How tax sales, foreclosures and probate work in Allegheny County, PA
Allegheny County is Pittsburgh and 129 other cities, boroughs and townships around it. It has about 585,000 properties in LeadCounty. The city sits where three rivers meet, and the housing follows the hills: brick rowhouses and frame "Pittsburgh two-stories" climbing steep streets, big old homes in the East End and Squirrel Hill, mill-town houses along the Mon Valley in McKeesport, Clairton and Braddock, and newer suburbs to the north and south, such as Cranberry's edge, Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park, Monroeville and Penn Hills. Many homes are old, many are owned by people who have lived in them for decades, and the county has more small municipalities than almost anywhere in the country.
Overview
Not legal advice: check with a local real-estate attorney before you buy at a tax sale or sheriff sale.
That last fact shapes everything. A home in Allegheny County has three tax bills: the County, the municipality and the school district. Pittsburgh's own bill combines the City, the Pittsburgh school district and the library. Each one has its own collector, its own rate and its own idea of when to act.
Allegheny also does not follow the usual Pennsylvania path for unpaid tax. Most counties use a Tax Claim Bureau and an "upset sale" (see the Pennsylvania state rules). Allegheny County and Pittsburgh are not under that law. Here, unpaid County, school, municipal and water or sewer charges are filed as liens in the Court of Common Pleas. Many liens are sold to private lien buyers. If a lien is not paid, the lien holder can file a court case (a "scire facias") that ends in a Sheriff's sale of the property. The City of Pittsburgh runs its own Treasurer's sale for City and school taxes. So the order is: unpaid bill, lien, then deed sale. Please confirm the details for any specific property with the County Treasurer or a local attorney.
Another local fact: Allegheny's assessed values come from a countywide reassessment that took effect in 2013. They have changed only by appeal, new building and demolition since. So the assessed value is often far from today's price, in both directions. Use sale prices, which are public.
You can see all of this in LeadCounty for Allegheny. The rest of this guide shows how to read it.
Reading the records: what you will see and what it means
Each small section below starts with what you see in LeadCounty, then what it means, the usual reasons, and what to do. The last part puts the signals together, because one signal alone rarely tells you much.
How an Allegheny tax bill works
The County Treasurer sends the county bill. The municipality (an elected tax collector, or a private firm that collects for it) sends the municipal bill. The school district sends the school bill. In Pittsburgh, the City Treasurer sends one bill for the City, the city school district and the library. In LeadCounty, the annual tax is the assessed value times the County, municipal and school rates, so it is the total of all of them. It is filled for nearly every property.
Why the same house costs different amounts. A house in a high-rate school district can pay several times what the same house pays elsewhere. Two neighbors on opposite sides of a municipal border can have very different totals. Compare the dollar bill, not the rate.
The County's homestead exclusion is for owner-occupied main homes. About half of Allegheny properties carry it. We show it as an owner-occupied flag.
Tax owed: what the County shows
A dollar amount in Tax owed, or $0. About one property in ten has a County tax year unpaid.
The owner paid, or the lender paid from escrow. That is the normal case. Exempt and public parcels such as churches and schools also show $0.
A small County balance is often a lost bill, a changed address or a part-payment. It is a light signal.
What matters is how it compares with a year's County tax. Because the Treasurer's list covers unpaid County tax since 2009, a large balance can be many years of tax plus penalty and interest. A balance larger than a year or two of the County bill usually means the lien stage has begun.
The County bill is only one of three. A parcel can be current on the County bill and behind with the school district or the municipality. Those liens show up in the court's lien record, which is why LeadCounty also shows liens. Check the school and municipal accounts for the one property before you call anyone.
Delinquent and years behind
Tax delinquent: Yes, with the first unpaid year. About one in ten Allegheny properties is delinquent, which is around 57,000 parcels.
The County Treasurer's list shows at least one unpaid County tax year before the current one. In Allegheny that list goes back to 2009 and many old years are still on it. The record shows each unpaid year, the base tax, the penalty, the interest and any payments.
Allegheny County tax has a discount in the early months, then a face period, then a penalty, then interest every month. Check the Treasurer for the current numbers.
