Pennsylvania Foreclosure Laws

Pennsylvania Foreclosure is Judicial.

PA- Act 6 and PA. Act 91 Demand/Housing Assistance Notice Letters:

Pennsylvania foreclosure law states that mortgage lenders must send the statutorily required notice letters prior to foreclosure referral. A title search must be ordered and received prior to filing a complaint. A title search is generally received within ten to twenty working days of our receipt of the file.

Pennsylvania Foreclosure Complaint Filed:

Sheriff has 30 days in which to serve Complaint or it expires and must be reinstated (usually served, on the average, within twenty days after Complaint is filed).

Pennsylvania Foreclosure Complaint Served:

Defendants have twenty days to file a response (either preliminary objections or answer or both) to the Complaint. 

Judgment Entered/Writ of Executive Issued/Sheriff's Sale Scheduled:

If no response to Complaint is filed by Defendants, judgment may be entered for mortgage foreclosure and sale of the property. Simultaneously, a Writ of Execution is issued and the Sheriff's Sale is scheduled. The Defendants must be served the Notice of Sheriff's Sale at least 30 days prior to the Sheriff's Sale date. In addition, all lien holders must be served, by mail 30 days prior to a sale. The individual Sheriff's departments set a monthly Sale schedule. There is generally a two-month to four-month period of time from the filing of the Writ until the actual Sale date.

Pennsylvania Foreclosure Sale Date:

Sales may be postponed once and rescheduled within the next 100-day period. Any other postponements require a Court order. Bidding instructions are required for all loans. Payment of all settlement charges must be made to the Sheriff within thirty days of the Sale or it may be declared null and void. Title and eviction information must be provided immediately after the Sale in order to calculate settlement charges.

Pennsylvania Foreclosure Ejectment Date:

After the Sheriff serves the Writ of Possession, the occupants are given twenty days to move. On the twenty-first day after service of the Writ of Possession, if the occupants have not vacated the premises, the attorney telephones the Sheriff's office to schedule the eviction. The Sheriff will then assign a date for the eviction, which is usually 30 to 90 days from the date the judgment is entered. The client must provide for a moving company and locksmith at the time set by the Sheriff for the lockout.

The Benefits of Having a Lawyer Experienced in Foreclosure:

If you have a lawyer representing you immediately after you receive the first letter about the foreclosure, or immediately after the sheriff delivers the complaint, you can significantly extend the time you have to stay in the house, and either attempt a work-out with the lender or simply have more time to leave the house.

Philadelphia County and Bucks County have a mediation process that provides you with the right to meet face-to-face with the lender's representative and present a work-out plan.  The work-out plan may, among other things, ask that the lender:  1) put the missed payments at the end of the loan; 2) lower your interest rate temporarily, as in for a few years, or reduce it permanently; 3) allow you to sell the property for less than is due on the mortgage, as in a "short-sale"; or 4) other options.

Without a lawyer, the time from when the sheriff delivers the papers to the time of the sheriff's sale may be only four or five months.  With an lawyer experienced in Pennsylvania mortgage foreclosure, you may get to keep your house (sometimes) or extend your time in the house (almost always).  Instead of four or five months, you can slow down the mortgage foreclosure so you may have nine to twelve months.

The Bankruptcy Lawyer can represent you in a mortgage foreclosure in Southeastern Pennsylvania.