Franklin County tax sales

Verified

Franklin's Bureau explains its own system plainly in its FAQ, all three stages, but keeps the calendar at the pattern level: an upset sale every year in September, a judicial sale normally two to three months after, and no exact date published on the page. Repository bids need the written approval of all three taxing districts.

Selling office: Franklin County Tax Claim Bureau, 272 North Second Street, Chambersburg, PA 17201, phone 717-261-3884

Next event: No exact date is published; the upset sale is held every year in September and a judicial sale normally follows two to three months later. That pattern is the Bureau's own published statement. No dated 2026 sale appears on the Bureau page.

The Bureau's list is updated and maintained daily on the county website, and a repository list is linked from the Bureau page.

Dates and stages

Next event	No exact date is published; the upset sale is held every year in September and a judicial sale normally follows two to three months later
Upset sale	Held every year in September. A property goes to upset when taxes are two years delinquent; if the taxes are not paid by June 30 the property is advertised, and taxes can be paid until 4:15 p.m. on the Friday before the sale. The published upset price includes the two-year delinquent taxes plus municipal and state liens, and an upset buyer takes the property subject to liens.
Judicial sale	A property exposed at upset and not sold moves to judicial sale, normally held two to three months after the upset sale. Per the Bureau's FAQ, a judicial sale property will not be subject to liens.
Repository	Properties unsold at judicial sale are placed in the repository and may be sold without notice. A bid must be approved by all taxing districts: the county, the municipality and the school district.
Format	Not published. The Bureau page does not state a venue or platform for its sales.
Selling office	Franklin County Tax Claim Bureau, 272 North Second Street, Chambersburg, PA 17201, phone 717-261-3884
The list	The sale is advertised in the Chambersburg Public Opinion, the Waynesboro Record Herald and the Franklin County Law Journal, and the list is updated and maintained daily on the county website. A repository list is linked from the Bureau page.

Sources: Franklin County Tax Claim Bureau. 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 Franklin 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 Franklin County

No sale-specific registration rule is published on the Bureau page, so none is stated here beyond the state rule in the terms table below: Act 33 registration at least 10 days before the sale, with the clean-taxes certification.

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, Franklin County	Not published. The Bureau page states no sale deposit.
Payment, Franklin County	No sale-day payment deadline is published. The Bureau's general delinquent-tax payment policy, which is not stated as a sale term, accepts credit card, certified funds or money order, takes no personal or business checks, and has taken no cash since January 1, 2016.
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

Franklin's repository holds what the judicial sale did not move, and the Bureau may sell from it without notice. The gate is consent: a bid needs the approval of every taxing district where the property sits, the county, the municipality and the school district, before the sale can complete.

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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