When the sale is held
Not applicable. There is no certificate sale. The bureau exposes the property to an upset sale in September of the second calendar year after the year the taxes were due, and then to a court-ordered judicial sale if the upset price is not bid.
When taxes go delinquent
Taxes are delinquent on December 31 of the year they were due, for every taxing district. The tax collector returns the unpaid list to the county Tax Claim Bureau between January 1 and April 30 of the following year, or by an earlier uniform date the county commissioners set by resolution, and interest then runs at 9 percent a year from the first day of the month after the return. The bureau mails and posts notice of the claim by July 31 of that year, and a one-year period to discharge the claim starts running on July 1. If nothing is paid, the claim becomes absolute the next January 1 and the property is exposed to the upset sale that September. Property taxes are a first lien with priority over any mortgage, ground rent, judgment or other lien on the property, behind only the costs of sale and Commonwealth tax liens given priority by section 205.
What happens after the sale
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.
Leftover parcels between sales
Property that remains unsold after it has been exposed to a judicial sale is placed in the county's repository for unsold properties. The bureau maintains the list and must make it available to the general public during normal office hours, and may publish it in a locally circulating newspaper from time to time. With the written consent of every taxing district where the property sits, the bureau may set a minimum purchase price and accept any offer at or above it without court approval and without published notice of sale. A taxing district may not unreasonably withhold consent, and consent is deemed given if it does not respond within 60 days of receiving notice; a district may condition its consent on the buyer appearing before its governing body and supplying the section 502-A information. The buyer must provide an affidavit containing that same information. The property is conveyed free and clear of all tax and municipal claims, mortgages, liens, charges and estates except separately taxed ground rents, and the bureau records the deed at the buyer's expense. The price paid is deemed the fair market value for tax assessment purposes until a general reassessment, a resale, or an improvement. A former owner may not buy their own property out of the repository.
These dates are the statewide statutory schedule. The exact auction date, registration deadline, and platform are set county by county, so confirm them on the Pennsylvania county pages before you plan a bid. For the mechanics of the sale itself, see how to buy in Pennsylvania.
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.