PRINTER'S NO. 1186
No. 1032 Session of 1975
INTRODUCED BY ZEARFOSS, IRVIS, GARZIA, BITTLE, SHUMAN, BERLIN,
TAYLOR, MORRIS, LAUGHLIN, MEBUS, REED, D. S. HAYES, ROSS AND
KERNICK, APRIL 16, 1975
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, APRIL 21, 1975
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of July 7, 1947 (P.L.1368, No.542), entitled
2 "An act amending, revising and consolidating the laws
3 relating to delinquent county, city, except of the first and
4 second class and second class A, borough, town, township,
5 school district, except of the first class and school
6 districts within cities of the second class A, and
7 institution district taxes, providing when, how and upon what
8 property, and to what extent liens shall be allowed for such
9 taxes, the return and entering of claims therefor; the
10 collection and adjudication of such claims, sales of real
11 property, including seated and unseated lands, subject to the
12 lien of such tax claims; the disposition of the proceeds
13 thereof, including State taxes and municipal claims recovered
14 and the redemption of property; providing for the discharge
15 and divestiture by certain tax sales of all estates in
16 property and of mortgages and liens on such property, and the
17 proceedings therefor; creating a Tax Claim Bureau in each
18 county, except a county of the first class, to act as agent
19 for taxing districts; defining its powers and duties,
20 including sales of property, the management of property taken
21 in sequestration, and the management, sale and disposition of
22 property heretofore sold to the county commissioners, taxing
23 districts and trustees at tax sales; providing a method for
24 the service of process and notices; imposing duties on taxing
25 districts and their officers and on tax collectors, and
26 certain expenses on counties and for their reimbursement by
27 taxing districts; and repealing existing laws," increasing
28 certain time periods, requiring new notice provisions,
29 requiring public auctions and setting minimum bid levels at
30 public auctions.
31 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
1 hereby enacts as follows:
2 Section 1. Section 308, act of July 7, 1947 (P.L.1368,
3 No.542), known as the "Real Estate Tax Sale Law," amended
4 September 15, 1961 (P.L.1334, No.589), subsection (a) amended
5 August 26, 1965 (P.L.386, No.201), is amended to read:
6 Section 308. Notice of Filing of Returns and Entry of
7 Claim.--(a) Not later than the thirty-first day of July of each
8 year, or for the first year a county operates under this act,
9 not later than the thirty-first day of October, or whenever,
10 heretofore, any claims have been returned to and a claim entered
11 with the tax claim bureau and the same has not been pursued to
12 sale as provided for by the act of Assembly, then within six (6)
13 months after the effective date of this act, the bureau shall
14 give notice of the return of said taxes and the entry of such
15 claim to each delinquent taxable, by United States registered
16 mail or United States certified mail, return receipt requested,
17 postage prepaid, addressed to the owner personally at his last
18 known post office address. [If the owner of the property is
19 unknown and has been unknown for a period of not less than ten
20 years, such notice shall be given only by posting on the
21 property affected.] In addition the bureau shall, through the
22 county sheriff's office, serve personal notice to the owner of
23 the land stating the exact amount of the tax allegedly owed and
24 under what law or ordinance, the potential loss the landowner
25 will suffer if the home is sold and the availability of a
26 hearing upon request prior to any sale under the provisions of
27 this act.
28 If service cannot be obtained in the manner previously set
29 forth and the director of the bureau files an affidavit stating
30 that the property owner is deceased or his whereabouts unknown,
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1 or that he resides outside the Commonwealth, the sheriff shall
2 make service on the property owner by posting a copy of the
3 notice on the most public part of the land and in the county
4 courthouse and, if the property owner is not deceased, by
5 sending a copy of the notice, registered mail, to the last known
6 address of the property owner. In the case of a mobilehome or
7 house trailer subject to real property tax, a copy of such
8 notice shall at the same time and in like manner be sent to the
9 encumbrance holders of record. [If no post office address of the
10 owner is known or if a notice mailed to an owner at such last
11 known post office address is not delivered to him by the postal
12 authorities, then notice as herein provided shall immediately be
13 posted on the property affected.]
