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States › Pennsylvania › Tax Sale Summary

There are 67 Counties in Ohio. It became the 2nd state on December 12, 1787. The state motto is "Virtue, Liberty, and Independence".

Currently, Pennsylvania does not offer tax lien certificates instead it offers tax deeds.

Summary: In accordance with the Tax Sale law, the municipal Tax Claim Bureau is able to sell parcels in one of four ways (Article VI. Sale of Property.); (a) Upset Sale (Sec 601 - 609), (b) Judicial Sale (Sec 610 - 612.2), (c) Private Sale (Sec 613 - 615), and (f) Repository for Unsold Property (Sec 625 - 630).

The Upset Sale is scheduled each September and includes those parcels whose taxes, from two years earlier, remain unpaid or other specified conditions exist.

A Private Sale can occur after a property has been exposed but not sold at an Upset Sale. An interested buyer submits a written bid to the Tax Claim Bureau. The Bureau decides whether to accept the bid. If accepted, the bid is advertised in a newspaper. Any one objecting to the sale must petition the court within 45 days to disprove the sale.

A Judicial Sale is held at least once each year and can include only those properties that have been exposed but not sold at an Upset Sale. After advertisement, notice to owners and lien holders, etc., the parcels are presented free and clear of all liens.

A Repository Sale consists of properties that are exposed but not sold at a Judicial Sale. Any bid on a repository property must be approved by all taxing districts where the property is located (i.e. township borough, county, school).

Special sales and redemption provisions apply in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Scranton and in Allegheny County.

Law: Pennsylvania "Real Estate Tax Sale Law" Act 542 of 1947, P.L. 1368; 72 P.S. 5860.101

Contact: County Tax Claim Bureau (Sec. 5860.601 ).

Interest Rate: N/A (Sec. 5860.607).

Auction Type: Tax Deed (Sec. 5860.608).

Bidding Procedure: Bidders raise bid above upset sales price (Sec. 5860.605).

Costs: Costs collectible as part of the upset sales price include the cost of publishing, mailing, and posting notices (Sec. 5860.605). The tax sale purchaser must pay the cost of recording the deed (Sec. 5860.608).

Redemption Period: There is no right to redeem property sold at a tax sale in most counties (Sec. 5860.607). However, special sales and redemption rules apply in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Scranton and in Allegheny County.

Deed assigned at Foreclosure to: Tax sale purchaser (Sec. 5860.608). After the court has confirmed the sale and the purchaser has paid the amount of his bid, it shall be the duty of the bureau to make to the said purchaser, his or their heirs or assigns a deed in fee simple for the property sold. Each such deed shall be in the name of the bureau as trustee grantor and shall be executed and duly acknowledged before the prothonotary by the director and a notation of such deed and acknowledgement shall be duly entered on the proper records. The deed shall, before delivery, be recorded in the office for the recording of deeds at the cost of the purchaser (Section 608).

Notes:

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