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Tax Sale Atlas

Lackawanna County, PA tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Lackawanna County, seat of Scranton: 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
Annual upset sale plus a judicial sale the following spring.
Format
In person
Registration
In person only, at the Tax Claim Bureau, 123 Wyoming Ave, 2nd Floor, Scranton.
County office
570-963-6734 ext. 1640
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 10, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Lackawanna 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
Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Annual upset sale plus a judicial sale the following spring.
Registration
In person only, at the Tax Claim Bureau, 123 Wyoming Ave, 2nd Floor, Scranton.
Sale list
Tax Claim Bureau resources: repository list, upset and judicial sale terms, bidder registration forms
When it runs
Annual upset sale plus a judicial sale the following spring. The Bureau states the upset sale "occurs in September after the second Monday but prior to the last day of September," and the county's own notice sets the 2026 upset sale for "September 21st at 10:00am." Judicial sales are "conducted in the Spring of the year following the Upset Tax Sale"; the county's 2026 judicial sale sheet lists "DATE OF SALE: May 13, 2026, 10:00 a.m." Properties unsold at the upset sale may go to a private sale through November of the same year, and anything still unsold after the judicial sale goes to the repository, which the Bureau sells by offer year round.
Registration and deposit

In person only, at the Tax Claim Bureau, 123 Wyoming Ave, 2nd Floor, Scranton. Act 33 of 2021 requires that "a person that intends to bid at a scheduled upset sale or judicial sale must appear and register at the bureau not less than 10 days before the scheduled upset sale or judicial sale," and the county charges a $35 registration fee that is nonrefundable and cash only. The 2026 upset sale registration window is "September 4th to 11th"; the 2026 judicial sale window was "April 24, 2026 to May 1, 2026." Late registration applications are not accepted. Bidders must be at least 18, must sign a certification of bidder form, and the Bureau will issue no deed if the purchaser owes delinquent taxes. A false or inaccurate registration bars the bidder from future sales.

Sale format and venue
Both sales are live in person auctions with an auctioneer, held at the Scranton Cultural Center, 420 North Washington Ave., Scranton, PA 18503, and the county publishes no online bidding platform. Third party auction sites, including Bid4Assets, post courtesy "notice of sale" listings for Lackawanna County live tax deed sales; those are notices only, and registration and bidding happen in person at the Bureau and the Cultural Center. The upset sale is not free and clear: the minimum bid is the upset price and the buyer takes the property subject to mortgages, judgment liens, mechanic's liens, easements, covenants and ground rents of record. The judicial sale is petitioned to the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas under section 610 of the Real Estate Tax Sale Law and conveys free and clear of tax claims, tax judgments, municipal claims, mortgages, liens and charges, except separately assessed ground rents. At both sales the winning bidder pays the minimum bid immediately by cashier's check, certified check, money order or credit card, with any remaining balance due at the Bureau before 4:00 p.m. the same day, or the bid is forfeited. Bids are final under the caveat emptor rule at 72 P.S. 5931 and no refunds are made. Bid assignments must be filed within 10 days and are separately subject to realty transfer tax. Land banks may place a trump bid at a judicial sale that transfers the property regardless of other bids. Title insurers may decline to insure a tax sale title, so budget for a quiet title action. Sale notice is published in two newspapers of general circulation and in the Lackawanna Jurist at least 30 days before the sale.
Source: Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau, 2026 Upset Sale registration notice and Upset Tax Sale Terms and Conditions (PDF)· Verified Aug 10, 2026

Lackawanna County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Lackawanna 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 Tax Claim Bureau resources: repository list, upset and judicial sale terms, bidder registration forms for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    In person only, at the Tax Claim Bureau, 123 Wyoming Ave, 2nd Floor, Scranton. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    Annual upset sale plus a judicial sale the following spring. 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 Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Lackawanna County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Tax Claim Bureau resources: repository list, upset and judicial sale terms, bidder registration forms. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    In person only, at the Tax Claim Bureau, 123 Wyoming Ave, 2nd Floor, Scranton. Act 33 of 2021 requires that "a person that intends to bid at a scheduled upset sale or judicial sale must appear and register at the bureau not less than 10 days before the scheduled upset sale or judicial sale," and the county charges a $35 registration fee that is nonrefundable and cash only. The 2026 upset sale registration window is "September 4th to 11th"; the 2026 judicial sale window was "April 24, 2026 to May 1, 2026." Late registration applications are not accepted. Bidders must be at least 18, must sign a certification of bidder form, and the Bureau will issue no deed if the purchaser owes delinquent taxes. A false or inaccurate registration bars the bidder from future sales.

  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

Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau

570-963-6734 ext. 1640

Lackawanna County Government Center, 123 Wyoming Avenue, 2nd Floor, Scranton, PA 18503

Official website

County notes

  • Bureau director is Barbara Lynady; the office fax is 570-496-1733. Sale terms letterheads give the office as Suite 267 (upset) and Suite 241 (judicial) at 123 Wyoming Ave.
  • Delinquent taxes are returned to the Bureau on or before January 31 for the prior calendar year and begin accruing interest at 9 percent a year on February 1. A property becomes eligible for the upset sale after two years of delinquency.
  • The 2026 judicial sale sequence was advertisement April 10, 2026, rule to show cause April 28, 2026 at 9:30 a.m., registration April 24 to May 1, sale May 13. Expect a similar spring cadence in later years.
  • The 2026 Judicial Sale Advertising List is posted as a PDF with sale number, civil docket number, owner, parcel map number, description and approximate minimum bid, grouped by borough or township.
  • The repository list of unsold parcels is refreshed periodically (the current file is dated 7/2/2026) and carries owner, map number, description and approximate costs. Offers use the Repository Offer Form and the Bureau may accept them without court approval or published notice.
  • As of early August 2026 the county had not yet posted the 2026 upset sale advertising list; that list is published in two newspapers and the Lackawanna Jurist at least 30 days before the September 21 sale.
  • Payments at the upset sale are made payable to the Lackawanna County Treasurer; at the judicial sale they are made payable to the Tax Claim Bureau.

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 Lackawanna 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 Lackawanna County hold tax deed sales?

Lackawanna County holds its tax deed sale once a year. Annual upset sale plus a judicial sale the following spring. 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 Lackawanna 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 Lackawanna County tax sale list?

Lackawanna County posts its tax sale list at lackawannacounty.org. 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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