CORRECTIVE REPRINT
PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 320, 561, 823, PRINTER'S NO. 1579
1079, 1343, 1364, 1554
No. 316 Session of 1979
Report of the Committee of Conference
To the Members of the Senate and House of Representatives:
We, the undersigned, Committee of Conference on the part of
the Senate and House of Representatives for the purpose of
considering Senate Bill No. 316, entitled:
"An act amending the act of July 7, 1947 (P.L.1368, No.542),
entitled 'An act amending, revising and consolidating the laws
relating to delinquent county, city, except of the first and
second class and second class A, borough, town, township, school
district, except of the first class and school districts within
cities of the second class A, * * * and repealing existing
laws,' further PROVIDING FOR RETURNS BY COLLECTORS IN CERTAIN
CASES; providing for notices prior to sales and confirmation of
sales and providing a limited right of redemption after a sale."
respectfully submit the following bill as our report:
H. CRAIG LEWIS
FRANKLIN L. KURY
J. DOYLE CORMAN, JR.
(Committee on the part of the Senate.)
KENNETH E. BRANDT
GERALD J. SPITZ
LESTER K. FRYER
(Committee on the part of the House of Representatives.)
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," further
28 providing for returns by collectors in certain cases;
29 providing for notices prior to sales and confirmation of
30 sales and providing a limited right of redemption after a
31 sale.
32 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
33 hereby enacts as follows:
34 Section 1. The act of July 7, 1947 (P.L.1368, No.542), known
35 as the "Real Estate Tax Sale Law," is amended by adding a
36 section to read:
37 Section 306.1. Taxes as a Result of an Interim Assessment.--
38 Notwithstanding the provisions of section 306, taxes due and
39 payable as a result of an interim assessment shall not be
40 returned to the county bureau until such taxes shall remain
41 unpaid for at least one calendar year from the date on which
42 such taxes first became delinquent. Prior to turning over any
1 unpaid interim assessment to the county bureau for collection,
2 each taxing district making such interim assessment shall
3 include the unpaid interim assessment on the current tax bill
4 or, unless the bureau directs otherwise, shall include a copy of
5 the unpaid interim tax bill with the current tax bill. For
6 purposes of this section the term "interim assessment" shall
7 mean a notice of an increase in assessed value made after
8 improvements, alterations, repairs or like work have been done
9 to a property or any structures thereon.
10 Section 2. Section 308 of the act, amended September 15,
11 1961 (P.L.1334, No.589), subsection (a) amended August 26, 1965
12 (P.L.386, No.201), is amended to read:
13 Section 308. Notice of Filing of Returns and Entry of
14 Claim.--(a) Not later than the thirty-first day of July of each
15 year, or for the first year a county operates under this act,
16 not later than the thirty-first day of October, or whenever,
17 heretofore, any claims have been returned to and a claim entered
18 with the tax claim bureau and the same has not been pursued to
19 sale as provided for by the act of Assembly, then within six (6)
20 months after the effective date of this act, the bureau shall
21 give notice of the return of said taxes and the entry of such
22 claim to each delinquent taxable, by United States registered
23 mail or United States certified mail, return receipt requested,
24 postage prepaid, addressed to the owner personally at his last
25 known post office address. If the owner of the property is
26 unknown and has been unknown for a period of not less than ten
27 years, such notice shall be given only by posting on the
28 property affected. [In the case of a mobilehome or house trailer
29 subject to real property tax, a copy of such notice shall at the
30 same time and in like manner be sent to the encumbrance holders
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1 of record.] If no post office address of the owner is known or
2 if a notice mailed to an owner at such last known post office
3 address is not delivered to him by the postal authorities, then
4 notice as herein provided shall immediately be posted on the
5 property affected. Each mailed and posted notice shall, (1) show
6 all the information shown on the claim entered, (2) state that
7 if payment of the amount due the several taxing districts for
8 said taxes is not made to the bureau on or before the thirty-
9 first day of December next following, in cases where the notice
10 was mailed prior to August first, or that if payment is not made
11 on or before March thirty-first of the following year, in cases
12 where the notice was mailed on or after August first, or no
13 exceptions thereto filed, the said claim shall become absolute,
14 (3) state that on July first of the year in which such notice is
15 given or if the notice was mailed after July thirty-first, that
16 on the first day of the month (naming it) in which the notice
17 was mailed the one (1) year period of redemption shall commence
18 or has commenced to run, and that if redemption is not made
19 during that period as provided by this act, the property shall
20 be sold [at judicial sale] pursuant to the provisions of this
21 act and there shall be no further redemption after such sale
22 except as set forth in section 607.