A death with nobody opening the estate, a job loss, a landlord with an empty building, a house with no mortgage (so no escrow), an owner who moved away, a family dispute over who owns the house, or a belief that a high bill is wrong.
One unpaid year is a common slip. Four or five years in a row is a pattern. Fifteen years on a vacant lot is a different story: the lot may be worth less than the debt, and the liens may have been sold.
Tax lien: the Allegheny flag that matters
A Tax lien flag on about one in seven properties (roughly 81,000), with a count of open liens and a total amount.
An open lien was filed by the County, a school district, a municipality or a water and sewer authority. Allegheny files many liens, and many are sold to a lien buyer. In the court record, the "assignee" is the buyer. A buyer can add costs. A sold lien means the debt is now private.
Many very old County liens still show as open in the court record, even if the owner may have paid in another way. Look at the filing year. A lien from 1998 is not the same signal as one filed last year.
A single small lien from a municipality, such as a sewer charge, is often a nuisance. A stack of liens from the County, the school district and the municipality, totaling a large share of the home's value, is serious.
Open the lien in the Department of Court Records, read who holds it and what is owed, then contact the holder for a payoff.
The Sheriff's sale and the right to buy back
A Sheriff sale date and kind (a tax sale or a mortgage sale) and an opening bid, when a property is on the current list.
Sheriff's sales are held monthly. A tax sale can result from a lien case. A mortgage sale results from a foreclosure judgment. The property is sold to the highest bidder, usually for cash within a short time. Dates move often. Postponements and owner payments are common.
After a Sheriff's tax sale, an owner of a home that is not vacant can redeem within a period set by Pennsylvania's tax lien law (see the state rules). Ask an attorney how that applies to the specific sale.
A property on the list is at the end of the road. Everyone else with a claim also pays attention.
Mortgage foreclosure flag
An In foreclosure flag on about 3,000 properties, and the latest foreclosure filing date.
A lender filed a foreclosure complaint in the Court of Common Pleas in the last two years, and the case has not been closed by a discontinuance, satisfaction, sheriff's deed or dismissal. Or the property is on the current Sheriff's list. The public filing record does not show the defendant's name, but it shows the address.
Pennsylvania requires an Act 91 notice before a lender can file (PHFA HEMAP). Then comes the complaint, a judgment, a writ of execution and a Sheriff's sale. See the state guide. The whole path often takes nine months to a year and a half.
A complaint with a long owner hold usually means equity. A complaint on a recent purchase, with little time on the deed, usually means little equity.
Deeds, sale prices and ownership history
Last transfer date, last sale price and deed type, plus up to three prior sales and the owner history in the County portal.
Pennsylvania prices are public because the transfer tax is based on them. The Department of Real Estate publishes every deed since 2012 with price, deed type and a validity code. About 505,000 deeds sit behind LeadCounty's history. The validity code tells you whether a sale looks like a normal market sale or something else, such as a sale between family. A $1 deed is usually a family transfer.
"Sheriff deed" marks a forced sale. "Treasurer deed" marks a City sale. "Fiduciary deed" and "executor's deed" mark an estate. "Estate sale" and "bank or financial institution" are other types. Hundreds of thousands of deeds carry a type, so you can see patterns in a neighborhood.
About 2,200 properties carry an inheritance deed flag, meaning the last transfer came through an estate.
Value, appeals and equity
Market value and assessed value, with the latest appeal.
The value is the 2012 base-year value, changed only by appeals, new construction or demolition. In a fast-rising area like Lawrenceville, East Liberty, Bloomfield or Millvale, today's prices can be several times the assessed value. In a falling area, a few streets away, the assessed value can sit above what the house would sell for. Never use the assessed value alone to decide an offer. Use recent sales on the same street.
A big drop after an appeal tells you the owner knew the system. A big jump from a building permit tells you the house has been renovated.
Owner type: person, LLC, trust, estate
Owner, owner kind and (where the County portal shows them) co-owner lines. Owner names come from the County's own parcel pages, and most parcels already show one.
LLCs are common on rentals, especially in the East End, the North Side and the Mon Valley. "Estate of" or "Heirs of" marks a death and a title that needs cleaning up. A name like "City of Pittsburgh," a land bank or an authority marks public ownership.
Mailing address: absentee and out-of-state owners
A mailing address, and an absentee or out-of-state flag when it differs from the property.
