Westmoreland County tax sales

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Westmoreland adds two local stages to the standard ladder: a Private Sale window after upset and before judicial completion, and a Bid-Off Sale after each judicial sale, where anyone may put their name in the file within 10 calendar days, followed by a 60 calendar day consent wait. Only after annual, judicial and bid-off sales does a property reach the repository, which is also a free and clear sale with a 60 day consent wait and a full refund if consent is denied.

Selling office: Westmoreland County Tax Claim Bureau, 2 N. Main Street, Suite 101, Greensburg, PA 15601, phone 724-830-3000

Next event: Repository and bid-off offers are the live route now; the 2026 annual upset sale is complete (upset Monday, September 14, 2026), and no late 2026 judicial date is published on the bureau pages read Nov 9, 2026. Determined from the official Annual Upset Tax Sale notice read Nov 9, 2026, which dates the 2026 sale on Monday, September 14, 2026 at 10:00 AM, now past, and from the Tax Sale Information page, which describes judicial, bid-off and repository as following processes with lists available online but publishes no November or December 2026 dated sale.

No official total is published on the bureau pages read Nov 9, 2026.

Dates and stages

Next event	Repository and bid-off offers are the live route now; the 2026 annual upset sale is complete (upset Monday, September 14, 2026), and no late 2026 judicial date is published on the bureau pages read Nov 9, 2026
Upset sale	Each September the bureau holds an annual upset sale for properties owing two years prior taxes, not free and clear. The 2026 annual upset sale ran on Monday, September 14, 2026 at 10:00 AM at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg, on terms of cash or check, all sales final. Owners could pay through Friday, September 11, 2026 in the office to pull a property; no payments were taken on sale morning.
Judicial sale	All properties remaining unsold in the upset sale go into the judicial sale process, a lengthy multi stage process ending in a judicial sale free and clear of all mortgages, liens and judgments with the exception of federal liens. No specific 2026 judicial date is published on the Tax Sale Information or Annual Upset Tax Sale pages read Nov 9, 2026, so the 2026 judicial date is not published / unverified there.
Repository	A repository list is published and is available online, per the Tax Sale Information page. No minimum bid or repository fee is stated on that page, beyond the general rule that $25 is added to each bid for deed preparation and each purchaser pays transfer tax and recording fee. No current list size is published there.
Format	In person: In person at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg for the annual upset sale. No online platform is directed by the bureau on the Tax Sale Information or Annual Upset Tax Sale pages read.
Selling office	Westmoreland County Tax Claim Bureau, 2 N. Main Street, Suite 101, Greensburg, PA 15601, phone 724-830-3000
The list	Lists are made for each sale. Annual upset sale lists are advertised in local newspapers and available online. Judicial sale lists are available online. Repository lists are available online, all via the Tax Claim Bureau pages at westmorelandcountypa.gov.

Sources: Tax Sale Information. Annual Upset Tax 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.

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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 Westmoreland County

All prospective bidders must pre-register with the Tax Claim Bureau at least 10 days prior to the sale as per Act 33. Registration for the annual upset sale opens after the required advertisement is published, no sooner, and a bidder who has not pre-registered will not be permitted to bid, per the Annual Upset Tax Sale notice. No registration fee amount is published on the pages read Nov 9, 2026.

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, Westmoreland County	No deposit rule and no registration fee amount are published on the Tax Sale Information or Annual Upset Tax Sale pages read Nov 9, 2026, so both are not published / unverified there. The $25 deed preparation add on is a bid add on, not a deposit.
Payment, Westmoreland County	The Tax Sale Information page states purchasers pay the bid the day of the sale for upset, private, judicial and repository purchases as described there, and that the full amount of the bid must be paid by end of business day (3:30 PM) of any sale, or the bidder will be precluded from purchasing through the bureau at any future sales. Terms for the upset sale are cash or check and all sales are final, with no refunds as stated on that page. Each purchaser also pays transfer tax and recording fee, plus $25 for deed preparation added to each bid.
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

If properties are still unsold after the annual, judicial and bid-off sales, the property is placed in the repository list, where anyone except the property owners may bid. If the tax claim director accepts the bid, the purchaser pays that day and there is a 60 calendar day waiting period for consent from the taxing districts. This is a free and clear sale. A deed is prepared once consent is received; if consent is denied, a full refund is processed. No minimum bid or current list size is published on the Tax Sale Information 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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