Dauphin County tax sales

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Dauphin is a firmly in person bureau with its own local price points. Registration is $100 cash or local check only, repository bidding was raised to a $2,000 minimum per parcel effective April 1, 2024, repository bidding runs on a six to nine month approval timeline, and repository bidding closes and reopens on a published cycle rather than staying continuously open. For the current cycle it reopens Tuesday, November 10, 2026, with sealed envelope bidding on the first day only.

Selling office: Dauphin County Tax Claim Bureau, 2 South Second Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101. Sales are held at the Dauphin County Courthouse, Jury Assembly Room, 101 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101 for the 2026 upset sale as stated in its terms

Next event: Repository bidding reopens Tuesday, November 10, 2026; the 2026 upset sale is complete (upset Tuesday, September 29, 2026). Determined from the official Repository Sale page read Nov 9, 2026, which states repository bidding will reopen Tuesday, November 10, 2026, no bids accepted before that date, with sealed envelope bids on November 10 only and first come, first served after the first day, and from the 2026 Upset Sale Terms which schedule the upset sale on September 29, 2026, now past.

No official total is published for the repository list on the Repository Sale page read Nov 9, 2026.

Dates and stages

Next event	Repository bidding reopens Tuesday, November 10, 2026; the 2026 upset sale is complete (upset Tuesday, September 29, 2026)
Upset sale	The upset sale runs each September in person. The 2026 upset sale ran on Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at 6:00 PM at the Dauphin County Courthouse, Jury Assembly Room, 101 Market Street, Harrisburg, for delinquent taxes for the year 2024, at the fixed upset price as the initial bid.
Judicial sale	The judicial sale is administered by the bureau as the free and clear stage after upset. The 2025 judicial sale was June 18, 2025 with $100 registration May 19 to May 30, 2025 and an initial bid of $500 to $2,000 depending on delinquent tax due, in the published 2025 terms. A 2026 judicial date was not published on the Tax Claim pages read Nov 9, 2026, so the 2026 judicial date is not published / unverified and must not be assumed from the 2025 pattern.
Repository	A repository list is maintained in the office and online when available, as stated on the Repository Sale page. Minimum bid is $2,000 per parcel plus fees effective April 1, 2024. A printed list is $5.00 per full list with forms, or $0.25 per page for forms, in the office per the Repository Guidelines. Bidding reopens November 10, 2026, Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
Format	In person: In person at the Dauphin County Courthouse, Jury Assembly Room, 101 Market Street, Harrisburg, for the upset sale. Registration and repository bidding are in person at the Tax Claim Bureau, 2 S. Second Street, Harrisburg. No online bidding platform is directed by the bureau for these sales in the documents read.
Selling office	Dauphin County Tax Claim Bureau, 2 South Second Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101. Sales are held at the Dauphin County Courthouse, Jury Assembly Room, 101 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101 for the 2026 upset sale as stated in its terms
The list	Upset, judicial and repository information publish under Tax Claim at dauphincounty.gov, with terms, registration requirements and repository guidelines as PDFs there. The repository list is available in the office and online when the list is open for bidding.

Sources: Repository Sale. 2026 Upset Sale Terms and Conditions. 2026 Upset Sale Registration Requirements. Repository Guidelines. Tax Claim. 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.

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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 Dauphin County

For the 2026 upset sale, bidders had to register in person at the Tax Claim Bureau only, August 24 to September 4, 2026, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, per Act 33 of 2021, with no registration accepted after September 4, 2026 and only registered bidders permitted to enter the sale. The registration fee is $100 non-refundable, paid by cash or check, personal checks acceptable only if drawn from a local bank in the City of Harrisburg, no debit or credit cards. A notarized bidder certification and affidavit is required and registrants are vetted for delinquent taxes.

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, Dauphin County	The $100 amount is a non-refundable registration fee, not a deposit, in both the upset registration requirements and the upset terms read. No separate bidder deposit is published in those documents.
Payment, Dauphin County	Upset terms state the upset price plus 2 percent State Realty Transfer Tax and recording, acknowledgement and deed preparation fees must be paid at the time of the sale, on the night of the sale, at the option of the bureau by cash or by a personal or business check drawn from a local bank in the City of Harrisburg payable to the Dauphin County Tax Claim Bureau. No credit or debit cards are accepted as payment for purchase of property. Failure to pay the night of the sale bars the bidder and associated entities from future sales as stated in the terms.
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

Any property remaining unsold at a judicial sale is placed in the Repository for unsold properties. A bid must be presented in writing with payment to the bureau, minimum $2,000 plus fees per parcel, in person at the counter at 2 S. Second Street (no bids by mail since January 5, 2022, and no bidding on behalf of another person), by cash or money order payable to the Dauphin County Tax Claim Bureau per the guidelines. The bureau presents the bid first to the Dauphin County Commissioners, then to the school district and municipality for approval. On approval of all taxing bodies the bureau conveys the property divested of all claims, in the same manner as a judicial sale. The bureau warns the process takes a minimum of six to nine months. No current list size is published on the Repository Sale page.

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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