23 (b) In the case of claim for taxes, filed in the office of
24 the prothonotary, which have not been heretofore reduced to
25 judgment, where the lien of such claim has not been lost, the
26 respective taxing districts shall return to the bureau on or
27 before the first Monday of May, one thousand nine hundred forty-
28 eight, or [on or before] not later than the first Monday of
29 [June] April of any year in which any city of the third class or
30 any county shall elect to collect its delinquent taxes in
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1 accordance with this act, a complete list of such claims and the
2 properties against which the same are filed, and the bureau
3 shall give such owners the same notice as above provided or
4 shall post such notice on the property.
5 (c) Notice given in the manner provided by this section
6 shall constitute proper service on the owner. A statement in the
7 claim entered that due notice of the same was given shall be
8 conclusive evidence that notice was given as required by law.
9 The notice given in the manner provided by this section shall
10 contain the following provision which shall be conspicuously
11 placed upon said notice and set in at least 10-point type in a
12 box as follows:
13 WARNING
14 "IF YOU FAIL TO PAY THIS TAX CLAIM OR TAKE LEGAL ACTION
15 TO CHALLENGE THIS TAX CLAIM, YOUR PROPERTY WILL BE SOLD
16 WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT AS PAYMENT FOR THESE TAXES. YOUR
17 PROPERTY MAY BE SOLD FOR A SMALL FRACTION OF ITS FAIR MARKET
18 VALUE. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CALL YOUR ATTORNEY,
19 THE TAX CLAIM BUREAU AT THE FOLLOWING TELEPHONE NUMBER______,
20 OR THE LEGAL AID SERVICE AT THE FOLLOWING TELEPHONE
21 NUMBER_______."
22 (d) The costs of such mailed and posted notices shall be
23 taxes as part of the costs of the proceedings and shall be paid
24 by the owner the same as other costs.
25 Section 3. Section 602 of the act, amended September 27,
26 1973 (P.L.264, No.74), is amended to read:
27 Section 602. Notice of Sale.--(a) [Prior] At least thirty
28 (30) days prior to any scheduled sale the bureau shall give
29 notice thereof not less than once [a week for three (3)
30 consecutive weeks] in two (2) newspapers of general circulation
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1 in the county, if so many are published therein, and once in the
2 legal journal, if any, designated by the court for the
3 publication of legal notices. Such notice shall set forth [(a)]
4 (1) the purposes of such sale, [(b)] (2) the time of such sale,
5 [(c)] (3) the place of such sale, [(d)] (4) the terms of the
6 sale including the approximate upset price, [(e)] (5) the
7 descriptions of the properties to be sold as stated in the
8 claims entered, each description commencing with
9 "..............................................................
10 Name of Owner
11 .............................................................."
12 description
13 (b) Where the owner is unknown and has been unknown for a
14 period of not less than ten years, the name of the owner need
15 not be included in such description.
16 (c) The description may be given intelligible abbreviations.
17 (d) Such published notice shall be addressed to the "owners
18 of properties described in this notice and to all persons having
19 tax liens, tax judgments or municipal claims against such
20 properties."
21 (e) In addition to such publications, similar notice of the
22 sale shall also be given by the bureau[, at least ten (10)] as
23 follows:
24 (1) At least sixty (60) days before the date of the sale, by
25 United States certified mail, personal addressee only, return
26 receipt requested, postage prepaid, to each owner as defined by
27 this act. [and by posting on the property.]
28 (2) If return receipt is not received from each owner
29 pursuant to the provisions of clause (1), then, at least thirty
30 (30) days before the date of the sale, similar notice of the
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1 sale shall be given to each owner who failed to acknowledge the
2 first notice by United States certified mail, personal addressee
3 only, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, at his last
4 known post office address by virtue of the knowledge and
5 information possessed by the bureau, by the tax collector for
6 the taxing district making the return and by the county office
7 responsible for assessments and revisions of taxes. It shall be
8 the duty of the bureau to determine the last post office address
9 known to said collector and county assessment office.
10 (3) Each property scheduled for sale shall be posted at
11 least ten (10) days prior to the sale.
12 (f) The published notice, the mail notice and the posted
13 notice shall each state that the sale of any property may, at
14 the option of the bureau, be stayed if the owner thereof or any
15 lien creditor of the owner on or before the date of sale enters
16 into an agreement with the bureau to pay the taxes in
17 instalments, in the manner provided by this act, and the
18 agreement entered into.
19 (g) All notices required by this section other than the
20 newspaper notice and notice in the legal journal shall contain
21 the following provision which shall be conspicuously placed upon
22 said notices and set in at least 10-point type in a box as
23 follows:
24 WARNING
25 "YOUR PROPERTY IS ABOUT TO BE SOLD WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT
26 FOR DELINQUENT TAXES. YOUR PROPERTY MAY BE SOLD FOR A SMALL
27 FRACTION OF ITS FAIR MARKET VALUE. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS
28 AS TO WHAT YOU MUST DO IN ORDER TO SAVE YOUR PROPERTY, PLEASE
29 CALL YOUR ATTORNEY, THE TAX CLAIM BUREAU AT THE FOLLOWING
30 TELEPHONE NUMBER_______, OR THE LEGAL AID SERVICE AT THE
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1 FOLLOWING TELEPHONE NUMBER_______."