Almost every property has one. The few without are mostly vacant lots owned by dissolved companies and long-gone owners. Out-of-state landlords are common in the Mon Valley and in the city's lower-priced neighborhoods.
Pittsburgh city records: code, condemned and vacant
For city properties, code violations, condemned status ("condemned since"), permits and City tax delinquency. Outside the city, a county health department record of housing complaints.
Pittsburgh publishes code violations and condemned buildings. A condemned building has a repair or demolition order. The City tax delinquency list is separate from the County list. Many vacant properties are in the City's treasurer sale and land bank pipeline. Outside Pittsburgh, most boroughs publish little, so a clean record there tells you nothing.
Pennsylvania's Act 135 lets a neighbor or non-profit ask the court to name a conservator for a vacant blighted building. A petition on a property is a sign it is abandoned.
Likely-to-sell score
A score and the reasons behind it.
The score combines tax, lien, foreclosure, ownership and age signals into one number. Use it to sort a list, then read the real record.
Useful combinations
- Delinquent County tax for years + out-of-state mailing + older building: a landlord or heir who has stopped caring. Highest chance of a flexible seller.
- Delinquent + homestead on + owner for 25 years: a long-time resident in trouble. Usually the most equity and the most emotion. Tell them about payment plans.
- Several open liens (County + school + municipal) + vacant: the debt may be near the value. Check for a lien buyer and for a Sheriff list entry.
- "Estate of" or an inheritance deed + a lien: the owner has died. Title cleanup is likely.
- Condemned since + City tax delinquency: a building the City may demolish. Check demolition costs and liens.
- Foreclosure filing + long hold + high value: equity is probably large, a quick sale can leave cash. Time is short.
- LLC with many parcels + liens: a portfolio landlord with trouble across buildings.
Step by step: the tax timeline
Each of the three bills follows its own calendar. The County Treasurer and most municipalities bill early in the year, and school districts bill in summer. Pittsburgh bills once a year. Dates and discounts differ, so check each collector.
- Bill sent. There is an early discount, then a face period, then a penalty.
- Unpaid. The collector keeps trying. Private firms often collect for municipalities and school districts.
- Lien filed. At the Department of Court Records, the County, school district or municipality files a lien for the unpaid year. The lien carries penalty, interest and costs.
- Lien sold. Many liens are sold to private buyers, who add costs.
- Court case. After a time, the holder can file a case ("scire facias") to enforce the lien.
- Judgment and Sheriff's sale. If unpaid, the court orders a Sheriff's sale. The sale is held on a monthly date, with advance notice.
- City path. The City of Pittsburgh has its own Treasurer's sale for City and school tax.
The path is not the same as in Bucks or Chester. There is no single list of everyone behind on all taxes, and each of the three bills can be in a different stage. The County's list helps, but you have to check the school and municipal accounts too.
Pennsylvania has a Property Tax and Rent Rebate program for seniors and disabled people, a homestead exclusion and tax abatements in Pittsburgh. A property in the City abatement program has a lower bill for some years, which a buyer can inherit.
Foreclosures and auctions
Pennsylvania is a judicial foreclosure state. The steps are in the Pennsylvania state rules: an Act 91 notice, a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas, a judgment, a writ and a Sheriff's sale.
- Monthly Sheriff's sales. Allegheny's Sheriff publishes the sale list each month, and dates are often postponed. Tax sales and mortgage sales share the list.
- Opening bids. The list shows an opening bid. A tax sale starts at the debt. A mortgage sale may start at a lender's figure.
- Free and clear? A Sheriff's sale does not always clear every lien. A title company must check, especially for liens that rank before the one being enforced.
- Occupants. If someone is still living there, the buyer must go through a court process to remove them.
- Conservatorship. Vacant blighted buildings can be sold through a court-appointed conservator under Act 135.
- Pittsburgh Treasurer's sale. The City sells properties with City and school tax debts.
Inherited homes and probate
When an Allegheny owner dies, the home goes through the Allegheny County Register of Wills. The Register issues letters testamentary or letters of administration to the person who will settle the estate. Only that person can sign. Disputes go to Orphans' Court.
- Allegheny has a lot of older, long-held homes, and many sit in the name of someone who died long ago because no estate was opened.
