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Tax Sale Atlas

Westmoreland County, PA tax sales

How tax deed sales work in Westmoreland County, seat of Greensburg: 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 October 1, 2026.Thursday · 2026
Format
Bid4Assets
Registration
Pre-registration is mandatory and must be done in person.
County office
(724) 830-3428
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 10, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Westmoreland County sells delinquent taxes

No tax lien certificate sale

Pennsylvania counties do not sell tax lien certificates to investors. The county Tax Claim Bureau holds the delinquent claim itself and later sells the property.

Tax deed sale

GovEase in a growing number of counties; some counties still sell in person at the courthouse, and some judicial sales are handled through a county solicitor or on Bid4Assets
Run by
Westmoreland County Tax Claim Bureau
Frequency
annual
Next sale
Judicial sale scheduled for October 1, 2026.
Registration
Pre-registration is mandatory and must be done in person.
Sale list
Judicial sale list
When it runs
The upset sale runs every September. The county's Tax Sale Information page states "Each September we hold an annual upset sale for properties owing two years prior taxes," and the Tax Claim Bureau's current annual upset sale bidder registry form gives "Date of Sale: September 14, 2026." The 2025 upset sale opened Monday, September 8, 2025 at 10:00 AM. Judicial sales are scheduled through the year as cases ripen rather than in a fixed month; the Judicial Sales page lists "October 1, 2026 10:00 AM" as the next one, following sales held January 16, 2026 and June 8, 2026.
Registration and deposit

Pre-registration is mandatory and must be done in person. The county states that under Pennsylvania Act 33, "anyone intending to bid at an Upset or Judicial Sale must appear and register at the Tax Claim Bureau no later than 10 days prior to the scheduled sale," that "a $25 non-refundable fee is required to file an application to register," and that you "must register separately for each sale you intend to participate in." Individuals file a bidder registration form plus a notarized certification affidavit; corporations, LLCs and other entities also file the IRS EIN letter, a list of all officers, members and owners, and signed authorization documents. Every bidder signs an acknowledgment of terms specific to the sale type. The county adds that "registrations will not be accepted by mail or email" and that registration opens only after the required advertisement is published. Pre-registration for the October 1, 2026 judicial sale closes September 21, 2026.

Sale format and venue
Westmoreland County sells the deed at a live, in person auction and uses no online bidding platform. The upset sale is held at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg, with the 2025 sale staged in the "Commissioners Meeting Rooms Courthouse Annex 1st Floor," and the October 1, 2026 judicial sale is set for the "Public Meeting Rooms Courthouse, First Floor." The Judicial Sales page is explicit that you "MUST BE PRESENT DAY OF SALE TO BUY PROPERTY." Terms are cash and all sales are final at the upset sale, and the full amount of the bid is due immediately after the judicial sale, with payment in full required by 3:30 PM on the day of the sale. Judicial starting bids cover the Bureau's accrued costs plus a $110.25 recording fee, 2 percent transfer tax based on assessed value, and a $25 deed preparation fee. Deeds are prepared by the Bureau after the court confirms the sale and are then mailed to the buyer, so buyers cannot enter the property or contact occupants until the deed is in hand.
Source: Westmoreland County, PA, Judicial Sales· Verified Aug 10, 2026

Westmoreland County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Westmoreland 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.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Judicial sale list for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.
  2. Register to bid

    Pre-registration is mandatory and must be done in person. Full requirements are in the sale card above.
  3. Sale day

    Judicial sale scheduled for October 1, 2026. The county names GovEase in a growing number of counties; some counties still sell in person at the courthouse, and some judicial sales are handled through a county solicitor or on Bid4Assets as its auction platform but has not published a direct bidding link. Confirm the date and window with the county.
  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Westmoreland County Tax Claim Bureau as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Westmoreland County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Judicial sale list. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.
  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Pre-registration is mandatory and must be done in person. The county states that under Pennsylvania Act 33, "anyone intending to bid at an Upset or Judicial Sale must appear and register at the Tax Claim Bureau no later than 10 days prior to the scheduled sale," that "a $25 non-refundable fee is required to file an application to register," and that you "must register separately for each sale you intend to participate in." Individuals file a bidder registration form plus a notarized certification affidavit; corporations, LLCs and other entities also file the IRS EIN letter, a list of all officers, members and owners, and signed authorization documents. Every bidder signs an acknowledgment of terms specific to the sale type. The county adds that "registrations will not be accepted by mail or email" and that registration opens only after the required advertisement is published. Pre-registration for the October 1, 2026 judicial sale closes September 21, 2026.

