Lycoming County, PA tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Phone (570) 327-2301, fax (570) 327-2309, email [email protected]. The Tax Claim Office relocated to the third floor of the Third Street Plaza, directly across from the courthouse, but mail still goes to 48 W. Third St.
• •Confirm the venue before sale day. The same county page gives two locations: the 2026 upset sale is announced for the Third Street Plaza, 33 W. Third St., 3rd Floor, Commissioner's Board Room, while a standing paragraph says upset sales are held at the Trade & Transit Centre II, Michael Ross Event Center, 3rd floor, 144 W Third Street, across from the West Third Street Parking Garage. The Bureau's 2021 notice used a third venue, the Lycoming County Executive Plaza at 330 Pine Street.
• •No online bidding platform appears anywhere in the county's tax sale material. The sale has a physical address and a start time, registration packets are delivered in person, and payment is due when the property is struck down, all of which point to a live in-person auction.
• •Caution on third-party listings. Bid4Assets publishes "NOTICE OF SALE" pages for Lycoming County that are courtesy listings, not auctions. The listing text says Bid4Assets is not conducting the public auction and is not affiliated with the sale, marks the sale type as live and in person, and misnames the selling office as the Treasurer. The Tax Claim Bureau is the office that runs these sales.
• •The repository is closed. The county states the repository "Will not reopen until 2028 due to the countywide reassessment." The repository sale list, list info sheet and bid package are shown on the page as plain text with no working links, and the underlying document URLs return 404. When the repository reopens, submitted bids must include the repository bid package and successful bids take 6 to 8 weeks to process under state law. A minimum bid has been identified in the repository listing since April 1, 2014.
• •The Bureau may stay a sale if the owner or a lien creditor enters an installment agreement before the sale date, or pays one year of taxes plus costs, so the advertised parcel count shrinks up to sale day. Ask the Bureau for the current list.
• •Delinquent tax certifications cost $10.00 per parcel or map number, the office will not process faxed requests without prepayment, and the Bureau does not give legal advice on delinquent tax issues. Online delinquent tax lien certificates are available through the county's delinquent property tax lien search, and delinquent taxes can be paid online with a property web ID.

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.Real Estate Tax Sale Law section 501 - who may pay off a tax claim before sale, and the rule that there is no redemption after the actual sale72 P.S. 5860.501Verified Aug 9, 2026

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.Real Estate Tax Sale Law section 601 - the upset sale is scheduled no earlier than the second Monday of September and before October 172 P.S. 5860.601Verified Aug 9, 2026

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.Real Estate Tax Sale Law section 205 - the five-part distribution priority for tax-sale proceeds and the three-year cutoff on an owner's surplus claim72 P.S. 5860.205Verified Aug 9, 2026

Governing statute

72 P.S. 5860.101 et seq.Real Estate Tax Sale Law section 102 - definitions of "Delinquent", "Actual sale", "County" and "Owner"72 P.S. 5860.102Verified Aug 9, 2026

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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