2 (h) In case the property of any corporation, limited
3 partnership or joint-stock association is advertised for sale,
4 the bureau shall give to the Department of Revenue the notice
5 required by section one thousand four hundred two of the Fiscal
6 Code of the ninth day of April, one thousand nine hundred
7 twenty-nine (Pamphlet Laws 343).
8 No sale shall be defeated and no title to property sold shall
9 be invalidated because of proof that mail notice as herein
10 required was not received by the owner, provided such notice was
11 given as prescribed by this section.
12 (i) The costs of such advertisement and notices shall be
13 taxed as part of the costs of such proceedings and shall be paid
14 by the owner the same as other costs.
15 Section 4. The section heading of section 607 of the act is
16 amended and a subsection is added to read:
17 Section 607. Bureau's Return to Court; Redemption Notice;
18 Confirmation; Appeal.--* * *
19 (a.1) (1) Within thirty (30) days of the sale, the bureau,
20 in the case of owner-occupied property, shall notify an owner by
21 personalized service through the sheriff of the county or his
22 designee that the property was sold and that the owner has (i)
23 sixty (60) days from the date of the receipt of the notice to
24 redeem the property from the effects of the sale by notifying
25 and making payment to the bureau as provided in this subsection,
26 or (ii) within sixty (60) days from the date of receipt of the
27 notice to file objections with the court relating to the
28 regularity and procedures followed during the sale. If personal
29 service cannot be made as required herein, the bureau shall
30 petition the court of common pleas to waive the requirement of
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1 personal service for good cause shown. Personal service on one
2 of the owners shall be deemed personal service on all owners.
3 (2) For all other owners and properties not personally
4 served pursuant to clause (1), notice shall be given by the
5 bureau within thirty (30) days of the sale to each owner by
6 United States certified mail, personal addressee only, return
7 receipt requested, postage prepaid, to each owner at his last
8 known post office address as defined in section 602(e)(2) that
9 the property was sold and that the owner has (i) sixty (60) days
10 from the date of the mailing of notice to redeem the property
11 from the effects of the sale as provided in this subsection or
12 (ii) within sixty (60) days from the date of the mailing of the
13 notice to file objections with the court relating to the
14 regularity and procedures followed during the sale.
15 (3) An owner may redeem the property from the effects of the
16 sale by making payment to the bureau of the amount of the claim,
17 all costs and an additional ten per centum (10%) penalty on the
18 claim. In the case of such redemption, the bureau shall
19 forthwith return to the purchaser at the sale all moneys paid by
20 such purchaser. The ten per centum (10%) penalty shall be
21 forwarded by the county to the treasurer for use of the county.
22 (4) All notices required by this subsection shall contain
23 the following provisions and be in the following form set in at
24 least 10-point type in a box as follows:
25 WARNING
26 "YOUR PROPERTY HAS BEEN SOLD AT A TAX SALE ON____________
27 FOR THE COLLECTION FOR DELINQUENT TAXES INCURRED
28 IN______________.
29 YOU HAVE SIXTY (60) DAYS FROM THE DATE OF RECEIPT OR
30 MAILING, IF MAILED, OF THIS NOTICE TO (I) RETAIN YOUR
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1 PROPERTY AND CANCEL THE SALE BY NOTIFYING AND MAKING PAYMENT
2 TO THIS BUREAU OF THE AMOUNT OF THE BACK TAXES WITH INTEREST,
3 ALL THE COSTS INCURRED AND AN ADDITIONAL TEN PER CENTUM (10%)
4 PENALTY ON THE BACK TAXES; OR (II) TO QUESTION THE RIGHT OF
5 THE BUREAU TO CONDUCT THE SALE BECAUSE OF A FAILURE ON THE
6 BUREAU'S PART TO COMPLY WITH THE LAW.
7 IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CALL YOUR ATTORNEY, THIS
8 TAX CLAIM BUREAU AT THE FOLLOWING TELEPHONE NUMBER________,
9 OR THE LEGAL AID SERVICE AT THE FOLLOWING TELEPHONE
10 NUMBER______."
11 (5) No sale shall be defeated and no title to property sold
12 shall be invalidated because of proof that the mail notice as
13 herein required was not received by the owner, provided that
14 such notice was given as prescribed by this section.
15 (6) For purposes of this subsection, the term "owner
16 occupant" shall mean all properties which have improvements
17 constructed thereon and for which the annual tax bill is mailed
18 to the owner at the same address as that of the property.
19 * * *
20 Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall
21 apply to all properties that become delinquent thereafter,
22 except that section 4 of this act relating to section 607(a.1)
23 shall apply to all sales conducted on or after the effective
24 date of this act.
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