Behind on Property Taxes in Pennsylvania?

Back Taxes in Pennsylvania: Your Options

This page explains what happens in most of Pennsylvania when property taxes on a lot or acreage go unpaid. It covers the county tax claim bureau, interest, the upset sale, the judicial sale, the repository for unsold property, and how to stop a sale. It is written for owners of vacant land, including people who inherited land with back taxes.

Back taxes do not stop you from selling. Until the tax sale happens, you can pay off the claim or sell and have the taxes paid at closing from the sale. Unlike many states, Pennsylvania's tax sale law gives no right to redeem after the sale. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice; for your own case, ask your county tax claim bureau or a Pennsylvania attorney.

When Pennsylvania property taxes become delinquent

Pennsylvania landowners usually get separate bills for county, municipal and school taxes from a local tax collector. Each bill shows its own discount, face and penalty periods. Taxes still unpaid after the year they were due are returned to the county tax claim bureau between January 1 and April 30 of the next year (72 P.S. 5860.306).

This page follows the Real Estate Tax Sale Law, which covers most of the state. It does not apply to Philadelphia, to Allegheny County (which includes Pittsburgh), or to cities of the second class A, which is Scranton (72 P.S. 5860.102). Those places collect delinquent taxes under different rules, often through sheriff sales, so ask the local tax office there.

Penalties and interest on late taxes

Before the return, the local tax collector adds the penalty shown on your bill. After the return, the tax claim bureau charges interest of 9 percent a year, starting the first day of the month after the return (72 P.S. 5860.306).

The bureau also charges set fees and costs for notices, the claim, removal from sale and any stay agreement (72 P.S. 5860.205). Ask the bureau for the exact amount on the day you plan to pay.

What the county does next

By July 31 after the return, the bureau mails the owner a notice of the tax claim by certified or registered mail. If the address is unknown or the mail is not delivered, the notice is posted on the property (72 P.S. 5860.308). If the claim is still unpaid on the next January 1, it becomes absolute (72 P.S. 5860.311).

Property with an absolute claim goes to the upset sale. The bureau must schedule it no earlier than the second Monday of September and before October 1 (72 P.S. 5860.601). The minimum bid, called the upset price, covers the taxes, interest, other tax and municipal claims, current taxes and the costs of the sale (72 P.S. 5860.605). The buyer takes the property subject to recorded liens, such as mortgages, that are not part of the upset price (72 P.S. 5860.609).

If no one bids the upset price, the bureau can ask the court of common pleas to order a judicial sale. After notice and a hearing, the court can order the property sold free and clear of mortgages and most other liens (72 P.S. 5860.610 and 5860.612). Property that does not sell at a judicial sale can go to the county's repository for unsold property, and the bureau can later accept offers on it (72 P.S. 5860.626 and 5860.627). Sale dates differ by county, so confirm with your tax claim bureau.

Redemption: getting your land back

Pennsylvania's tax sale law says there is no redemption of a property after the actual sale (72 P.S. 5860.501). After an upset sale, the bureau reports the sale to court and mails the owner a notice, and the owner can file objections or exceptions with the court within 30 days after the court's first confirmation, called confirmation nisi (72 P.S. 5860.607). Those objections are mostly about notice and procedure, not about paying late.

So the time to act is before the sale. Paying in full, or signing a stay agreement, before the sale stops it (72 P.S. 5860.603).

Your options if you are behind

The sale usually comes about two years after the tax year, and once it happens, the law gives no way back.

• Pay in full to the county tax claim bureau. Paying before July 1 of the sale year keeps the property out of the sale advertisement (72 P.S. 5860.501).
• Sign a stay agreement with the bureau. You pay 25 percent of the amount due and the rest in no more than three payments within one year. A default restarts the sale process, and the bureau will not offer a new agreement for three years (72 P.S. 5860.603).
• Pay before the sale date, even after the property is advertised.
• Sell the land. We make a cash offer within 24 hours, charge no fees or commissions, pay the closing costs, and can close in as few as 7 days. The back taxes are paid at closing from the sale. Get a cash offer for your Pennsylvania land.

Selling land with back taxes in Pennsylvania

You can sell land with a tax claim on it as long as the tax sale has not happened. The title company or settlement agent gets a payoff from the tax claim bureau and the local tax collector, and the taxes, interest and costs are paid from the sale price at closing.

We buy land with back taxes, liens and title issues, land with no road access, and land owned by heirs and estates. If you inherited Pennsylvania land with a tax claim, move before the upset sale date in your county.

Where to check your tax status

Current-year taxes are paid to your local tax collector. Once taxes are returned as delinquent, you pay the county tax claim bureau. Most county websites list the bureau and an upset sale list each summer. The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development keeps municipal statistics that help you find local government offices.

Ask the bureau for the full payoff, the year the claim became absolute, and whether the property is on this year's upset sale list.