Luzerne County's August 2026 Judicial Sale, Parcel by Parcel: What Sold, Who Bought and Where Land Banks Stepped In

Tax Sale Atlas research note, November 7, 2026. Figures come from the Luzerne County Tax Claim Bureau's posted final results for its August 6, 2026 judicial sale and the Bureau's notice for that sale. This is reference information, not legal or financial advice.

Luzerne County holds its upset and judicial sales in person, in the auxiliary gym at King's College in Wilkes-Barre. Its judicial sale is the one where a court order clears mortgages and liens under state law, unlike the upset sale, which conveys title subject to liens not included in the upset price (72 P.S. 5860.609). The Bureau's notice for the August 6, 2026 sale says the parcels "will be sold Free & Clear of all tax and municipal claims, mortgages, liens, charges and estates of whatsoever kind, except ground rents separately taxed," which is the judicial sale rule in section 612 of the Real Estate Tax Sale Law (72 P.S. 5860.612).

The final results list every parcel and what happened to it. Here is what they show.

Where the 148 parcels ended up

Starting bids were low. The median starting bid on the list was $1,285.50, the range ran from $853.43 to $4,803.18, and 135 of the 148 parcels started under $1,500.

What the sold parcels went for

The 89 sold parcels started at a combined $120,723.88 and sold for $425,565.55.

A data note: two rows read "bidder $50" and are counted here as bidder #50, and one sale to bidder #210 (25-0323) is recorded 10 cents under its $1,168.60 starting bid, so it is not counted as an at-start sale.

The money concentrated in a few parcels. The ten highest sales came to $221,000, about 52 percent of the total, while 49 of the 89 sold for $3,000 or less.

Who bought them

The results identify buyers only by bidder number, and 18 different bidder numbers bought parcels. Two of them won most of the parcels, 65 of 89, though only about 38 percent of the money. One bidder number bought 50 of the 89 sold parcels for a combined $139,671.99, at a median price of $2,500, roughly twice the starting bid. A second bought 15, twelve of them at exactly the starting bid. The other 16 bidders split the remaining 24 parcels.

The 12 forfeits and the same-day payment rule

Twelve winning bids did not hold. The results do not say why, but the notice's payment rule is strict. Its terms of sale say "Payment of the bid price along with transfer taxes and recording costs shall be due and owing as soon as the sale is completed and must be made in the form of cash, certified check, or money order." If that amount is not paid before the close of business on sale day, the sale is voided and the bidder is barred from future sales.

That means you need cash or certified funds on sale day for the bid plus transfer tax and recording costs, before you know exactly what you will win. The results mark all 12 "bidder forfeit parcel off to repository" without giving a reason, so do not assume each was a missed payment.

Six parcels drew land bank trump bids

The notice warned about this in advance. Citing "68 P.S. 2117(c)(3)" (the provision is 68 Pa.C.S. 2117(c)(3)), it says properties "may be subject to a trump bid by North East Pennsylvania Land Bank Authority, or Lower South Valley Land Bank or City of Hazleton Land Bank prior to public auction," and it lists 16 municipalities where that applies: Ashley Borough, Avoca Borough, City of Hazleton, City of Nanticoke, City of Wilkes-Barre, Dupont Borough, Duryea Borough, Exeter Borough, Hanover Township, Jenkins Township, Municipality of Kingston, Newport Township, Pittston City, Pittston Township, Plains Township and West Pittston Borough.

The results show six trump bids: two by the North East Pennsylvania land bank, three by the Lower South Valley Land Bank and one by the City of Hazleton Land Bank.

Here is what the statute says. For a land bank in a municipality that follows the Real Estate Tax Sale Law, section 2117(c)(3) of the Land Bank Act says that when a judicial sale is ordered on a tax claim, the land bank is the purchaser and the price is one it agreed with the plaintiff, the form, substance and timing of the land bank's payment may follow that agreement, whatever section 612 would otherwise require. Its obligation to perform under the agreement is deemed full satisfaction of the tax claim, and it takes absolute title free of tax and municipal claims, liens, mortgages, ground rents, charges and estates. The subsection does not use the term "trump bid" or say a land bank bid beats other bids; that wording is the notice's. Section 2117(c)(4) separately requires the upset-sale notice and return (sections 602 and 607(a) of the Real Estate Tax Sale Law) to refer to a potential land bank bid; the judicial sale notice cites (c)(3) for its warning.

The practical point, per the notice: in those 16 municipalities a land bank may place a trump bid "prior to public auction." At this sale all six came in three of them: Duryea Borough, the City of Hazleton and the City of Wilkes-Barre. Of the 28 listed parcels located in the 16 municipalities, 6 drew land bank trump bids, 6 sold to bidders, 14 drew no bid, 1 was a bidder forfeit and 1 was removed by court order. Check the notice and the latest list before you spend money on a title search there.

What to take into next year's sale

For the county's sale calendar, offices and registration details, see the Luzerne County tax sale page. For how the upset, judicial and repository sales fit together statewide, read how Pennsylvania tax sales work.

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