
Source: Notice of Tax Sale 2026 and Conditions of Upset Sale, Franklin County Tax Claim Bureau· Verified Aug 10, 2026

Franklin County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Franklin 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 Sale List 2026 and sale notice for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Pre-registration is mandatory and closes 10 days before the sale. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    Upset sale every September, judicial sale two to three months later. 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 Franklin County Tax Claim Bureau as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Franklin County

  1. Start with the live sale list

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

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Pre-registration is mandatory and closes 10 days before the sale. The 2026 upset sale notice states "Bidder registration will be required by September 4, 2026 in the office of the Tax Claim Bureau at 272 N Second St., Suite 200, Chambersburg PA 17201." The Bureau's pre-registration sheet states that all prospective bidders must pre-register 10 days prior to the sale date, that registration begins August 1, and that no registrations are accepted after the cutoff. Required items are a Bidder Registry Form, a copy of photo ID, the signed sale conditions and instructions, and a signed and notarized affidavit of bidder swearing the applicant owes no delinquent Pennsylvania real estate taxes, has no municipal utility bill more than one year outstanding, is not acting as agent for a barred bidder, and has no uncorrected housing code violation. A corporation or LLC must list every director, shareholder, member, manager and other owner and file its organizing documents. Registration packets are available on the county site or at the Bureau office. The judicial sale uses the same process with its own deadline, set at December 7, 2025 for the December 17, 2025 sale.

  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.

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County offices

Tax sale office

Franklin County Tax Claim Bureau

717-261-3884

Franklin County Administration Building, 272 North Second Street, Suite 200, Chambersburg, PA 17201

Official website

County notes

  • The upset sale, the judicial sale and the repository sale are all run by the Franklin County Tax Claim Bureau at the county Administration Building, 272 North Second Street in Chambersburg. Bidding is in person only, with no online platform.
  • Bidder pre-registration closes 10 days before the sale. For the September 14, 2026 upset sale the notice sets the deadline at September 4, 2026, and the Bureau states no registrations are accepted after the cutoff, with no exceptions.
  • Registration requires a notarized affidavit that the bidder owes no delinquent Pennsylvania real estate taxes and has no municipal utility bill more than one year outstanding. Signing a false registration is a second degree misdemeanor.
  • A parcel reaches the upset sale after two years of delinquency. Paying by June 30 at 4:15 pm keeps a parcel out of the newspaper advertisement, and the owner can still pay up to 4:15 pm on the Friday before the sale, which for 2026 the notice gives as Friday September 11, 2026.
  • Upset sale buyers take title subject to recorded mortgages and liens not included in the upset price and also owe the current year taxes, 2 percent realty transfer tax and recording costs. Judicial sale buyers take a court cleared title.
  • The repository list runs year round and carries mostly mobile homes and small parcels. Each repository bid needs approval from the county, the municipality and the school district.

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.

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Frequently asked questions

Does Franklin 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 Franklin County hold tax deed sales?

Franklin County holds its tax deed sale once a year. Upset sale every September, judicial sale two to three months later. 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 Franklin 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 Franklin County tax sale list?

Franklin County posts its tax sale list at lfweb.franklincountypa.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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