14 If notice was served as required herein, no sale shall be
15 prejudicial or defeated nor shall any title to the property
16 purchased be impaired.
17 Each mailed and posted notice shall, (1) show all the
18 information shown on the claim entered, (2) state that if
19 payment of the amount due the several taxing districts for said
20 taxes is not made to the bureau on or before the thirty-first
21 day of December next following, in cases where the notice was
22 mailed prior to August first, or that if payment is not made on
23 or before March thirty-first of the following year, in cases
24 where the notice was mailed on or after August first, or no
25 exceptions thereto filed, the said claim shall become absolute,
26 (3) [state that on July first of the year in which such notice
27 is given or if the notice was mailed after July thirty-first,
28 that on the first day of the month (naming it) in which the
29 notice was mailed the one (1) year period of redemption shall
30 commence or has commenced to run, and that if redemption is not
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1 made during that period as provided by this act, the property
2 shall be sold at judicial sale and there shall be no further
3 redemption after such sale] state that the owner has the right
4 to file an exception to the claim of delinquency pursuant to
5 section 314(b), and further that such filing of an exception is
6 sufficient to challenge any irregularity whatsoever in the claim
7 or notice, (4) that the owner has the right of redemption under
8 sections 501 and 607.1, and (5) that the owner has a right of
9 recoupment from any sale for any amount of money in excess of
10 taxes and costs.
11 (b) In the case of claim for taxes, filed in the office of
12 the prothonotary, which have not been heretofore reduced to
13 judgment, where the lien of such claim has not been lost, the
14 respective taxing districts shall return to the bureau on or
15 before the first Monday of May, one thousand nine hundred forty-
16 eight, or on or before the first Monday of June of any year in
17 which any city of the third class or any county shall elect to
18 collect its delinquent taxes in accordance with this act, a
19 complete list of such claims and the properties against which
20 the same are filed, and the bureau shall give such owners the
21 same notice as above provided [or shall post such notice on the
22 property].
23 (c) Notice given in the manner provided by this section
24 shall constitute proper service on the owner. [A statement in
25 the claim entered that due notice of the same was given shall be
26 conclusive evidence that notice was given as required by law.]
27 (d) The costs of [such mailed and posted] all notices under
28 this section shall be taxed as part of the costs of the
29 proceedings and shall be paid by the owner the same as other
30 costs.
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1 Section 2. Subsections (b) and (e) of section 314 of the
2 act, subsection (b) amended July 13, 1953 (P.L.439, No.98), are
3 amended to read:
4 Section 314. Proceeding to Attack Validity of Claim.--
5 * * *
6 (b) Any defendant in any such claim, at any time before the
7 day fixed for the claim to become absolute under section 311,
8 may file with the bureau exceptions to the claim as entered, or
9 to any part of the claim. The bureau, after giving due notice to
10 the taxing districts interested, shall hold a hearing thereon
11 and either disallow the exceptions or allow the exceptions in
12 whole, or in part, and strike off or reduce the claim in
13 accordance with the evidence produced and the powers of the
14 bureau as hereinbefore prescribed.
15 If the defendant is aggrieved by the decision of the bureau
16 he may, within fifteen (15) days after notice thereof, appeal by
17 petition to the court of common pleas of the county setting
18 forth the defense he has to the claim, or any part thereof, and
19 the refusal of the bureau to allow his exceptions and strike off
20 or reduce the amount of the claim. Thereupon the court shall
21 grant a rule on the taxing district or districts to show cause
22 why the claim should not be set aside or reduced in amount as
23 prayed for in the petition. The petitioners shall give notice of
24 such proceeding to the bureau. Any such notice of appeal shall
25 act as an automatic supersedeas of any scheduled sale and the
26 appealing party shall not be required to post security.
