In most cases, your property taxes are escrowed with your mortgage payment, and the mortgage holder pays the tax bills. However, sometimes you are responsible for the paying the bill yourself. For example, suppose you have no mortgage payment and your house is paid off – you still will owe property taxes. Or suppose you have fallen behind on mortgage payments and the mortgage holder does not advance money to pay the taxes. At a certain point, your property will be listed for tax sale.

Notices will be given, the property will be posted and in the ordinary course of this process, you will be aware of the sale date and will be able to make arrangements with the taxing authority to pay the taxes. Sometimes, however, for various reasons, the property is sold at tax sale. In Philadelphia ONLY there is a statutory right to redeem the property within 9 months of the sale. This means you can pay the purchaser the amount they paid plus 10% and costs and you can get your property back. Many people cannot come up with that much money in a lump sum. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy allows you to pay the redemption amount over a 3-5-year plan and stay in your home the entire time.