Tax Liens / Delinquent in Shadyside, Pittsburgh

Unpaid property taxes in Allegheny County do not just accrue penalties — they become liens against the house, and enough delinquency puts the property on the path to a forced sale. In much of the Pittsburgh area, the letters do not come from a government office at all: Jordan Tax Service, a private collector, handles delinquent taxes and municipal claims for Allegheny County and the Pittsburgh school district, and collects taxes and utility bills for many municipalities and school districts in the region. A letter from Jordan Tax Service about delinquent taxes or a lien is real and worth taking seriously.

Two different forced-sale tracks operate here. Tax-delinquent properties in Allegheny County can be sold at a sheriff's sale under the state's Municipal Claims and Tax Liens Act. Separately, the City of Pittsburgh runs its own Treasurer's Sale for properties inside city limits with unpaid city, school, and county taxes. Either way, the sale is advertised in advance — which means you get warning, and time to act, before anything is auctioned.

Pennsylvania does allow redemption after some tax sales, but the windows are short and they recently got shorter. For Allegheny County sheriff's tax sales on or after September 5, 2023, state law cut the redemption period from nine months to three months after the sheriff’s deed is acknowledged (recorded), which is typically some weeks after the auction itself — and redemption is generally available only if the property was occupied (someone actually living there in the 90 days before the sale and still living there when the deed is recorded). A vacant house typically cannot be redeemed at all. After a City of Pittsburgh Treasurer's Sale, the redemption window is 90 days. Redeeming also requires paying the full amount owed plus costs in one shot — if you could not pay the taxes, paying taxes plus sale costs on a 90-day deadline is even harder. Do not plan around redemption; talk to an attorney if a sale has already happened.

Property taxes are not the only liens that follow a house. Unpaid water and sewer bills, garbage fees, and other municipal claims become liens on the property too, and they all must be cleared when the property changes hands. The good news: if you sell before the tax sale, all of those liens simply get paid out of the sale proceeds at closing — you do not need cash upfront to fix the problem.

Many owners in tax trouble still have equity, and a tax sale is the worst possible way to lose it. A direct cash buyer can close in a few weeks, pay off the delinquent taxes and municipal liens through closing, and, if the closing beats the sale date, the sale comes off the list and the remaining equity is yours. Compare that with an auction, where the debt gets paid but your equity is at the mercy of whatever the property fetches.