27 * * *
28 (e) [No] Every taxpayer shall have the right to proceed by
29 petition to the court of common pleas to open a claim absolute
30 under the provisions of this act. [, except on the ground of
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1 payment of the tax involved or failure to receive notice. The
2 remedy provided by this section to contest a tax claim entered
3 shall be deemed exclusive except as herein otherwise provided.]
4 * * *
5 Section 3. Subsection (c) of section 501 of the act is
6 amended to read:
7 Section 501. Redemption of Property From Effects of Tax
8 Claims.--
9 * * *
10 (c) There shall be no redemption of any property after the
11 sale thereof except as provided in section 607.1.
12 Section 4. Section 601 of the act is amended by adding a
13 subsection to read:
14 Section 601. Date of Sale.--* * *
15 (c) Any property subject to sale under the provisions of
16 this act shall be sold at public auction only, where competitive
17 bidding is required and where the minimum bid accepted is in
18 conformity with the requirements of section 605.
19 Section 5. Section 602 of the act, amended September 27,
20 1973 (No.74), is amended to read:
21 Section 602. Notice of Sale.--Prior to any scheduled sale
22 the bureau shall give notice thereof, once a week for three (3)
23 consecutive weeks in two (2) newspapers of general circulation
24 in the county, if so many are published therein, and once in the
25 legal journal, if any, designated by the court for the
26 publication of legal notices. In addition the bureau shall again
27 notify the owner in accord with the provisions of section 308.
28 Such notice shall set forth (a) the purposes of such sale, (b)
29 the time of such sale, (c) the place of such sale, (d) the terms
30 of the sale including the approximate upset price, (e) the
19750H1032B1186 - 6 -
1 descriptions of the properties to be sold as stated in the
2 claims entered, each description commencing with
3 "..............................................................
4 Name of Owner
5 .............................................................,"
6 description
7 (f) the right to file exceptions as set forth in section 314,
8 and (g) the right of redemption under the provisions of section
9 607.1.
10 Where the owner is unknown and has been unknown for a period
11 of not less than ten years, the name of the last owner [need not
12 be] of record shall be included in such description.
13 The description may be given intelligible abbreviations.
14 Such published notice shall be addressed to the "owners of
15 properties described in this notice and to all persons having
16 tax liens, tax judgments or municipal claims against such
17 properties."
18 In addition to such publications, similar notice of the sale
19 shall also be given by the bureau, at least [ten (10)] thirty
20 (30) days before the date of the sale, by United States
21 certified mail, personal addressee only, return receipt
22 requested, postage prepaid, and regular mail to each owner as
23 defined by this act and by posting on the property.
24 The published notice, the notice provisions of section 308,
25 the mail notice and the posted notice shall each state that the
26 sale of any property may, at the option of the bureau, be stayed
27 if the owner thereof or any lien creditor of the owner on or
28 before the date of sale enters into an agreement with the bureau
29 to pay the taxes in instalments, in the manner provided by this
30 act, and the agreement entered into.
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1 In case the property of any corporation, limited partnership
2 or joint-stock association is advertised for sale, the bureau
3 shall give to the Department of Revenue the notice required by
4 section one thousand four hundred two of the Fiscal Code of the
5 ninth day of April, one thousand nine hundred twenty-nine
6 (Pamphlet Laws 343).
7 [No sale shall be defeated and no title to property sold
8 shall be invalidated because of proof that mail notice as herein
9 required was not received by the owner, provided such notice was
10 given as prescribed by this section.] Whenever the bureau shall
11 have omitted to advertise the fact of holding any sale, or shall
12 have omitted to serve written notice thereof, as required by the
13 provisions of section 308 and this section, such omission shall
14 invalidate the return of said sale and result in a sixty-day
15 postponement of such sale. The lien of such taxes, and such
16 taxes may, nevertheless, be collected by sale of the property
17 upon which the tax is due if the adjourned or readjourned sale
18 at which the same is sold is advertised and notice thereof given
19 in accordance with the provisions of said act.
20 The costs of such advertisement and notices shall be taxed as
21 part of the costs of such proceedings and shall be paid by the
22 owner the same as other costs.
