Wayne County, PA tax sales
How tax deed sales work in Wayne County, seat of Honesdale: 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
- Judicial sale scheduled for September 25, 2026.Friday · 2026
- Format
- In person
- County office
- 570-253-5970, ext. 4000
On this page
How Wayne County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Wayne County Tax Claim Bureau
- Frequency
- annual
- Sale list
- Wayne County upset tax sale list
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Pre-registration is mandatory under Act 33 of 2021 and closes before the sale; walk-up bidding is not allowed. The county states: "Those who do not pre-register by the deadline will not be able to participate in the sale." Submit, by hand delivery or mail to Wayne County Courthouse, 925 Court Street, Honesdale, PA 18431: a notarized Certification of Bidder form for every person going on the deed, the Bidder Registration Form for that specific sale, a copy of a driver's license or Real ID, and a $25 non-refundable pre-registration fee. Registering as an LLC also requires the articles of incorporation and a listing of officers and investors. Paperwork is not accepted by email or fax, postmarks do not count, and nothing is accepted after 4 p.m. on the deadline date. The county's requirements sheet says bidders must pre-register "10 days prior to the sale date for Upset, Judicial and Repository Sales" and that "Registration begins approximately 6 weeks prior to the sale dates." Published 2026 windows: upset sale August 3 to September 4, judicial sale June 1 to July 2, repository sales December 29 to January 30, March 23 to April 24, June 29 to July 31, and September 28 to October 30. Full payment is due the day of sale by cash, money order, cashier's check, or personal check backed by a bank letter of credit, payable to Wayne County Tax Claim.
Sale format and venue
Wayne County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Wayne 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 Wayne County upset tax sale list for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Ask the county office how and when to register; many counties close registration days or weeks before the sale.Sale day
Judicial sale scheduled for September 25, 2026. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Wayne County Tax Claim Bureau as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Wayne County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Wayne County upset tax sale list. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Pre-registration is mandatory under Act 33 of 2021 and closes before the sale; walk-up bidding is not allowed. The county states: "Those who do not pre-register by the deadline will not be able to participate in the sale." Submit, by hand delivery or mail to Wayne County Courthouse, 925 Court Street, Honesdale, PA 18431: a notarized Certification of Bidder form for every person going on the deed, the Bidder Registration Form for that specific sale, a copy of a driver's license or Real ID, and a $25 non-refundable pre-registration fee. Registering as an LLC also requires the articles of incorporation and a listing of officers and investors. Paperwork is not accepted by email or fax, postmarks do not count, and nothing is accepted after 4 p.m. on the deadline date. The county's requirements sheet says bidders must pre-register "10 days prior to the sale date for Upset, Judicial and Repository Sales" and that "Registration begins approximately 6 weeks prior to the sale dates." Published 2026 windows: upset sale August 3 to September 4, judicial sale June 1 to July 2, repository sales December 29 to January 30, March 23 to April 24, June 29 to July 31, and September 28 to October 30. Full payment is due the day of sale by cash, money order, cashier's check, or personal check backed by a bank letter of credit, payable to Wayne County Tax Claim.
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.
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County offices
Tax sale office
County notes
- Lisa Borthwick is listed as Director of Tax Claim and Cheryl A. Davies as Director of Tax Services. The Tax Claim page directs questions to [email protected]. Office fax is 570-253-5418; hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Between the upset and judicial sales there is a private bid window. Properties unsold at the upset sale move to the Non-Repository Sale List, and the county invites private bids before those parcels are prepped for judicial sale, telling bidders to "Call our office to determine the deadlines and minimum bid." Those parcels stay subject to liens, judgments, and mortgages.
- As of early August 2026 the Tax Services portal shows the September 25, 2026 upset sale and repository sales on August 21 and November 20, 2026. The judicial listing page reported no scheduled judicial sales, consistent with the July 24, 2026 judicial sale having already passed.
- Repository purchases carry added closing costs: the county lists the cost accrued plus a $25 deed prep fee, 2 percent transfer tax, and a $74.75 deed recording fee. Repository deeds are recorded in the buyer's name within about 30 days and delivered in 45 to 60 days.
- A delinquent claim becomes absolute on January 1 of the year after the tax year, at which point the county begins preparing the property for auction.
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 Wayne County, Pennsylvania sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Wayne County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Wayne 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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