HARRISBURG — The process to foreclose vacant and abandoned properties would be speeded up to fight blight under legislation written by two senators from Northeast Pennsylvania.
Sens. David Argall, R-29, and John Blake, D-22, Archbald, plan to introduce a bill soon to make Pennsylvania the eighth state with a “fast-track” foreclosure law.
The legislation would shorten a process that can now take anywhere from 300 to 540 days and will apply only to property that meets criteria for being vacant and abandoned, the senators said.
“We believe we can get it down to 60 days,” Argall said.
Foreclosure occurs when lenders seize a property because the owner can’t keep up with mortgage payments.
A lengthy foreclosure process allows properties to decay, become dangerous eyesores and reduce property values in the surrounding neighborhood, Argall said.
The legislation will create a process where a property is certified as vacant and abandoned either by a municipal code officer or court action before a lender can start an expedited foreclosure. Lenders would have to follow specific steps in that event.
The criteria for determining whether a property is vacant and abandoned will include such considerations as whether personal possessions have been removed, utilities are shut off, fixtures have been stripped and the grass is not mowed, Argall said.
This legislation is not tied to Scranton’s move to create a registry of foreclosed homes, Blake aide Luc Miron said. City officials said the registry would help ensure that foreclosed homes are properly maintained and give city code enforcement officials a contact number in case maintenance or repairs are needed.
A legislative blight task force that already contributed to passage of a number of anti-blight laws during the past decade developed the legislation. Housing advocates, local government officials and bankers are involved with the task force.
The bill’s provisions will reflect testimony given during a joint Senate-House committee hearing last fall on fast-track foreclosure, Argall said.
At that hearing, the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania said it’s important that a court decides whether a property is vacant and abandoned and that a property owner be given adequate notice of a foreclosure action.
The alliance’s policy director, Cindy Daley, discussed how to tell if a property is vacant and abandoned.
“A number of indicators can be taken together to paint a picture of vacancy and abandonment: substantially all personal property has been removed, utilities have been shut off, mail is accumulating or being forwarded, windows or doors are broken,” she said. “It is a combination of things. Blight may be a factor, but it is not, in and of itself, proof of vacancy and abandonment. We all know of blighted houses that are occupied.”
Legal advocates stressed the importance of giving adequate protection to low-income homeowners.
“We should be very careful not to take away due process for homeowners because a lender believes a home is vacant and abandoned,” Michael Froehlich, an attorney with Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, said.