23 Section 6. Section 605 of the act, amended August 4, 1961
24 (P.L.932, No.410), is amended to read:
25 Section 605. Upset Sale Price.--The bureau shall fix as the
26 upset price to be realized at the sale of any property upon a
27 claim absolute, which upset price shall be the greater of (1),
28 the sum of [(a)] (i) the tax liens of the Commonwealth, [(b)]
29 (ii) the amount of the claim absolute and interest thereon on
30 which the sale is being held, [(c)] (iii) the amount of any
19750H1032B1186 - 8 -
1 other tax claim or tax judgment due on such property and
2 interest on the judgment to the date of sale, [(d)] (iv) the
3 amount of all accrued taxes including taxes levied for the
4 current year, whether or not returned, a record of which shall
5 be furnished to the bureau by tax collectors, receivers of taxes
6 and taxing districts, [(e)] (v) the amount of the municipal
7 claims against the property, and [(f)] (vi) the record costs and
8 costs of sale, including pro rata costs of the publication of
9 notice and costs of mail and posted notices in connection with
10 the return of the claim and mail and posted notices of sale or
11 (2) the lesser of (i) $1,000, or (ii) one-half of the assessed
12 value of the property to be sold.
13 It shall be the duty of all taxing districts, having
14 municipal claims against any such property, to certify the
15 amount thereof to the bureau for the purpose of including the
16 same in the upset price.
17 No sale of property shall be made by the bureau unless a bid
18 equal to the upset price is made, and where sufficient is not
19 bid, the sale shall be continued from month to month without
20 further advertisement for not more than three (3) months in
21 order to give the bureau a chance [to sell the property at
22 private sale, or] to petition court for an order to sell the
23 same, freed and discharged of all liens as hereinafter provided.
24 Section 7. Subsections (a) and (g) of section 607, amended
25 May 10, 1951 (P.L.258, No.41), are amended to read:
26 Section 607. Bureau's Return to Court; Notice; Confirmation;
27 Appeal.--(a) It shall be the duty of the bureau, not later than
28 sixty (60) days after a scheduled sale was held, to make a
29 consolidated return to the court of common pleas of the county,
30 wherein it shall set forth, (1) a brief description of each
19750H1032B1186 - 9 -
1 property exposed to sale, (2) the name of the owner in whose
2 name it was assessed, (3) the name of the owner at the time of
3 sale, and to whom notice [by mail] was given as provided by this
4 act, (4) a reference to the record of the tax claim on which the
5 sale was held, (5) the time when and the newspapers in which the
6 advertisement for sale was made, with a copy of said
7 advertisement, (6) the time of sale, (7) the name of the
8 purchaser, if any, and (8) the price for which each property was
9 sold, or that no bid was made equal to the upset price and the
10 property was not sold. Upon the presentation of said return, if
11 it shall appear to said court that such sale has been regularly
12 conducted under the provisions of this act, the said return and
13 the sales so made shall be confirmed nisi.
14 * * *
15 (g) If no objections or exceptions are filed, or where
16 objections or exceptions are finally overruled and the sale
17 confirmed absolutely, the validity of the tax, its return for
18 nonpayment, the entry of the claim, or the making of such claim
19 absolute and the proceedings of the bureau with respect to such
20 sale, except as to the giving of notice as required by the act,
21 or the time of holding the sale, or of petitioning court for an
22 order of sale shall not thereafter be inquired into judicially
23 in equity or by civil proceedings by the person in whose name
24 such property was sold, his or her or theirs, or his, her or
25 their grantees or assigns or by any lien creditor or other
26 person whatever. [There shall be no period of redemption after
27 such sale and the] The sale shall be deemed to pass a good and
28 valid title to the purchaser, after the period for redemption
29 has passed, free from any liens or encumbrances whatsoever,
30 except such liens as are hereafter specifically saved, and in
19750H1032B1186 - 10 -
1 all respects as valid and effective as if acquired by a
2 sheriff's deed.
