Each step below is drawn from Pennsylvania statute, not general advice. The exact sale dates, platform, and deposit amounts are set county by county, so confirm the specifics on your county page before you register.
New here? Most beginners start with a certificate (the lien path). The deed steps below apply once you hold a certificate long enough to force a sale, or you bid directly at a tax deed auction. Not sure which is for you? Start with tax lien vs tax deed.
Learn the timeline and lien priority
Taxes are delinquent on December 31 of the year they were due, for every taxing district. The tax collector returns the unpaid list to the county Tax Claim Bureau between January 1 and April 30 of the following year, or by an earlier uniform date the county commissioners set by resolution, and interest then runs at 9 percent a year from the first day of the month after the return. The bureau mails and posts notice of the claim by July 31 of that year, and a one-year period to discharge the claim starts running on July 1. If nothing is paid, the claim becomes absolute the next January 1 and the property is exposed to the upset sale that September. Property taxes are a first lien with priority over any mortgage, ground rent, judgment or other lien on the property, behind only the costs of sale and Commonwealth tax liens given priority by section 205. Understand this before you commit any money.
Collect interest or wait out redemption
Not applicable to investors. Interest at 9 percent a year runs on the returned taxes from the first day of the month following the return, and it belongs to the taxing districts, not to any private certificate holder. The bureau retains a 5 percent commission on money it collects plus any interest earned while it holds the money, and distributes the rest to the taxing districts. A buyer at a Pennsylvania tax sale earns no interest; the return comes from the property. 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. To redeem, the owner pays There is no post-sale redemption amount under the Real Estate Tax Sale Law. To discharge a claim before the sale the payment is the outstanding taxes on the notice of claim plus interest at 9 percent a year, the amount of any other tax claim or tax judgment on the property plus interest, all accrued taxes returned and unpaid, and the record costs including the pro rata cost of the notices, unless the political subdivision agrees to accept less. Under the Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Law the redemption price is the amount bid at the sheriff's sale, the cost of drawing, acknowledging and recording the sheriff's deed, all taxes and municipal claims actually paid whether or not entered as liens, the principal and interest of estates and encumbrances not discharged by the sale and actually paid, and the insurance and other necessary expenses of the property actually paid, less rents or other income, plus a sum equal to interest at 10 percent a year on each of those payments from the time it was made. If they redeem, that payoff is your return; if they never do, the certificate becomes your path to the property.
Apply for a tax deed
A statutory clock, not an investor's application. Taxes unpaid at the end of the year they were due are delinquent on December 31. The collector returns them to the bureau by the following April 30, the bureau gives notice of the claim by that July 31, and the claim becomes absolute the next January 1 if it is still unpaid and no exceptions were filed. The property is then exposed to the upset sale that September, roughly 21 months after the delinquency date. If it does not sell there, the bureau petitions the court of common pleas for a judicial sale. Section 616 makes that petition mandatory on a two-stage clock: once 10 months pass after the scheduled upset sale with no petition filed under section 610 and no private sale, the bureau must file within the next two months, so the outer deadline is 12 months from the scheduled upset sale. At the upset sale there is a statutory floor called the upset price, and no sale may be made unless a bid equals it. The bureau fixes it as the sum of Commonwealth tax liens, the claim absolute and interest on it, any other tax claim or tax judgment and interest to the date of sale, all accrued taxes including the current year whether or not returned, municipal claims against the property, and the record costs and costs of sale including advertising, mail and posted notices. Taxing districts and municipal authorities must certify their claims to the bureau by August 30 of the sale year, and a municipal claim that arose before August 1 and was not certified is divested by the upset sale.
Bid at the tax deed auction
The County Tax Claim Bureau. A county may instead provide by ordinance for agents, collectors or a private sector entity to collect and sell under the same notices, time frames, fees and owner protections. In Philadelphia and Allegheny County the sale is run by the sheriff under the Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Law. sells the property at public auction to the highest bidder. 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. At an upset sale the purchaser pays the entire purchase money to the bureau on the day of the sale, no later than one hour before the close of business or at another time that day the bureau designates. Miss it and the sale is voided and the property is put up again at the same sale or at an adjournment. The act sets no payment window for a judicial sale; the bureau delivers the deed after the purchaser pays the price, and deeds for property exposed at a judicial sale may not be exchanged sooner than 20 days nor later than 45 days after the sale. Counties publish their own judicial-sale payment terms, and many require certified funds at strike-down. The deed is recorded at the purchaser's cost.
Or buy over the counter
You do not have to wait for an auction. Property that remains unsold after it has been exposed to a judicial sale is placed in the county's repository for unsold properties. The bureau maintains the list and must make it available to the general public during normal office hours, and may publish it in a locally circulating newspaper from time to time. With the written consent of every taxing district where the property sits, the bureau may set a minimum purchase price and accept any offer at or above it without court approval and without published notice of sale. A taxing district may not unreasonably withhold consent, and consent is deemed given if it does not respond within 60 days of receiving notice; a district may condition its consent on the buyer appearing before its governing body and supplying the section 502-A information. The buyer must provide an affidavit containing that same information. The property is conveyed free and clear of all tax and municipal claims, mortgages, liens, charges and estates except separately taxed ground rents, and the bureau records the deed at the buyer's expense. The price paid is deemed the fair market value for tax assessment purposes until a general reassessment, a resale, or an improvement. A former owner may not buy their own property out of the repository. Pennsylvania keeps no Lands Available for Taxes list of the Florida type and there is no escheat to the Commonwealth in this chapter. A second non-auction route exists: after a property draws no bid equal to the upset price, the bureau may on its own motion, and must on a taxing district's written instruction, agree to sell it at private sale at any price the bureau approves, after notice to each taxing district and the owner and two newspaper publications about 10 days apart. Any taxing district, the owner, an interested party, or a would-be purchaser may petition the court within 45 days to disapprove the price, in which case the court fixes a floor and may order an auction-style bid among the parties.
One more step: clear the title
Winning a tax deed does not hand you marketable title. Before you can resell to a normal buyer or insure the parcel, you will usually need a quiet title action, which takes months and costs money. Fold that cost into your maximum bid and read what you actually own after a tax deed before you bid. A tax deed also does not wipe out everything: select governmental and municipal liens can survive, and a federal tax lien carries a 120-day IRS redemption right, so check what survives a tax deed too.
New to this? Start with tax lien vs tax deed and the full Pennsylvania walkthrough, then value a parcel with the due diligence guide.
Steps verified Aug 9, 2026 against Pennsylvania statutes.
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.