The short answer
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
How the clock works
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.
Who can redeem
Before the sale, any owner, heir or legal representative, any lien creditor or their heirs, assigns or legal representatives, any other interested person, and, with the approval of the lienholding political subdivision, a disinterested person may discharge the claim. After a sheriff's sale under the Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Law, the owner of the property, the owner's assignees, or any party whose lien or estate was discharged by the sale may redeem, except that there is no redemption of vacant property by anyone after the deed is acknowledged. Property counts as vacant unless the same individual or basic family unit occupied it as a residence continuously for at least 90 days before the sale and still occupies it when the deed is acknowledged. If both owner and creditor want to redeem, the owner must pay the creditor's claim in full; among creditors, the one lowest in lien at the time of sale has the prior right.
What the owner pays to redeem
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.
How your interest accrues
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.
How the sale works
Not applicable. Pennsylvania runs no interest bid-down auction, so there is no zero percent bid and no minimum-return floor.
What happens when it ends
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.
A redeemed certificate, plus your accrued interest, is what makes the wait profitable; see how redemption periods work across states. An unredeemed certificate is instead your path to the property through a tax deed sale, which still does not convey marketable title on its own, so budget for a quiet title action.
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.