3 Section 8. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
4 Section 607.1. Right of Redemption After Sale.--(a) Any real
5 estate sold under this act may be redeemed by the owner, his
6 heirs or legal representatives, or by any lien creditor, or his
7 heirs, assigns or legal representatives, or by anyone interested
8 in said real estate for the benefit of the owner thereof, at any
9 time within two years after such sale, by the payment to the
10 bureau of the full amount which the purchaser paid to said
11 bureau for taxes, interest, and costs and fifteen per centum
12 (15%) of the amount of tax in addition thereto. In case the
13 purchaser has paid any taxes of any kind whatsoever, assessed
14 and levied against said property, the same shall be reimbursed
15 to said purchaser before any redemption shall take effect. No
16 sale of seated lands for taxes, under the provisions of this
17 act, shall be prejudiced or defeated by proof that there was
18 personal property to be found on the premises sufficient to pay
19 the taxes assessed thereon, nor shall such sale be prejudiced by
20 reason of the fact that such lands so assessed as seated lands
21 were at the time unseated.
22 (b) When any real estate is so sold, no lien whatsoever
23 against such real estate shall be deemed to be discharged during
24 the period for redemption; but if such real estate is not
25 redeemed, then all liens against the same, except such liens as
26 are hereinbefore specifically saved, shall be deemed to be
27 discharged from the date that the right of redemption expired.
28 (c) All owners of land sold under the provisions of this act
29 shall have notice of the right to redeem the land after the
30 sale. Notice of the right to redeem shall be given in accordance
19750H1032B1186 - 11 -
1 with the provisions of this section:
2 (1) The bureau shall send a notice by registered mail to the
3 former property owner within ten days after the sale informing
4 the owner of the redemption right and also the availability of
5 any funds in excess of the taxes due under section 618.
6 (2) The purchaser shall send a notice by certified mail and
7 by regular mail to the former owner one year subsequent to the
8 sale informing said person of the right of redemption under the
9 provisions of this section.
10 (3) In addition, the purchaser shall, at least five months
11 before and no earlier than seven months before the redemption
12 period expires, attempt to give notice to the former property
13 owner of the right of redemption under this section by personal
14 service and certified mail and regular mail. If the former owner
15 cannot be found or his whereabouts unknown, then the purchaser
16 shall state in an affidavit that service and mail notice was
17 attempted that the former owner did not respond or could not be
18 found and that the purchaser has made a good faith effort to
19 comply with the provisions of this subsection.
20 (d) When any real estate is so redeemed by a lien creditor,
21 or his heirs, assigns or legal representatives, or by any person
22 interested for the benefit of the owner, the bureau shall issue
23 to the person redeeming such real estate a certificate, stating
24 the fact of such redemption, a brief description of the real
25 estate redeemed, and the amount of the redemption money paid,
26 which certificate may be entered in the office of the
27 prothonotary of the county as a judgment against the owner of
28 the real estate for the amount stated therein. The lien of any
29 such judgment shall have priority over all other liens against
30 such real estate except such liens as would not have been
19750H1032B1186 - 12 -
1 discharged had no redemption been made.
2 Section 9. Sections 613 and 614 of the act are repealed.
3 Section 10. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
4 Section 618. Recoupment of Surplus Funds.--(a) The bureau
5 shall provide notice to the former property owner by certified
6 mail and regular mail that a surplus exists from the sale
7 conducted under the provisions of this act. The notice shall
8 state the exact surplus to which the former owner is entitled
9 and also state the means and identification necessary to recover
10 this surplus.
11 (b) After any sale of property or lands for delinquent taxes
12 has been confirmed by the court, as aforesaid, it shall be the
13 duty of the bureau, where the bid exceeds the taxes, interest,
14 and costs, as aforesaid, to distribute the surplus money that
15 may remain after satisfying and paying all the taxes, interest,
16 and costs, as aforesaid, to the owners, their heirs, assigns or
17 legal representatives (as the case may be).
18 Section 11. This act shall take effect in 60 days and shall
19 apply to all proceedings initiated after that date.
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