Live data — updated October 13, 2026
Pennsylvania Over-the-Counter Tax Deeds (2026): 4,482 County-Held Listings
Quick answer: Pennsylvania counties hold 4,482 unsold tax-sale properties in their repositories of unsold property. You make an offer to the county Tax Claim Bureau, and every taxing district must consent in writing before the sale closes (72 P.S. 5860.627); some counties hold a public repository sale where bids compete.
What you are buying. The property itself. These drew no bid at a Pennsylvania tax sale; how they are sold now is set out below.
The catch. A tax deed is not a warranty deed. Title is exactly as good as the sale that produced it.
Budget for what a deed does not clear: surviving liens, occupancy, condition, and in most states a quiet-title action before a normal buyer's lender will touch it.
Pennsylvania caveat. Exception: at a sheriff's sale on a tax or municipal claim (Philadelphia, Allegheny County including Pittsburgh, and municipal-claim sales elsewhere) a home continuously occupied as a residence for 90 days before the sale can be redeemed for 9 months after the sheriff's deed is acknowledged, or 3 months in Allegheny County (53 P.S. 7293). Vacant property cannot be redeemed.
Pennsylvania works differently. This is the county's repository of unsold property: you make an offer at or above the Tax Claim Bureau's minimum, and every taxing district must consent in writing before the sale closes (72 P.S. 5860.627), which often takes 6 to 12 weeks. Some counties instead hold a public repository sale where bids compete.
Ask for it by the county's name, not ours. "OTC" is investor shorthand — call a county asking for their OTC list and you may be told they have none, because that is not what it is called on their side of the desk. In Pennsylvania, ask for the repository list.
Elsewhere the same inventory turns up as county-held property, leftover tax deeds, post-auction sales, or land-bank property — and land-bank stock is worth a second look, because once a parcel has been transferred to a land bank the county no longer owns it and is no longer the seller. The question that cuts through all of it, asked of the treasurer or the assessor: what happens to the properties that do not sell at the auction? If the first person says nothing is left, ask a second.
The same due diligence as auction buying applies, and the best time to look is right after a sale has run and the county has moved what did not sell.
See the full Pennsylvania investor guide and the live Pennsylvania auction calendar.
Where the inventory is
| County | County-held listings |
|---|---|
| Cambria | 1,745 |
| Lackawanna | 971 |
| Luzerne | 537 |
| Venango | 338 |
| Delaware | 247 |
| Fayette | 175 |
| Erie | 143 |
| Blair | 88 |
| Indiana | 72 |
| Mercer | 44 |
Counts update daily.
Frequently asked questions
What does over-the-counter (OTC) mean in tax sales?
Depending on the state, what is sold over the counter is either the property or the county's tax lien certificate. When nothing bids at the county tax sale, the county (or the state) keeps it ("struck off") and sells it afterward. In some states that is at a set minimum — back taxes plus costs — to the first qualified applicant, with no auction. Many work differently: Texas re-offers struck-off property at a public resale or by private sale (Tex. Tax Code 34.05), Alabama's State-held parcels are sold by the Department of Revenue on a price quote, Michigan and Minnesota at a county-set or appraised price, and Arkansas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Missouri and West Virginia by bid or offer. Each state page says which.
Why would a property go unsold at auction?
Mostly obscurity, not defects: small rural counties get few bidders, some lists never circulate, and low-value parcels aren't worth a professional's trip. Plenty are genuinely rough — the same title and condition research applies as at auction.
Are OTC properties cheaper than auction properties?
There is no statutory price: you make an offer, the taxing districts must agree to it, and at a public repository sale other bidders can outbid you.
How do I buy an OTC property in Pennsylvania?
Ask the county Tax Claim Bureau for its repository list and make a written offer at or above its minimum. Every taxing district must consent before the sale closes (72 P.S. 5860.627), which often takes 6 to 12 weeks; some counties sell the repository at a scheduled public sale instead.