Philadelphia Department of Records
The City's recorder-of-deeds office for public records and real-estate documents. Use its record-a-deed or other-document page for recorded-document services.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · Philadelphia County
USA Home Buyers buys houses as-is in Philadelphia and Philadelphia County.
Can I sell my Philadelphia house with a lien or back taxes?
When you sell to us, we can set it up so you don't have to prepay anything — it comes out at closing.
Yes, you can sell a Philadelphia house with back taxes or liens to us. You can call before paying a balance; the current payoff and release instructions need to be confirmed for this property.
Call 888-274-5006We'll give you a written cash offer within 24 hours.
We give written cash offers in 24 hours.
Share the Philadelphia address and any lien, tax, payoff, or sale notice you have.
How lien and tax payoffs work
We buy houses as-is, in any condition — no repairs, no cleaning, no cleanout required to sell to us.
You don't need to pay off your back taxes before we settle. We buy houses with back taxes and liens — payoffs get handled through the closing, not by you upfront.
A payoff is the current amount a creditor says is due to settle its claim; a release is written confirmation that the claim has been cleared from the property. The creditor or tax-account contact confirms the current amount and release instructions. The title company reviews the property records and coordinates confirmed payoffs through closing. What can be paid from the sale depends on the confirmed amounts and closing figures.
Records and next step
You can call before you have every record. Start with the Philadelphia property address and whatever you have: a tax or lien notice, creditor contact, account or docket number, parcel identifier, payoff statement, or sale notice. The lender, creditor, or tax-account contact named on the notice can confirm the current written payoff and release instructions; the title company checks ownership, recorded claims, and documents needed for the sale.
Philadelphia city and Philadelphia County share the same boundary. Keep the address and any parcel or account number with the notice so the record and payoff questions stay tied to the same property. For a mortgage, judgment, contractor claim, municipal balance, or another lien, use the actual notice or record to identify the creditor to contact.
If the payoff is the problem
Think the payoff is more than the house is worth? Ask us — we've gotten lenders to come down before.
What happens next
- 1. Talk through the property. Call or send the form with the address and whatever notices, account numbers, payoff letters, or sale information you have.
- 2. Review the house and written terms. We review the property and provide the offer and terms in writing before you decide whether to commit.
- 3. Confirm title and payoffs. The title company checks ownership, who has authority to sign, recorded claims, and current payoff or release information from the relevant holder or tax account.
- 4. Close through a title company. If you choose to proceed, the title company coordinates confirmed payoffs and closing documents with the parties involved.
Philadelphia delinquent property-tax sale notices
In Philadelphia County, when property taxes go unpaid, the county can put the house up for a tax sale, and the county's notice gives the date. If a sale closes before that date, the delinquent taxes may be paid from the proceeds if enough money remains after other liens and closing costs. A sale agreement alone does not resolve the tax claim. Call us as soon as a notice arrives; timing matters. Read the Pennsylvania Real Estate Tax Sale Law, §§601–603.
A tax sale for unpaid property taxes is separate from a mortgage foreclosure. For a mortgage-sale question, see our Philadelphia foreclosure guidance.
Philadelphia property-record and tax offices
Match the question to the record or notice. Property-assessment information is different from a creditor's current lien payoff; use the contact on the bill or notice for account-specific questions.
Philadelphia property-tax services
Start with the City's property-tax services for account information, and use the contact shown on your bill or notice for the current account question.
Philadelphia Office of Property Assessment
Use this route for property-assessment information. For a payoff, ask the creditor or tax-account contact named in the notice.
Philadelphia Register of Wills / Clerk of the Orphans' Court
Philadelphia's estate-record office. Use it for questions about estate records related to a property.
Philadelphia lien and back-tax questions
Can I call before I have every lien record?
Yes. Call us or send the property address and any notice you have. You can start the conversation while you gather balances, account details, and release instructions.
Who confirms the current payoff amount?
Ask the lender, creditor, or tax-account contact named on your notice for a current written payoff and release instructions. Give those papers to the title company so it can match them to the property and proposed closing.
Can an assessment record tell me what I owe on a lien?
No. Philadelphia’s Office of Property Assessment provides property-assessment information. A lienholder or the office named on a tax notice provides the account-specific payoff information.
What should I have ready when I call?
Start with the property address and whatever you have: a tax or lien notice, creditor contact, account or docket number, parcel identifier, payoff statement, or sale notice. You do not need to resolve every record question before contacting us.
More Philadelphia seller information
Send the property address and the notice or payoff information you have, or call us to talk through it.
We'll give you a written cash offer within 24 hours.
We give written cash offers in 24 hours.
Share the Philadelphia address and any lien, tax, payoff, or sale notice you have.
Prefer to call? 888-274-5006.