Berks County tax sales

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Berks runs the standard bureau system fully online, with the judicial sale in June ahead of the September upset sale in the same calendar year (the June judicial sale clears the prior year's upset leftovers).

Selling office: Berks County Tax Claim Bureau, County Services Center, 633 Court Street, 2nd Floor, Reading

Next event: Repository bids are open now; the next dated events are the 2027 sale cycle (registration in spring and summer 2027). Berks's 2026 dated sales are complete: the judicial sale ran June 12, 2026 and the upset sale September 10 to 11, 2026. The live channel today is the repository list.

No official total upset or judicial parcel count was stated in the documents read. The repository count (21 properties, October 15, 2026) is the one hard number the county publishes.

Dates and stages

Next event	Repository bids are open now; the next dated events are the 2027 sale cycle (registration in spring and summer 2027)
Upset sale	Usually September, online via Bid4Assets, expressly not a free and clear sale: conveyed subject to recorded obligations, liens, mortgages and ground rents not in the upset price. In 2026, bidding ran Thursday, September 10 to Friday, September 11, 2026.
Judicial sale	Usually June, court ordered and free and clear. The 2026 judicial (free and clear) sale ran Friday, June 12, 2026 (bidding opened June 11), under Court of Common Pleas Order No. 25-14300, for properties exposed and not sold at the September 12, 2025 upset sale.
Repository	Published on the Bureau's Repository List page, with a current repository list and a Repository Bid Form. The list printed October 15, 2026 ends at 21 properties.
Format	Online only: Online only, via Bid4Assets (bid4assets.com/berkstcbsales), for both the upset and judicial sales.
Selling office	Berks County Tax Claim Bureau, County Services Center, 633 Court Street, 2nd Floor, Reading
The list	Sale lists and the repository list are Bureau documents on berkspa.gov; the judicial sale is also noticed in the county legal journal.

Sources: Berks County Tax Claim Bureau, Tax Sale Information. Berks County Tax Claim Bureau, Repository List. 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 Berks 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 Berks 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 Berks County

Two registrations, both on hard deadlines with no exceptions. Register with Bid4Assets (complete vesting and funding, e-sign the affidavit, upload ID and any business documents); the Bureau then reviews and provides a link to book a virtual or in person appointment; then fund the deposit. For the 2026 upset sale, registration ran August 3 to August 28, 2026, all steps complete by August 28 and the Bureau appointment by August 31. For the 2026 judicial sale, both registrations had to be complete by May 29, 2026. The Bid4Assets registration fee is $35, non-refundable.

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, Berks County	A $1,000 deposit is required to participate in bidding, in both the 2026 upset and judicial conditions. Fail to settle in time and the bid is rejected, the $1,000 is forfeited, and the bidder loses eligibility for future Berks Tax Claim Bureau sales.
Payment, Berks County	Settlement follows the conditions of sale for each sale. The precise settlement deadline for the June 2026 judicial sale was not cleanly verified from the official conditions on November 9, 2026, so this page states no Berks settlement deadline; read the conditions document for the current sale on the Bureau's Tax Sale Information page before bidding.
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

The Berks repository list printed October 15, 2026 carries 21 properties. The Bureau may accept a repository bid without court approval and published notice, but it must obtain the written consent of all taxing districts where the property is located; the conveyance is free and clear except ground rent separately taxed. The bid form is on the Bureau's Repository List 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.

Every Pennsylvania county in this set

One page per county, each verified against its own bureau, sheriff or platform source. Pennsylvania has 67 counties; this set is the top 30 by documented sale volume and population.

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