Pennsylvania Foreclosure Law
- Judicial Foreclosure Available: Yes
- Non-Judicial Foreclosure Available: No
- Primary Security Instrument: Mortgage
- Timeline: Usually 90 days
- Right of Redemption1: No
- Deficiency Judgments2 Allowed: Yes
Lenders in the state of Pennsylvania may foreclose on mortgages in default using the judicial foreclosure process.
Judicial Foreclosure
A judicial process of foreclosure requires that the lender file a lawsuit and attain a court order to foreclose on a particular property.
Judicial Foreclosure Procedure
To initiate foreclosure proceedings, the lender must mail a Notice of Intent to foreclose to the borrower. The borrower has to be at least sixty (60) days in default before the notice can be sent. The lender has to specifically state in the notice that they intend to accelerate the mortgage payments if the borrower is unable to cure the default within thirty (30) days.
If the borrower fails to cure within the allotted time, the lender may then file a suit to try and obtain a court order to foreclose on the property. With a court order, the property is sold at Sheriff’s sale under the court-established guidelines. Up until one hour prior to the foreclosure sale, the borrower can cure the default and stop the sale. Once the sale is complete, the borrower looses all rights to redeem.
Lenders have up to six (6) months after the foreclosure sale to file for a deficiency judgment.
1 A borrower’s right to reacquire property lost due to a foreclosure.
2 A personal judgment against the borrower for the remaining balance on the loan after a foreclosure sale.
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