Pennsylvania Foreclosure Law
Pennsylvania State Foreclosure Law dictates that lenders may only avail of the Judicial Foreclosure process to foreclose mortgages in default, unlike in other states where Non-Judicial or “Power of Sale” Foreclosure process is also available. All disputes regarding foreclosure must be done through the courts. The typical time of process last about 90 days and the mortgage is the primary security instrument recognized. In Delaware, the lender may avail of the opportunity to sue for a Deficiency Judgment should the property sold fall substantially lesser than the amount owed by the borrower. They have up to 6 months after the foreclosure sale to file for a deficiency judgment. The borrower has no Right of Redemption once the foreclosure sale has been finalized.
In Pennsylvania Judicial Foreclosure process, the lender and the borrower will first be given a chance to settle matters without any need for a lawsuit. The lender is initially required to send, either personally or through first class mail, a Notice of Intent to Foreclose to the borrower before any foreclosure proceedings get underway. The notice of intent should be sent to the borrower’s last known mailing address. Should the borrower doesn’t live anymore at the given address, the mail is sent to the property secured by the mortgage. The notice should only be sent after the borrower falls behind by at least 60 days in the payment of their mortgage.
In the notice of intent, the lender must make it clear to the borrower that their payments have already fallen behind by at least 60 days and that their mortgage is already in default. It should also be stated that if the borrower could not be able to cure their default within 30 days, then the lender intends to accelerate the mortgage payments. Acceleration of payment means that the remaining balance of the original mortgage will come due immediately. If the borrower fails to cure the default by paying the past due amount within 30 days, including any late charges or penalties that have accrued, the lender may then file a suit to try and obtain a court order to foreclose the property.
If the court finds the evidences in favor of the lender, it will then issue an order for a foreclosure sale. The foreclosure sale, usually in the form of a public auction where the property is awarded to the highest bidder, will be conducted and administered by the county sheriff under the guidelines established by the court. These foreclosure sales usually take place in front of the county courthouse entrance. Although an earlier chance was already given for the borrower to settle his obligations, he will be given another right to cure the default and to stop the foreclosure proceedings. This could be done between the issuance of the court order up to the hour before the sheriff’s foreclosure sale. Should the borrower still fail to cure the default within the time allowed, he then forfeits any further claim to the property and has no right of redemption.
|
