Lackawanna County tax sales

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Lackawanna runs a four stage local ladder that inserts a Private Sale between upset and judicial. A property unsold at upset may be sold at private sale from the Non-Repository List at any price approved by the bureau and the pertinent taxing districts, still not free and clear. Only if it is not sold at private sale by November of the upset year is it prepared for the spring judicial sale, and only after judicial exposure does it reach the repository. The bureau also stresses its Act 619.1 certification: if delinquent taxes are due from the purchaser, no deed will be issued until all taxes are paid in full.

Selling office: Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau, Lackawanna County Government Center, 123 Wyoming Avenue, 2nd Floor, Scranton, PA 18503, phone 570-963-6734

Next event: Repository and private sale offers are the live route now; the 2026 dated sales are complete (judicial Wednesday, May 13, 2026 and upset Monday, September 21, 2026), with the next judicial sale in the spring of 2027 under the bureau stated pattern. Determined from the official Tax Claim Bureau page and the 2026 Upset Tax Sale Information page read Nov 9, 2026, which date the 2026 upset sale on September 21, 2026, and from the 2026 Judicial Tax Sale registration document, which dates the judicial sale on May 13, 2026, both past, while the bureau page describes private sale by November and repository offers thereafter with no late 2026 dated sale published.

No official total is published on the bureau main page for the repository or upcoming parcels.

Dates and stages

Next event	Repository and private sale offers are the live route now; the 2026 dated sales are complete (judicial Wednesday, May 13, 2026 and upset Monday, September 21, 2026), with the next judicial sale in the spring of 2027 under the bureau stated pattern
Upset sale	The upset sale occurs in September after the second Monday but prior to the last day of September, announced in two newspapers and the Lackawanna County Jurist at least 30 days ahead, and is not a free and clear sale. The 2026 upset sale ran on Monday, September 21, 2026.
Judicial sale	Judicial sales are conducted in the spring of the year following the upset sale, sold free and clear of all liens, judgments, mortgages and encumbrances except separately taxed ground rents, after a property search and notice to owners and lien holders and a court petition. The 2026 judicial sale ran on Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 10:00 AM at the Scranton Cultural Center, 420 North Washington Avenue, Scranton.
Repository	A repository list is maintained by the bureau and must be made available to the general public, per the bureau page. A Repository for Unsold Properties document updated July 2, 2026 is listed in the bureau Document Center. No minimum bid or repository fee is stated on the bureau main page read Nov 9, 2026, so the minimum is not published / unverified there.
Format	In person: In person. The 2026 judicial sale was held at the Scranton Cultural Center, 420 North Washington Avenue, Scranton. Registration for upset and judicial sales is in person at the Tax Claim Bureau, 123 Wyoming Avenue, Scranton. No online bidding platform is directed by the bureau on the pages read.
Selling office	Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau, Lackawanna County Government Center, 123 Wyoming Avenue, 2nd Floor, Scranton, PA 18503, phone 570-963-6734
The list	The upset advertising list and registration information publish on the 2026 Upset Tax Sale Information page. Sale lists and the repository document publish through the Tax Claim Bureau page and its Document Center and Resources and Links listings at lackawannacounty.org.

Sources: Tax Claim Bureau. 2026 Upset Tax Sale Information, September 21, 2026. 2026 Judicial Tax Sale Registration. 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 Lackawanna County

All potential buyers must register in advance of the sale. Under Act 33 of 2021 as quoted in the bureau judicial registration document, a person intending to bid at a scheduled upset or judicial sale must appear and register at the bureau not less than 10 days before the scheduled sale, and the county may establish a fee. For the 2026 judicial sale registration opened April 24, 2026 and closed May 1, 2026, in person at the Tax Claim Bureau, with a $35 non-refundable registration fee, cash only. The upset registration document was linked from the 2026 upset page but did not open, so the upset specific fee and window are not verified from that document and are marked unverified below, beyond the Act 33 in person ten day rule and the judicial $35 pattern published by the bureau.

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, Lackawanna County	The $35 judicial amount is a non-refundable registration fee, cash only, not a deposit, per the bureau registration document. No separate deposit is published on the bureau pages read Nov 9, 2026.
Payment, Lackawanna County	No clean upset or judicial payment deadline and accepted funds rule was read in full from an official conditions document Nov 9, 2026, so payment terms for the dated sales are not cleanly published in the sources read and are marked unverified rather than guessed. The bureau main page does publish the post sale certification consequence: no deed will be issued to a purchaser with delinquent taxes due until all taxes are paid in full.
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

All properties not sold at the judicial sale after exposure to an upset sale and a private sale are placed in the repository for unsold properties, also called the Repository List. The bureau must maintain the list and make it available to the public, and it may accept offers on these properties without court approval and published notice of the sale, per the bureau page. Under state law a repository sale still requires the written consent of all taxing districts. No minimum bid, bid form detail or current list size is stated on the bureau main page read Nov 9, 2026. A repository document updated July 2, 2026 is listed in the Document Center, but its contents were not read, so list size and minimum remain unverified.

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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