Chester County tax sales

Verified

Chester runs the standard Real Estate Tax Sale Law calendar in public view. Unpaid taxes are liened in January, first and second sale notices go out in May and June, properties are posted in July and advertised in August in the Daily Local News, the Chester County Press and the Chester County Law Reporter, and the upset sale follows in September. If a property gets no bid at upset it becomes eligible for a judicial sale the next year, sold freed and cleared of liens, mortgages and judgments. The bureau overview stresses court confirmation and a 4 to 6 month disbursement timeline after an upset sale.

Selling office: Chester County Tax Claim Bureau, 313 W. Market Street, Suite 3602, West Chester, PA 19380, phone 610-344-6360

Next event: Repository bids are open now in principle under state law, but no live repository list or dated sale is published on the bureau pages read Nov 9, 2026; the 2026 dated upset sale is complete (upset Monday, September 21, 2026) and the next dated event published is the anticipated judicial sale in May 2027. Determined from the official 2026 Tax Schedule read Nov 9, 2026, which lists the upset sale on September 21, 2026 and the anticipated judicial sale in May 2027, with no repository list, continued sale or late 2026 judicial date published on that schedule or the Bureau Overview.

No official total is published for upcoming or repository parcels on the bureau pages read Nov 9, 2026.

Dates and stages

Next event	Repository bids are open now in principle under state law, but no live repository list or dated sale is published on the bureau pages read Nov 9, 2026; the 2026 dated upset sale is complete (upset Monday, September 21, 2026) and the next dated event published is the anticipated judicial sale in May 2027
Upset sale	The upset sale must be scheduled no earlier than the second Monday in September and no later than September 30. The 2026 upset sale for properties with 2024 and prior taxes ran on Monday, September 21, 2026.
Judicial sale	The judicial sale follows in the year after exposure at upset for properties that received no bid, sold freed and cleared of all liens, mortgages and other judgments. No 2026 judicial date is published on the pages read; the 2026 Tax Schedule lists an anticipated judicial sale in May 2027 for properties exposed at 2025 and prior upset or continued upset sales.
Repository	No repository list, repository minimum bid or repository fee is published on the 2026 Tax Schedule or the Bureau Overview read Nov 9, 2026. Repository terms are therefore not published / unverified from official sources for this county.
Format	Not published on the bureau pages read Nov 9, 2026: Venue or platform for the Tax Claim Bureau upset and judicial sales is not published on the 2026 Tax Schedule or the Bureau Overview read Nov 9, 2026. Sheriff sales are a separate sale and are online via Bid4Assets, and the bureau pages direct tax sale questions to the Tax Claim Bureau at 610-344-6360.
Selling office	Chester County Tax Claim Bureau, 313 W. Market Street, Suite 3602, West Chester, PA 19380, phone 610-344-6360
The list	Upset sale notice is advertised at least 30 days ahead in the Daily Local News, the Chester County Press and the Chester County Law Reporter. The bureau pages read do not publish a downloadable upset list location or a repository list location.

Sources: 2026 Tax Schedule. Tax Claim Bureau Overview. Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and owners can pay and stop a sale at any point before it starts.

Research Chester County parcels before you bid

A sale list gives you the parcels, the date, and the opening terms. It does not give you the owner, the value, or the rest of the picture: liens, foreclosure status, and parcel history. PropertyRadar is the data platform for that layer. It carries owner records, assessed and market values, foreclosure and tax data, and property history for parcels across Chester County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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The three stages, and what title you get at each

Delinquent taxes go to the Tax Claim Bureau. When real estate taxes stay unpaid, the claims are returned to the county Tax Claim Bureau, which collects for the county, the municipality and the school district and runs the sales (Real Estate Tax Sale Law, 72 P.S. Section 5860.101 and following). Two counties in this set are outside the system by law: Philadelphia (a county of the first class) and Allegheny (second class). Their delinquent tax sales run through their sheriffs instead, and their pages say how.
Stage one: the upset sale. The bureau must schedule the upset sale no earlier than the second Monday of September and before October 1, and may continue it within the calendar year (Section 5860.601). The opening price is the upset price (Section 5860.605): the tax claims and interest, any other tax claims and judgments, all accrued taxes including the current year, municipal claims, and the record costs and costs of sale. No bid below the upset price can be accepted. An upset buyer takes the property subject to mortgages, liens and ground rents that were not part of the upset price (Section 5860.609): the taxes are paid, the liens may not be.
Stage two: the judicial sale. What does not sell at upset can be exposed again at a judicial sale, which the bureau petitions the Court of Common Pleas to order (Sections 5860.610 and 5860.612). This is the prize of the system: a judicial sale conveys the property freed and cleared of all tax and municipal claims, mortgages, liens, charges and estates, except separately taxed ground rents. Judicial lists draw the serious buyers precisely because the court order clears the title.
Stage three: the repository. What does not sell at judicial sale is placed in the repository for unsold properties, and the bureau must keep the list available to the public (Section 5860.626). At any time of year, the bureau may accept an offer of any price for a repository parcel, with the written consent of every taxing district where the property sits and without court approval (Section 5860.627). Repository deeds convey the same cleared title as judicial deeds, except separately taxed ground rents. Counties set their own minimum bids, forms and fees; each county page carries its own.
The owner's rights end at the sale. An owner can pay the claim and stop the process at any point before the sale, including by an installment agreement with the bureau. After an upset or judicial sale there is no redemption: the owner's remaining route is objections to the bureau's return in court, on the confirmation timetable in the terms table below. Philadelphia is the exception in this set: an owner-occupier there can redeem within nine months after the sheriff's deed is acknowledged (see the Philadelphia page).

