How tax sales, foreclosures and probate work in Philadelphia County, PA

Overview

Not legal advice: check with a local real-estate attorney before you buy at a tax sale or sheriff sale.

Philadelphia is different from every other county in this set. It collects its own taxes, runs its own courts and records, and publishes an enormous amount of free open data. In LeadCounty it shows. About 13.9% of parcels (roughly 81,000) carry a tax owed amount and a delinquent flag, and about 12.5% carry a lien flag. That is by far the biggest share of any county in our New Jersey and Pennsylvania guides. The reason is partly history (decades of population loss, abandoned homes and unpaid taxes) and partly that the city publishes the list of old balances.

Another 40% or so of parcels carry a homestead flag, which tells you where the owner lives in the home.

Please read the Pennsylvania state rules first for how tax claims, sheriff sales and probate work. This guide covers what is different in Philadelphia, which runs its own way.

Reading the records: what you will see and what it means

Each small section starts with what you see in LeadCounty, then what it means, the usual reasons, and what to do.

Owner name, mailing address and owner type

• Mailing address = the property: the owner lives there.
• A different Philadelphia address: a landlord, a family member, or a person who moved within the city.
• An out-of-state address: an heir, a retiree who left, or an investor. Many are in New Jersey, Delaware and Florida.
• A bank, a servicer or "c/o": a lender-held home, an estate or a trust.
• An LLC: a landlord, a builder or a wholesaler. Look it up on the state business site.

Homestead flag

• Homestead on, long ownership: a resident owner, often with the most equity and the most emotion. Slow, respectful work.
• Homestead off, mailing elsewhere: a rental or a vacant home.
• Homestead on, "Estate of" in the name: the owner has died. The exemption has not been removed.

Tax owed, delinquent and tax lien

• Tangled titles. Many homes are still in the name of a parent or grandparent who died. Heirs live there, and nobody opened an estate, so there is no one to take the exemption or sign a payment plan.
• Vacant lots and abandoned homes whose owners disappeared.
• Low-income owners on fixed incomes with a tax bill that rose after reassessment.
• Rental landlords who stopped paying.
• Properties owned by LLCs that dissolved.

• Small (a few hundred dollars): a missed year or a part-payment.
• Medium (a few thousand): two to five years behind. The owner may qualify for a payment agreement.
• Large (ten thousand or more): many years, with penalties. The sheriff sale is a real possibility, and the debt may be close to the home's value.

• Delinquent for many years + "Estate of" or a homestead still on: a tangled-title home. A cleanup is needed before any sale.
• Delinquent + out-of-state mailing + vacant flag: a building the owner has walked away from.
• Delinquent + homestead on + very long ownership + low value: an older resident in trouble. The city has payment plans, and a good-faith buyer can be a relief.
• Delinquent for one year on a home worth a lot: often a lost bill, not a crisis.

Deeds and sale prices

• A sheriff's deed: a mortgage or tax foreclosure sale. The buyer may be a flipper.
• A deed of $1 to $10,000 between people with the same last name: a family transfer.
• A deed to an LLC at a low price: an owner moving a home into a company.
• Many sales in a short time: a flip chain. Price steps show the spread.
• A "tax deed" or "sheriff's deed" and then a quick resale: an investor strategy.

Condition, quality grade, bedrooms and baths

Code violations, unsafe buildings and demolitions

• Violations + delinquent tax + absentee owner: an owner who may want out.
• Unsafe building + estate owner: heirs who may not know. A title cleanup is likely.
• Demolition lien + vacant lot: the debt may exceed the lot's value.

Rental licenses and lead-safe certificates

Landlords in Philadelphia must hold a rental license, and rental properties must carry a lead-safe or lead-free certificate. A rental with no license, or with an expired certificate, is a landlord who has lost track of the property.

Vacant property indicators and 311 requests

The city publishes vacant building and vacant lot indicators and Philly311 requests by address. A vacant building with many 311 reports (trash, weeds, squatters) and a delinquent tax is often a candidate for the city's own programs. The land bank and the city may be able to take it.

Foreclosure flag and the Sheriff sale lists

• Mortgage sale + long ownership + modest last price: probably high equity. A quick sale could leave cash.
• Tax sale + homestead + low value: an owner who may not understand the process.
• Mortgage sale + delinquent tax: two creditors. A title company must sort the order.

Likely-to-sell score

This score combines long ownership, absentee status, tax and lien flags, code cases, vacancy, estate signs and price into one number per parcel. In Philadelphia, with so many flags, the score is the way to rank. It is a guide, not a promise.

