Mercer County tax sales

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Mercer inverts the usual calendar: its judicial sale is not scheduled at all. Anyone can trigger one with a written request guaranteeing a $1,250 minimum bid, and its repository sells year round at a $1,200 floor with no court approval. The dated side is the upset sale, which ran twice this fall, September 15 and October 20, 2026, for unpaid 2024 taxes.

Selling office: Mercer County Tax Claim Bureau, 125 S. Diamond Street, Suite 3, Mercer, PA 16137, phone 724-662-3800

Next event: No dated sale is published; the most recent upset sales ran September 15 and October 20, 2026. Judicial sales in Mercer are not held on any set schedule, in the Bureau's own words; one is scheduled when a written request guarantees the minimum bid. Repository properties sell at any time.

The upset list is advertised at least 30 days ahead in the Mercer County Law Journal, The Herald and the Record Argus, and posted on the Bureau's Upset Sale page.

Dates and stages

Next event	No dated sale is published; the most recent upset sales ran September 15 and October 20, 2026
Upset sale	For taxes delinquent almost two years. The 2026 upset sales ran September 15, 2026 at the Penn State Extension in Mercer and October 20, 2026 in the Assembly Room of the Mercer County Courthouse, both for unpaid 2024 taxes. Properties sell subject to liens and encumbrances except the state, federal, municipal and corporate liens included in the upset sale price.
Judicial sale	Not held on any set schedule. Any property exposed but not sold at upset may be brought to a judicial sale on written request to the Bureau; the request must guarantee a minimum bid of $1,250 and identify the property by address and map or parcel number. A judicial sale is free and clear, on a title search, a petition to the Court of Common Pleas and Sheriff service.
Repository	Properties offered at judicial sale that do not sell. A repository property may be sold at any time on an approved bid, without court approval, publication or further notice to the owner, for no less than $1,200, free and clear of the tax and municipal claims in the previous judicial petition. The Bureau notifies the county, municipality and school district of the bid, and the bidder is told the taxing bodies' decision in writing.
Format	In person. The October 20, 2026 upset sale ran in the Assembly Room, ground floor, Mercer County Courthouse; the September sale ran at the Penn State Extension, 463 N Perry Highway, Mercer.
Selling office	Mercer County Tax Claim Bureau, 125 S. Diamond Street, Suite 3, Mercer, PA 16137, phone 724-662-3800
The list	The upset list is published at least 30 days before the sale in the Mercer County Law Journal, The Herald and the Record Argus, and is posted on the Bureau's Upset Sale page. Judicial sales, once scheduled, are listed on the Bureau website or on a list in the office.

Sources: Mercer County Tax Claim Bureau. Tax Sales. Upset Sale. 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 Mercer County parcels before you bid

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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 Mercer County

Registration and all paperwork were due by the published deadline for the October 20, 2026 upset sale, October 9, 2026 at 4:00 p.m., under Act 33 of 2021, with a $25 non-refundable registration fee paid in cash or certified or bank check, no exceptions.

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, Mercer County	No deposit beyond the $25 non-refundable registration fee is published by the Bureau, so none is stated here.
Payment, Mercer County	The purchase price plus recording fees and realty transfer taxes must be paid in cash, certified check or money order to the Bureau before close of business on the date of sale. No personal or business checks.
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

Mercer's repository is a standing offer: any property on it can be bought at any time for no less than $1,200, without court approval, publication or notice to the owner, and the deed comes free and clear of the claims listed in the judicial petition, though liens the petition missed are not removed. The Bureau notifies the three taxing bodies of the bid and answers the bidder in writing. Paired with the request-driven judicial sale, a Mercer buyer can work the county year round instead of waiting for September.

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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