How registration works in Chester County

No county registration route, fee or deadline for tax sales is published on the 2026 Tax Schedule or the Bureau Overview read Nov 9, 2026. State law floor applies: Act 33 of 2021, Section 5860.501a, requires a bidder at an upset or judicial sale to register in person with the bureau at least 10 days before the sale and certify the bidder is not tax delinquent.

Registration closes early everywhere that matters. In the bureau counties, Pennsylvania law requires registration at least 10 days before the sale, and several counties in this set close weeks ahead or cap the room. Philadelphia's deposit deadline runs about a week ahead of its sale dates.
You certify you are clean. A bureau bidder certifies they owe no delinquent real estate taxes or municipal utility bills and are not bidding for someone who does. Philadelphia requires tax compliance proof at settlement instead.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Deposit, Chester County	No registration fee versus deposit rule for tax sales is published on the bureau pages read Nov 9, 2026. No deposit amount is stated there, so any deposit is not published / unverified.
Payment, Chester County	No clean tax sale payment or settlement rule (deadline and accepted funds for a winning bid) is published on the 2026 Tax Schedule or the Bureau Overview read Nov 9, 2026, so payment terms are not published / unverified rather than guessed. The overview does state the upset bid price includes current and delinquent taxes, municipal liens, Commonwealth liens, transfer taxes, recording fees and costs, and that the Court of Common Pleas must confirm the sale absolute before funds are disbursed.
What the upset price is	The upset price is the sum of the Commonwealth tax liens, the tax claim and interest on it, any other tax claim or tax judgment due with interest, all accrued taxes including taxes levied for the current year, municipal claims against the property, and the record costs and costs of sale (72 P.S. Section 5860.605). The bureau cannot accept a bid below it.
Title at an upset sale	An upset sale conveys title subject to every recorded obligation, claim, lien, estate, mortgage, ground rent and Commonwealth tax lien that was not included in the upset price (Section 5860.609). Paying the taxes does not clear the mortgage.
Title at judicial and repository sales	A judicial sale, ordered by the Court of Common Pleas, sells the property freed and cleared of all tax and municipal claims, mortgages, liens, charges and estates, except separately taxed ground rents (Section 5860.612). A repository sale conveys the same cleared title (Section 5860.627).
Bidder registration (state law)	Act 33 of 2021 (Section 5860.501a) requires a bidder at an upset or judicial sale to appear in person and register with the bureau at least 10 days before the sale, and to certify they are not delinquent on real estate taxes or municipal utility bills and are not bidding for someone who is. Counties add their own fees, forms and earlier deadlines; the county version is in the registration section above. Philadelphia and Allegheny run sheriff sales instead and set their own bidder rules.
After the sale	In the bureau counties there is no redemption after the sale. The bureau files its consolidated return with the court within 60 days of the sale; the court confirms the sale nisi, and owners and lien creditors then have 30 days to file objections, limited to the regularity of the bureau's proceedings (Section 5860.607). Absolute confirmation follows if no objections are filed.

Repository: the year round list

Under the Real Estate Tax Sale Law a property that remains unsold after upset and judicial exposure goes to the repository, where the bureau may accept any offer with the written consent of all taxing districts. Chester does not publish a repository list, a minimum bid, a bid form or an approval timeline on the bureau pages read Nov 9, 2026, so a reader must contact the Tax Claim Bureau directly at 610-344-6360 to ask whether a list is available in the office. No current list size or list date is published.

Before you bid

Know which stage you are buying at. An upset price pays the taxes and leaves mortgages and liens standing; a judicial or repository deed clears them, except separately taxed ground rents. The cheapest parcel at the wrong stage is the expensive one.
Check the list again in sale week. Owners can pay and stop the process at any point before the sale, and lists shrink hard between posting and sale day.
Read the post sale rules before you bid, not after. In the bureau counties your protection is the court confirmation process; in Philadelphia it is the nine month owner-occupier redemption the buyer has to price in.
Set the maximum before the sale opens. The free Max-Bid Calculator below works backwards from your resale or hold value to the highest bid you can pay, with the costs shown.

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