  3. 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.
  4. 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

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

Westmoreland County Tax Office/Tax Claim Bureau

(724) 830-3428

40 N Pennsylvania Ave, Suite 109, Greensburg, PA 15601

Official website

County notes

  • The Bureau runs a five step ladder: the September upset sale, then a private sale of anything left unsold, then the judicial sale, then a bid-off window where "anyone may put their names into the files within 10 calendar days after each judicial sale to have the right to bid on those properties," and finally the repository list for whatever remains. Bid-off and repository purchases carry a 60 calendar day consent period for the municipality and school district, with a full refund if consent is denied.
  • Title quality differs sharply by sale. The upset sale is not free and clear, and the Acknowledgment of Terms warns that property is "NOT sold Free & Clear of any liens, judgments, mortgages, etc." The judicial sale is sold "Free & Clear of all property taxes, liens, mortgages, or judgments," with the exception of federal liens.
  • The upset sale notice carries a caution that "recent U.S. and Pennsylvania Supreme Court cases indicate that any mortgages, judgments or other liens of record against the property you purchase may not be divested by this sale," and the Bureau recommends a title search before bidding. On judicial sales the county adds that a lien holder who was not properly noticed may keep its lien after the sale.
  • Properties are sold by tax map number, not by street address, and the county states addresses "are not always accurate." The auctioneer offers parcels in the same order as the legal advertisement and only calls the parcels being offered.
  • The Tax Claim Bureau collects delinquent county, municipal and school taxes for all 65 districts in the county except the City of Greensburg, Hempfield Township, Irwin Borough, the City of Latrobe, North Huntingdon Township, Penn Township, Trafford Borough, Jeannette School District and Monessen School District. Delinquencies in those districts are handled elsewhere.
  • The Westmoreland County Land Bank may bid at the sales, and mobile homes with delinquent taxes are included in the upset sale. Map numbers carrying a 99 series after the ten digit map number denote a mobile home with no land, and a 90 series denotes coal rights under the surface only.
  • Redemption after the upset sale is closed to the former owner: the notice states "the owner or owners of the property so sold shall not be permitted to redeem property after the sale." Owners do have 30 days after the court confirms the sale to file an objection.
  • Third party listing sites republish Westmoreland sale lists, but none of them conducts this county's auction. Bids are taken only in the courthouse, in person, from bidders who pre-registered at least 10 days earlier, so treat any site that appears to offer online bidding on these parcels with caution and confirm directly with the Tax Claim Bureau.
  • Sale lists are posted as PDFs on the county site. The judicial sale list page carries the current list, headed "Judicial Sale List for October 1, 2026 at 10:00 am, Public Meeting Rooms, First Floor," while the Annual Upset Tax Sale page carries the advertised upset list and prior year sold lists. Payments on parcels headed to the upset sale are accepted until the Friday before the sale, so the advertised list shrinks up to the last business day.

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.
Governing statute
72 P.S. 5860.101 et seq.

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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Frequently asked questions

Does Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax deeds. Pennsylvania sells no tax lien certificates to investors; the County Tax Claim Bureau sells the property itself at a public tax sale.

How often does Westmoreland County hold tax deed sales?

Westmoreland County holds its tax deed sale once a year. Date of Sale: September 14, 2026. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Pennsylvania's redemption rule: 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. Call the Westmoreland County Tax Claim Bureau as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the Westmoreland County tax sale list?

Westmoreland County posts its tax sale list at westmorelandcountypa.gov. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

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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