# Tax Lien & Tax Sale Lists (NYC, Cook, Philly, Allegheny) (`hamsmoothie/tax-lien-sale-watch`) Actor

Official tax lien sale and delinquency lists from city and county open-data feeds, normalised to one schema. Filter by jurisdiction, ZIP, minimum amount and year.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/hamsmoothie/tax-lien-sale-watch.md
- **Developed by:** [Maybe Quark](https://apify.com/hamsmoothie) (community)
- **Categories:** Other, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$5.00 / 1,000 tax lien / delinquency records

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Tax Lien Sale Lists and Tax Delinquent Properties (NYC, Cook, Philadelphia, Allegheny)

**Tax Lien & Tax Sale Lists** pulls official tax lien sale lists and property-tax delinquency records from four government open-data feeds and normalises them to one schema: jurisdiction, parcel ID, address, ZIP, amount owed, tax year, status, property class and a link to the source. Sources: New York City Department of Finance tax lien sale lists, Cook County (IL) Treasurer annual tax sale, Philadelphia real estate tax balances, and Allegheny County (PA) tax liens filed and satisfied. Filter by jurisdiction, ZIP code, minimum amount and year, and export JSON, CSV or Excel.

### Input

All fields are optional. This example pulls Cook County and Philadelphia records of at least $5,000:

```json
{
  "jurisdictions": ["cook", "philadelphia"],
  "zipCodes": [],
  "minAmount": 5000,
  "year": 0,
  "maxPerJurisdiction": 500
}
```

- `jurisdictions`: any of `nyc`, `cook`, `philadelphia`, `allegheny` (default all four).
- `zipCodes`: only these ZIP codes where the feed has ZIPs. Empty means all.
- `minAmount`: skip records below this amount where the feed reports an amount. `0` means no filter.
- `year`: tax sale year or cycle year, for example `2026`. `0` means latest available.
- `maxPerJurisdiction`: stop after this many records from each jurisdiction (default 500).

### Output

One row per record. Real example row from the NYC feed (NYC's list has no amounts, so `amountOwed` is null there):

```json
{
  "jurisdiction": "New York City",
  "parcelId": "5-8026-130",
  "address": "150 JOHNSON AVENUE",
  "zip": "10307",
  "amountOwed": null,
  "taxYear": "2025-06-01T00:00:00.000",
  "status": "tax lien sale list",
  "propertyClass": "B3",
  "ownerName": null,
  "listMonth": "2025-06-01T00:00:00.000",
  "extra": "cycle Final Sale; tax class 1; CB 503",
  "sourceUrl": "https://data.cityofnewyork.us/City-Government/Tax-Lien-Sale-Lists/9rz4-mjek"
}
```

Cook County rows carry `amountOwed` (tax and penalty offered) and whether the parcel sold at the tax sale. Philadelphia rows carry principal, interest and penalty in `extra` and the lien number in `status`. Allegheny rows show `satisfied` or `filed`.

### Use cases

Search phrases this actor is built for:

- **"Tax lien sale list by ZIP code"**: set `zipCodes` and `jurisdictions` to see properties on a lien sale list in your area.
- **"NYC and Cook County tax delinquent properties list"**: pull both feeds in one run with the same columns.
- **"Tax sale properties open data with minimum amount"**: use `minAmount` and `year` to focus on larger balances in a given cycle.

Typical users are tax-lien and tax-deed investors preparing for a sale, real-estate analysts, title and legal researchers and journalists. Schedule a monthly run to track new entries.

### Pricing

Pay per result: each record returned is one billable result, listed at $0.005 per row ($5 per 1,000). Set a maximum charge on the run for a hard ceiling.

### Limits

- Data is exactly what each government publishes; nothing is enriched, skip-traced or matched to other sources. Amounts and statuses change as taxpayers pay, so confirm against the source before acting.
- Only four jurisdictions are covered. Not every feed has every field (NYC has no amounts; Allegheny often has no address).
- Where a feed includes an owner name (Philadelphia, Allegheny), it is passed through as published.
- Public records intended for reuse, but you are responsible for how you use them, including any restrictions on commercial use of taxpayer lists. Not legal or investment advice.

### FAQ

**Where does the data come from?** NYC Open Data, Cook County Open Data, OpenDataPhilly and the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center (Allegheny County).

**Does it include amounts owed?** For Cook, Philadelphia and Allegheny where the feed reports one. NYC's list has no amounts.

**How often is it updated?** Whenever each government refreshes its open-data feed; each run reads the live feeds.

# Actor input Schema

## `jurisdictions` (type: `array`):

Any of: nyc (NYC tax lien sale lists), cook (Cook County annual tax sale), philadelphia (real estate tax balances), allegheny (tax liens with status).

## `zipCodes` (type: `array`):

Only these ZIP codes (where the feed has ZIPs). Empty = all.

## `minAmount` (type: `integer`):

Skip records below this amount where the feed reports an amount. 0 = no filter.

## `year` (type: `integer`):

Tax sale year / cycle year to pull, e.g. 2026. 0 = latest available.

## `maxPerJurisdiction` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many records from each jurisdiction.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "jurisdictions": [
    "nyc",
    "cook",
    "philadelphia",
    "allegheny"
  ],
  "zipCodes": [],
  "minAmount": 0,
  "year": 0,
  "maxPerJurisdiction": 500
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

All tax lien / delinquency records, one row each.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("hamsmoothie/tax-lien-sale-watch").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("hamsmoothie/tax-lien-sale-watch").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call hamsmoothie/tax-lien-sale-watch --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,hamsmoothie/tax-lien-sale-watch"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Y9jiOLg7liPZRkTFc/builds/ssJ442TINRNk2PITT/openapi.json