Useful combinations

• Delinquent for many years + "Estate of" + a tangled-title home: heirs who live there or elsewhere. A title cleanup is needed. Be careful, honest and patient.
• Delinquent + vacant indicator + out-of-state mailing: an owner who walked away. The most direct lead.
• Code violations + absentee owner + delinquent tax: a tired landlord.
• Homestead on + very long ownership + delinquent + low value: an older resident. Tell them about the payment agreement.
• Mortgage sale list + high equity: the owner can leave with cash.
• Sheriff's deed + quick resale + a new LLC: a flipper. May sell again at a retail price.
• Rental license expired + delinquent + code case: a landlord who has lost control.

Step by step: the tax timeline

Here is how one unpaid bill moves through Philadelphia.

1. December. The real estate tax bill is mailed for the next calendar year.
2. By March 31. The bill is due. There is a discount for paying early in the year.
3. April 1 onward. Penalties and interest are added.
4. The city collects. The Department of Revenue sends notices and can offer a payment plan. For owner-occupied homes, there is a special agreement program.
5. A lien. The city files a lien for the unpaid tax under the Municipal Claims and Tax Liens Act.
6. A petition for sale. The City Law Department can petition the court to sell the property for the debt.
7. The sheriff's tax sale. The Sheriff sells the property at auction. A buyer typically gets the property free of most liens, with some exceptions.

Unlike the rest of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia does not use a Tax Claim Bureau. The city is both the county and the municipality. After a tax sale, the owner of a home that is not vacant can still redeem within nine months after the Sheriff's deed is acknowledged, by paying the price and costs. Vacant property cannot be redeemed. The Pennsylvania guide has the general rules.

Foreclosures and auctions

Philadelphia has two kinds of sheriff sale: mortgage foreclosure and tax foreclosure. They are both run by the Sheriff, usually monthly, and listed at phillysheriff.com.

• Buyers usually pay a deposit on the day and the balance within a set period. Read the terms on the notice.
• Sales are often postponed. A date is a possibility.
• After a mortgage sale there is no redemption. After a tax sale, an occupied home can be redeemed within nine months after the Sheriff's deed is acknowledged, so a tax-sale buyer may wait before the title is firm.
• Many homes are occupied. Eviction is a separate court step.
• A tax sale clears most liens, but not all. A mortgage sale may leave a tax lien alive. A title company must read the record.
• Vacant homes may have code orders, demolition liens and water bills. These can stay.

What this means for you:

• Before the judgment: the owner has the most options. A direct sale can leave cash in hand.
• After the judgment, before the sale: you need the lender's payoff letter and a fast closing.
• At the sale: you buy as is, usually without seeing the inside.

Inherited homes and probate

Estates in Philadelphia go to the Philadelphia Register of Wills. The Register gives the executor or administrator letters, and only that person can sign for the dead owner.

Philadelphia has more tangled titles than almost any city. A family buys a row house in 1960. The parent dies in 1995 and the home passes by word of mouth. The children live there and pay the bills in the dead parent's name. Another sibling dies. Nobody opens an estate. Decades later, nobody can sell the house or get a loan, and the exemptions are lost.

What to look for:

• "Estate of" or "Heirs of" in the owner name.
• A homestead flag from a long-dead owner.
• A last deed 30 or more years ago.
• Many years of tax delinquency and a lien.
• Several people with the same last name at the address.

What this means:

• A cleanup is needed. Someone must open an estate, or a court must name the owners. Free legal help exists for owner-occupants.
• Many heirs. All must agree. A buyer who is patient and fair can help the family finish what they could not.
• Do not trick anyone. Some buyers pay a few thousand dollars for a home worth far more. That is predatory, and it ends up in the news.

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 guide. Deal only with the person who holds the letters. The Register of Wills explains how to open an estate.

Who publishes what (with links)

Not published in Philadelphia: tax payment history, mortgages, eviction cases, probate case details.

How to use this as an investor or wholesaler

• After March 31: penalties start, and the owner feels it.
• After the lien and the petition: the sale is near.
• After the Sheriff list is posted: weeks remain.
• After a death: wait a few weeks, then write gently.

• Say who you are and what you offer. No pressure lines.
• Tell owners about the payment agreement, the homestead exemption and free legal help when they apply.
• Pay what you say, and put every promise in the contract.
• Do not buy a tangled-title home for a fraction of its value from a family that does not understand it.

Watch out for

• Tangled titles. A home in a dead owner's name needs a cleanup before a clean sale.
• Water and sewer bills. They can be large and can stay with the property.
• Demolition and clean-and-seal liens. They can exceed a vacant lot's value.
• The condition grade is from the street. It is not an inspection.
• Redemption after a tax sale. An occupied home sold for taxes can be redeemed for nine months after the Sheriff's deed is acknowledged.
• Free-and-clear is not total. Some claims can stay. Use a title company.
• Predatory deals. Buying a family home far under value from owners who do not understand is harmful, and it is watched.
• Tenants. Occupied homes stay occupied after a sale.
• Wrong person. Estates may have several heirs.
• Reassessment. Values changed in 2023. Check the market value.

Key dates