Philadelphia County, PA tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Philadelphia County, seat of Philadelphia: 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
- Several sales each month rather than one annual sale.
- Format
- Bid4Assets
- Registration
- Bidders must be 18 or older and complete the Bid4Assets online registration.
- County office
- 215-686-3560 (main), 215-686-3565 (real estate)
On this page
How Philadelphia County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Office of the Sheriff, City and County of Philadelphia (Philadelphia Sheriff's Office), Real Estate Division
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Several sales each month rather than one annual sale.
- Registration
- Bidders must be 18 or older and complete the Bid4Assets online registration.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Bidders must be 18 or older and complete the Bid4Assets online registration. A $500 deposit plus a $35 non-refundable processing fee must reach Bid4Assets before the auction starts, and that single deposit covers every property closing on that auction date. Deposits are accepted only by certified check, money order or wire transfer. The winning bidder funds 10 percent of the purchase price or $600, whichever is greater, with the balance of the 10 percent due by 5:00 PM ET on the first business day after the auction and the remaining 90 percent by 5:00 PM ET on the fifteenth calendar day after the auction date. The Sheriff also publishes an offline bid form for tax sales for bidders without computer access, and runs free monthly buyer seminars in English and Spanish.
Sale format and venue
Philadelphia County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Philadelphia 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.
Get the advertised list
Use Sheriff auction search: tax sale and mortgage foreclosure listings by sale date for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
Several sales each month rather than one annual sale. Bidding runs on Bid4Assets; check posted sale dates, registration status, and bidding windows there.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Office of the Sheriff, City and County of Philadelphia (Philadelphia Sheriff's Office), Real Estate Division as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Philadelphia County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Sheriff auction search: tax sale and mortgage foreclosure listings by sale date. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Bidders must be 18 or older and complete the Bid4Assets online registration. A $500 deposit plus a $35 non-refundable processing fee must reach Bid4Assets before the auction starts, and that single deposit covers every property closing on that auction date. Deposits are accepted only by certified check, money order or wire transfer. The winning bidder funds 10 percent of the purchase price or $600, whichever is greater, with the balance of the 10 percent due by 5:00 PM ET on the first business day after the auction and the remaining 90 percent by 5:00 PM ET on the fifteenth calendar day after the auction date. The Sheriff also publishes an offline bid form for tax sales for bidders without computer access, and runs free monthly buyer seminars in English and Spanish.
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.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
unsold properties
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.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax sale office
Philadelphia Sheriff's Office, Real Estate Division
215-686-3560 (main), 215-686-3565 (real estate)
Land Title Building, 100 South Broad Street, 5th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19110
Official websiteCounty notes
- The Sheriff's own site at auction.phillysheriff.com is a research tool only. Its listing pages state that to bid you must use Bid4Assets and hold a separate Bid4Assets account, so register on both if you want listing alerts plus bidding rights.
- Sale dates move. The Sheriff's real estate menu carries standing notices about a postponed Sheriff's Sale and a temporary stay on evictions and ejectments, and the Sheriff, the plaintiff or the tax servicer may cancel a sale after the auction closes. Confirm a date before wiring a deposit.
- Bid4Assets directs parcel-level questions to the county at [email protected] and auction mechanics questions to [email protected].
- If the winning bidder defaults, the Sheriff may offer the property to the second highest bidder through the Bid4Assets Bidder on Deck program, contacted two days after the auction with 24 hours to accept.
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.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Does Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Philadelphia County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Philadelphia County tax sale list?
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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