- Pennsylvania's inheritance tax is 0% for a spouse, 4.5% for children and grandchildren, 12% for siblings and 15% for others (see the state rules). That pushes siblings and distant heirs to sell.
- Medical Assistance claims can attach to the home of someone who received long-term care. An estate lawyer can tell.
- Many Allegheny homes have several heirs, some out of state. All must sign.
"Estate of" or "Heirs of" in the owner line, a fiduciary or executor's deed, and the inheritance deed flag. About 2,200 properties carry the flag.
Deal only with the person holding the letters, and ask to see them.
Who publishes what (with links)
| Office | What you find | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Office of Property Assessments (County) | Owner names, values, homestead, building facts, owner history | Real Estate Portal |
| Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center | Open data: assessments, sales, delinquent tax, liens, foreclosure filings | data.wprdc.org |
| County Treasurer | County tax bills, delinquent County tax, tax rates | Delinquent real estate tax data and the tax rate tables |
| Department of Court Records | Liens, mortgage foreclosure cases, conservatorship filings | County website |
| Department of Real Estate | Deeds and transfer records | County website |
| Sheriff | Monthly Sheriff's sale list | sheriffalleghenycounty.com |
| Register of Wills and Orphans' Court | Estates and appointments | County website |
| City of Pittsburgh | Code violations, condemned buildings, City tax delinquency, Treasurer's sale | City website |
How to use this as an investor or wholesaler
One flag gives a long, weak list. Two or three together give a short list of owners who might need help.
- After a lien is filed. The debt grows with costs, and owners tend to listen.
- After a Sheriff's sale date is set. About a month remains, and dates can move.
- After an owner dies. Wait a respectful time.
- At the start of the tax year. New bills show who is slow.
- Pull a short list with two or three signals.
- Open the lien and read who holds it and the amount.
- Check the school and municipal accounts.
- Look at recent sales on the same street, not the assessed value.
- Write a plain message: who you are, that you buy as-is. Mail first, then call.
- Offer something real. For a long-held home with a lien, that may be a fair price and a quick close, or the information about a payment plan.
Do not pressure. Do not promise what you cannot do. If an owner can keep the home with a payment plan, tell them.
Pennsylvania regulates wholesaling under Act 52 of 2024. See the state rules and ask a Pennsylvania real-estate attorney before you sign.
Watch out for
- Three bills, three offices. A clean County account says nothing about the school or municipal account.
- Old liens look open. Check the filing year.
- Sold liens. A lien buyer adds costs and may be hard to find.
- Outdated values. The assessed value dates from 2012 and tells you little about today's price.
- Liens that survive. A Sheriff's sale may not clear everything. Use a title company.
- Steep, old houses. Landslides, retaining walls and old sewer lines are expensive. Look before you offer.
- Lead and old wiring. Housing is old.
- Condemned buildings. A demolition order and lien can follow the property.
- Occupied houses. Removing occupants needs a court process.
- Dates move. A Sheriff's sale date is a possibility.
Key dates
| What | When |
|---|---|
| Last countywide reassessment took effect | 2013 (values since changed only by appeal, building, demolition) |
| County, municipal tax bills | Early in the year, with an early discount; check each collector |
| School district bills | Summer; check the district |
| Pittsburgh City bill | Once a year |
| Court lien | Filed after an unpaid year |
| Sheriff's sale | Monthly |
| Act 91 notice (mortgage) | Before a lender can file foreclosure |
| Probate inheritance tax return | Within nine months of death |
Pennsylvania state rules
Official sources
- Allegheny County Real Estate Portal
- Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center: property assessments
- WPRDC: delinquent real estate taxes
- Allegheny County tax rates (municipalities)
- Allegheny County Sheriff's sales
- PA Housing Finance Agency: HEMAP (Act 91 help)
- Pennsylvania state rules (this site)
Outside sites are run by their owners. General information, not legal advice: check with a local real estate attorney before you bid.
How we make these guides
Written by the LeadCounty editorial and data team from official county, court and state sources and our own weekly counts. We name the office behind every number, say what we cannot see, and fix mistakes when you tell us. See our editorial standards and methodology. General information, not legal or financial advice. Refreshed weekly.
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