Butler County tax sales

Verified

Butler runs a clean three sale yearly cycle stated in one place on its bureau page: upset on the second Monday of September for two year delinquent properties with all liens, mortgages and past due taxes following the property, then judicial free and clear starting at costs plus deed recording and transfer fees, then the repository list with the highest bid presented to the three taxing districts for approval. Its upset terms are unusually strict on payment: full payment by the conclusion of the sale that evening, and failure to pay bars the bidder for the rest of the current year plus the next two years.

Selling office: Butler County Tax Claim Bureau, 124 W. Diamond Street, Butler, PA 16003, mailing address PO Box 1208, Butler, PA 16003, phone 724-284-5326, Director Janet L. Mentel

Next event: Repository bids are open now; the 2026 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 Terms and Conditions of the Sale read Nov 9, 2026, which schedule the 2026 upset sale on Monday, September 14, 2026, now past, with deeds to be recorded December 31, 2026, and from the Tax Claim Bureau page, which states that unsold properties go to judicial sale and then to the Repository List, which the bureau keeps updated and which can be bid on by bid form at any time, with no dated late 2026 sale published there.

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

Dates and stages

Next event	Repository bids are open now; the 2026 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	The upset sale is conducted the second Monday of September every year as the first sale a property must go through, for properties two years delinquent. The 2026 upset sale ran on Monday, September 14, 2026, at the fixed upset price as the initial bid, including all real estate taxes for 2025 and prior plus transfer taxes and deed recording and processing fees, in $100 bidding increments.
Judicial sale	If a property remains unsold at upset it goes to the judicial sale, where the bid price starts at costs plus deed recording and transfer fees and the property is sold free and clear as long as all parties are properly notified. No specific 2026 judicial date is published on the Tax Claim Bureau page or the upset terms read Nov 9, 2026, so the 2026 judicial date is not published / unverified there.
Repository	The bureau keeps an updated Repository List. To bid, a bidder must fill out a bid form; the bureau then presents the highest bid to the three taxing districts for approval, and the property is sold free and clear of past due taxes and liens. No minimum bid or repository fee is stated on the Tax Claim Bureau page read Nov 9, 2026.
Format	In person: In person for the upset sale as described in the bureau Terms and Conditions of the Sale for the sale scheduled Monday, September 14, 2026 (the terms speak of payment at the sale here tonight and of properties struck down that evening). No online tax sale platform is directed by the bureau on the pages read. Sheriff sales are separate and online, and are not the Tax Claim Bureau sale.
Selling office	Butler County Tax Claim Bureau, 124 W. Diamond Street, Butler, PA 16003, mailing address PO Box 1208, Butler, PA 16003, phone 724-284-5326, Director Janet L. Mentel
The list	Tax sale information and the three sale descriptions publish on the Tax Claim Bureau page at butlercountypa.gov/356/Tax-Claim-Bureau, with the upset Terms and Conditions as a DocumentCenter PDF. The bureau states it keeps the repository listing updated on that page system.

Sources: Tax Claim Bureau. Terms and Conditions of the 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.

Research Butler 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 Butler County

No county registration window, fee or form detail for the upset sale is published on the Tax Claim Bureau page or the upset Terms and Conditions read Nov 9, 2026, beyond the terms rule that a bidder who owes delinquent taxes may not bid. State law floor applies: Act 33 of 2021 requires in person registration with the bureau at least 10 days before an upset or judicial sale with a certification of no tax delinquency. The county specific registration details are therefore not published / unverified.

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, Butler County	No deposit rule and no registration fee are published in the bureau page or upset terms read Nov 9, 2026, so both are not published / unverified there.
Payment, Butler County	The upset Terms and Conditions state the bid price must be paid at the time of the sale that night, and all properties purchased must be paid in full by the conclusion of the sale that evening, all sales final with no refunds after a property is struck down. At the option of the bureau the purchaser may pay by cash, money order, cashier check, certified check or a local attorney check payable to the Butler County Tax Claim Bureau. No personal checks will be accepted. All sales are subject to confirmation by the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County, and deeds will be recorded on December 31, 2026 for the 2026 sale.
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

Properties unsold at judicial sale are placed on the Repository List, for which the bureau keeps an updated listing. A bid is made by filling out a bid form, the bureau presents the highest bid to the three taxing districts for their approval, and the property is sold free and clear of past due taxes and liens on approval, consistent with the state law requirement of written consent of all taxing districts. No minimum bid, approval timeline or current list size is published on the Tax Claim Bureau page read Nov 9, 2026.

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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