Montgomery County tax sales

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Montgomery runs the standard three stage bureau system, and adds a fourth route the county lists itself: a private sale after upset exposure. Its repository rules are the most completely published in this set, so this page is the worked example of how the repository math runs.

Selling office: Montgomery County Tax Claim Bureau

Next event: Repository bids are open now; the 2026 judicial sale list is continued to Thursday, December 10, 2026 (see the note). The county's 2026 judicial sale ran August 20, 2026, and its published list is footed 'Continued to December 10th, 2026.' The 2026 upset sale ran September 24, 2026. The next dated events are that December continuation and the live repository.

No parcel total is stated in the official lists read; the lists are parcel by parcel PDFs.

Dates and stages

Next event	Repository bids are open now; the 2026 judicial sale list is continued to Thursday, December 10, 2026 (see the note)
Upset sale	Each September. The 2026 upset sale ran Thursday, September 24, 2026 at 10:00 AM (taxes payable until September 23). Purchasers at upset assume all liens on the property.
Judicial sale	At least once each year, for properties exposed but not sold at upset, sold free and clear of all liens. The 2026 judicial sale ran Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom B, with its list continued to December 10, 2026.
Repository	Published by the Bureau, with a bidding information document. Minimum bid $500 (the repository paragraph below carries the post sale price steps). Any bid is reviewed by all three taxing districts.
Format	In person: In person at the Montgomery County Courthouse, 2 East Airy Street, Courtroom B, Norristown, for the upset and judicial sales. Repository bids are filed with the Bureau by document, not at a live auction.
Selling office	Montgomery County Tax Claim Bureau
The list	The Bureau publishes parcel lists as PDFs for each sale (the 2026 judicial list is dated June 8, 2026; the 2026 upset list August 21, 2026) and the repository bidding document on the county site.

Sources: Montgomery County Tax Claim Bureau, Public Records and Sale Information. Montgomery County Tax Claim Bureau, Repository Sales Bidding Information. 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 Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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 Montgomery County

Register in person with the Bureau: completed registration and certification forms, a copy of photo ID, and a $100 non-refundable fee (check or certified funds) payable to the Montgomery County Tax Claim Bureau. Deadlines are hard: for the 2026 judicial sale, registration closed August 6, 2026 at 4:00 PM; for the 2026 upset sale, registration and fee were due before 4:00 PM on September 10, 2026. No registration after the close date.

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, Montgomery County	No separate bidder deposit is published; the $100 registration fee is the upfront money for the sales. Repository bidding is different: the bidder deposits the $100 administrative fee plus the full repository bid amount with the bid.
Payment, Montgomery County	A winning bidder pays by cashier's check or wire transfer (a wire must include a $20 wire fee) no later than 4:00 PM on the day of the sale, covering the bid price, transfer taxes and recording costs.
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

Montgomery publishes the fullest repository rule set in this set. The minimum bid is $500. After a judicial sale there is a 5 business day no-bid period, then a 5 business day multiple-bid window; for 3 months after the sale, bids may not be less than the judicial opening bid, and after that the $500 minimum applies. The bidder deposits a $100 non-refundable administrative processing fee plus the full bid amount. Bids need the Tax Claim Bureau Director's approval and the consent of the taxing districts, which the county's document treats as given if a district does not consent or refuse within 60 days.

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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