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Tax Sale Atlas

Lancaster County, PA tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Lancaster County, seat of Lancaster: 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 scheduled for September 14, 2026.Monday · 2026
Format
County site
Registration
Pre-registration is required and closes well before bidding.
County office
717-299-8232
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 10, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Lancaster 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

Online auction
Run by
Lancaster County Tax Claim Bureau, part of the County Treasurer's office, selling under Pennsylvania's Real Estate Tax Sale Law
Frequency
annual
Next sale
Upset sale scheduled for September 14, 2026.
Registration
Pre-registration is required and closes well before bidding.
Sale list
Lancaster County 2026 upset tax sale listings, conditions of sale and bidder registration on GovDeals
When it runs
The bureau's current notice states it "WILL BE HOLDING AN ONLINE UPSET TAX SALE ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2026, SCHEDULED FROM 9:00A.M. TO 12:00P.M. EST." The upset sale runs each September. Parcels that do not sell go to a continued upset sale and a judicial sale later in the year: the 2025 notice set both for "MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025, SCHEDULED FROM 9:00A.M. TO 12:00P.M. EST." The bureau had not yet posted a 2026 judicial sale notice when this was checked, so confirm that date with the office.
Registration and deposit

Pre-registration is required and closes well before bidding. For the 2026 upset sale the notice states pre-registration "IS REQUIRED UNDER ACT 33 OF 2021 AND WILL COMMENCE ON AUGUST 3, 2026" and that "THE DEADLINE TO BE PRE-REGISTERED FOR THIS YEAR'S UPSET TAX SALE IS 4:00 P.M. EST ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2026. THERE WILL ABSOLUTELY BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO EXTENDING THIS DEADLINE UNDER THE ACT." Registration runs through GovDeals: create a bidder account at govdeals.com, open Tiers, browse tiers, select Pennsylvania, subscribe to the Lancaster County Tax Claim Bureau tier for each sale you want (upset, continued upset, judicial), then open any listing and use the green "submit notarized affidavit here" button to upload the county paperwork, which includes bidder name, corporate or LLC information and a notarized affidavit agreeing to the terms and conditions. Bidders registering as an LLC, LP or other corporate entity must also supply photo identification such as a driver's license or US passport, articles of incorporation showing how the entity is registered with the Department of State, and an official letter authorizing the bidder to bid for the entity. For the combined November 2025 sales the bureau noted "YOU WILL ONLY HAVE TO REGISTER ONCE TO BE ELIGIBLE TO BID AT BOTH SALES." GovDeals bidder services is 1-800-613-0156 option 1.

Sale format and venue
Lancaster County sells the deed, not a lien certificate, so this is a tax deed sale. The bureau moved its sales online and now runs the upset, continued upset and judicial sales through GovDeals instead of a courthouse auction. Which sale you buy at changes what you get: an upset sale conveys the property still subject to recorded mortgages, liens and estates not covered by the upset price, while the judicial sale conveys clear title, so order a title search before bidding at the September sale. Parcels that survive the judicial sale drop into the repository, where the bureau takes written offers year round at a $1,000 minimum plus a $100 non-refundable administrative processing fee, 2 percent realty transfer tax, $135 deed preparation, a $10 Prothonotary fee and a $250 demolition fee assessed through Act 48 of 2024, and the offer needs the consent of the municipality and school district. The bureau also publishes a monthly delinquent tax report and states its amounts are not certified and are subject to change. Several third-party auction aggregator sites republish the Lancaster notice; registration and bidding happen only through the county's own GovDeals link.
Register on Online auction
Source: Lancaster County Tax Claim Bureau notice of the 2026 online upset tax sale, giving the sale date and hours, the Act 33 pre-registration window and the GovDeals sale link· Verified Aug 10, 2026

Lancaster County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Lancaster 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 Lancaster County 2026 upset tax sale listings, conditions of sale and bidder registration on GovDeals for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Pre-registration is required and closes well before bidding. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    Upset sale scheduled for September 14, 2026. Bidding runs on County site; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Lancaster County Tax Claim Bureau, part of the County Treasurer's office, selling under Pennsylvania's Real Estate Tax Sale Law as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Lancaster County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Lancaster County 2026 upset tax sale listings, conditions of sale and bidder registration on GovDeals. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Pre-registration is required and closes well before bidding. For the 2026 upset sale the notice states pre-registration "IS REQUIRED UNDER ACT 33 OF 2021 AND WILL COMMENCE ON AUGUST 3, 2026" and that "THE DEADLINE TO BE PRE-REGISTERED FOR THIS YEAR'S UPSET TAX SALE IS 4:00 P.M. EST ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2026. THERE WILL ABSOLUTELY BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO EXTENDING THIS DEADLINE UNDER THE ACT." Registration runs through GovDeals: create a bidder account at govdeals.com, open Tiers, browse tiers, select Pennsylvania, subscribe to the Lancaster County Tax Claim Bureau tier for each sale you want (upset, continued upset, judicial), then open any listing and use the green "submit notarized affidavit here" button to upload the county paperwork, which includes bidder name, corporate or LLC information and a notarized affidavit agreeing to the terms and conditions. Bidders registering as an LLC, LP or other corporate entity must also supply photo identification such as a driver's license or US passport, articles of incorporation showing how the entity is registered with the Department of State, and an official letter authorizing the bidder to bid for the entity. For the combined November 2025 sales the bureau noted "YOU WILL ONLY HAVE TO REGISTER ONCE TO BE ELIGIBLE TO BID AT BOTH SALES." GovDeals bidder services is 1-800-613-0156 option 1.

  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

Lancaster County Tax Claim Bureau

717-299-8232

Lancaster County Tax Claim Bureau, 150 N Queen Street, Suite 122, PO Box 1447, Lancaster, PA 17608

Official website

County notes

  • The Tax Claim Bureau sits under the County Treasurer and works out of the Lancaster County Government Center at 150 N Queen Street, entrance on Chestnut Street, open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • The bureau posts a fresh sale notice each year with a new GovDeals link, so the sale URL changes annually. Check the Tax Claim Bureau page for the current one rather than reusing a prior year's address.
  • The repository list dated April 6, 2026 carries parcels exposed to judicial sale as far back as 2012, which is where the county's long-unsold inventory sits between auctions.
  • Act 33 of 2021 pre-registration is a hard cutoff. The bureau's notice says there will be no exceptions to extending the deadline, so a late registrant cannot bid at that year's sale.

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 Lancaster 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 Lancaster County hold tax deed sales?

Lancaster County holds its tax deed sale once a year. 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 Lancaster County Tax Claim Bureau, part of the County Treasurer's office, selling under Pennsylvania's Real Estate Tax Sale Law 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 Lancaster County tax sale list?

Lancaster County posts its tax sale list at govdeals.com. 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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Call Lancaster County Tax Claim Bureau