In Pennsylvania, only judicial or in court foreclosures are allowed. To move forward with an in court foreclosure, the bank must file a lawsuit in order to receive a court order to foreclose. When the court finds in favor of the bank, the property will then be scheduled for a sheriff’s sale.

The bank must send a notice of intent to foreclose to the home owner. This letter must be sent first class mail to the last known address of the homeowner. If this address is different then the home which the bank is preparing to sell to get its money, then the letter must be sent to that address in addition to the last known address. General practice is that this notice of intent to foreclose is not sent until the homeowner is 60 days behind on their house payment.

This notice of intent to foreclose must inform the homeowner that it is the intention of the bank to accelerate the mortgage payment, if the loan is not brought current in the next thirty days,. This means that if all past and current payments are not made up, plus late fees and interest. The total amount will become immediately due and the bank will be moving ahead with the sheriff’s sale on the home.

In Pennsylvania, a home owner has the right to come up with the whole amount owed on the home plus attorney’s fees etc… all the way up until one hour before the sale of the home is conducted. Doing this will, of course keep the home in their name, and save a foreclosure from appearing on their credit history.

Finding a way to come up with all that money is another matter all together. If the sheriff’s sale does not generate enough money to satisfy the bank on the amount of the loan, Pennsylvania provides the lender, the right to continue to pursue the former home owner for additional money. The bank only has six months following the sale to exercise this option. This however, does not occur very often, because of the obvious reason, that most people, who have lost their home to foreclosure, do not have any other resources the bank would want to pursue.

Tags: Foreclosure Laws, Pennsylvania Foreclosure, Pennsylvania Foreclosure Laws

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