Pennsylvania passed a bill enacting the Vacant and Abandoned Real Estate Foreclosure Act (Act). The Act permits lenders and servicers to utilize an expedited foreclosure procedure to foreclose property certified as “vacant and abandoned.” To utilize the expedited foreclosure procedure, a lender or servicer must obtain a certification that the property is vacant and abandoned from either the municipality in which the property is located or from the prothonotary (i.e., the clerk of the civil division of the court). The certification may be obtained at any time after the notice of default is provided or after the foreclosure action is commenced. The sheriff must conduct an accelerated foreclosure sale (within 60 days of the writ of execution) if the property is certified as vacant and abandoned, and the lender or servicer requests an accelerated foreclosure sale and pays a $500 accelerated foreclosure sale fee. Property certified as vacant and abandoned is not subject to mediation, conciliation, diversion or other program established by a local court to encourage resolution of owner-occupied residential mortgage foreclosures. The Act also: requires a sheriff to record the sheriffs deed within 30 days of the date the foreclosure sale is held if the lender or servicer requested an accelerated foreclosure sale; permits lenders and servicers to enter vacant and abandoned property peacefully while the foreclosure is pending for the purpose of inspecting, maintaining and repairing the property; provides lenders and servicers the opportunity to obtain possession of vacant and abandoned property while the foreclosure is pending; sets forth minimum maintenance obligations for lenders and servicers that obtain possession of vacant and abandoned property while the foreclosure is pending; and sets forth requirements for the removal of any personal property left in the foreclosed vacant and abandoned property following the foreclosure sale. The bill becomes effective December 16, 2018.
See Pennsylvania General Assembly website for the full text of the Statutes: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=PDF&sessYr=2017&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=0653&pn=3613
