Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

Tax Deed350,935 residents

County research last verified 2026-07. Office holders, platforms, and deposit rules change — re-confirm anything time-sensitive.

Sale typestate default

Tax Deed

Redemption periodstate default

None in most counties for upset/judicial sales; limited redemption (90 days) survives in specific home-rule counties (e.g., Philadelphia, in narrow cases)

Investor returnstate default

N/A — outright deed transfer in the large majority of counties

Governing statutestate default

Pennsylvania Real Estate Tax Sale Law, 72 P.S. §5860.101 et seq.

Notes

Pennsylvania RETSL tax-deed via Westmoreland County Tax Claim Bureau (Greensburg). Annual Upset Sale for properties with 2+ years prior taxes (2025 cycle Monday Sept 8; confirm 2026 September date on county site). Judicial Sale free-and-clear path (next cited October 1, 2026 10:00 a.m., Public Meeting Rooms, Courthouse first floor — pre-register in person by Sept 21, 2026). Repository list for still-unsold parcels (free-and-clear bid, 60-day consent period). Full bid due end of business day (~3:30 p.m.); failure can ban future bidding. Pittsburgh east metro (Greensburg, Latrobe, Murrysville, New Kensington).

Auction logistics

Format

In-person (Courthouse Commissioners / Public Meeting Rooms)

Frequency

Upset annually September; Judicial when scheduled (Oct 1, 2026 cited); repository ongoing

Platform

Westmoreland County Tax Claim Bureau — Upset / Judicial / Repository ↗

Deposit rules

Act 33 pre-registration in person at Tax Claim Bureau ≥10 days before Judicial (hard deadlines). Upset: cash terms, sales final, full amount by end of sale day. Judicial: open auction from costs + recording (~$110.25) + 2% transfer tax on assessed value + $25 deed prep — FULL BID due immediately after sale. NO REFUNDS. Payment cutoff historically 3:45 p.m. for bureau transactions.

Title risk

Liens that survive the sale

Upset: liens largely survive. Judicial and repository: free-and-clear style after process; federal liens separate. Some municipalities collect current taxes outside Tax Claim — verify district exceptions (e.g. parts of Greensburg, Hempfield, Latrobe, North Huntingdon historically self-collect).

Quiet title

Common after Upset; often still used post-Judicial before conventional finance.

Deal maths for Pennsylvania

Assessment ratio: 0.4065× of market value
Typical quiet title: $1,500–$5,000 · 4 mo
Recording and transfer: $250

Pennsylvania has no statewide assessment ratio. Counties assess against their own base years, some decades old, and the State Tax Equalization Board publishes a Common Level Ratio per county each year. Always use the county ratio.

Offices and records

Tax collector

Westmoreland County Tax Claim Bureau ↗

724-830-3424

Clerk of court

Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds ↗

Property appraiser

Westmoreland County Assessment ↗

GIS / parcel map

Westmoreland County GIS / parcel maps ↗

Areas trending up

Directional read from dated market analysis — not a guarantee, and not a substitute for your own comps.

Murrysville / Franklin Regional corridor

Pittsburgh east suburban demand with strongest price resilience in the county

Greensburg / Seton Hill edge

County-seat services and relative value versus eastern Allegheny suburbs

Latrobe / Unity Twp

Industrial and airport adjacency supporting workforce housing absorption