Pennsylvania holds no tax lien certificate auctions; its tax sales sell the property itself. In 65 of its 67 counties, the county Tax Claim Bureau runs those sales under the Real Estate Tax Sale Law (section 102 leaves out the first and second class counties). Philadelphia and Allegheny counties sit outside that act and enforce unpaid taxes through sheriff sales under the Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Law.
Inside the act, the type of sale a parcel comes from decides what the buyer inherits. A low price at the wrong sale can come with a mortgage attached.
| Sale | When it happens | What survives the deed |
|---|---|---|
| Upset sale (sections 601 to 609) | The first sale. The bureau schedules it no earlier than the second Monday of September and before October 1, and may adjourn or continue it to a later date in the same year. | Every recorded mortgage, lien, estate, ground rent and Commonwealth tax lien not included in the upset price (section 609). The upset price is built from taxes, municipal claims and costs, so a mortgage is never part of it. One exception: a municipal claim that attached before August 1 of the sale year is wiped out if the taxing district or municipal authority failed to certify it to the bureau (section 605). |
| Judicial sale (sections 610 to 612) | On a date the court fixes, after the parcel failed to draw the upset price. | Only separately taxed ground rents. The court orders the sale free and cleared of tax and municipal claims, mortgages, liens, charges and estates (section 612), after its rule was served on the parties named in it. |
| Private sale (sections 613 and 615) | After a failed upset sale, at a price the bureau approves. Interested parties have 45 days after notice to petition the court to disapprove the sale. | Unclear. The deed discharges tax claims and tax judgments but does not name mortgages or other liens. Treat the parcel as encumbered until a title search says otherwise. |
| Repository sale (sections 626 and 627) | After a judicial sale leaves the parcel unsold, from the bureau's public list of unsold properties. | Only separately taxed ground rents, the same reach as a judicial sale (section 627(b)). |
One caveat applies to every row: a recorded federal tax lien can survive the sale. A court-ordered sale clears it only if the United States was made a party. The other sales clear it only if the IRS received written notice at least 25 days before the sale, and even then the IRS may redeem the property within 120 days (26 U.S.C. 7425).
Philadelphia and Allegheny work differently. Under the Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Law, an owner can still redeem a home the same person or family lived in for at least 90 days before the sale and still lives in, within nine months after the sheriff's deed is acknowledged in Philadelphia, or three months in Allegheny County. Vacant property cannot be redeemed once the sheriff's deed is acknowledged (section 32). For the full sequence and county pages, read how Pennsylvania tax sales work at Tax Sale Atlas.
Source: Real Estate Tax Sale Law, Act of July 7, 1947, P.L. 1368, No. 542, sections 102, 501, 501-A, 502-A and 601 to 627 (official text), and the Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Law, Act of May 16, 1923, P.L. 207, No. 153, section 32 (official text), both published by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. This note summarizes these statutes and is not legal advice. Confirm current terms with the county Tax Claim Bureau before you bid.