Quick answer: Pennsylvania foreclosure is a court process, not an overnight event. After you fall behind, your lender must send an Act 91 notice and then sue you in your county’s Court of Common Pleas before a sheriff can sell your home — a process that commonly takes several months, and often close to a year in counties with homeowner conciliation programs. You keep the most options, and the best shot at protecting your equity, the earlier in that timeline you act.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Talk to a licensed attorney or tax professional about your situation.
How Pennsylvania’s Foreclosure Process Works
Pennsylvania foreclosures are judicial — your lender cannot simply take the house back. It has to file a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas in the county where the property sits, and a judge (or a default judgment, if you don’t respond) has to resolve the case before the county sheriff can schedule a sale. That court requirement is what gives homeowners a real window of time to work something out, sell, or catch up — but it also means the timeline is set by the court’s calendar and your county’s own backlog, not a fixed number of days everywhere.
The Act 91 Notice
Before a lender can move forward on a residential, owner-occupied mortgage, Pennsylvania law requires it to send you an Act 91 notice. According to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA), which administers the related assistance program, this notice tells you that you have the right to apply for help through the Homeowners’ Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP) and lists approved housing counseling agencies.
The notice starts a clock:
- You have 33 days from the date of the notice to apply for help through a listed counseling agency. If you apply in that window, your lender cannot take further action while the process is moving.
- Once you meet with a counselor, they have 30 days to submit your HEMAP application.
- HEMAP then has 60 days to decide.
As long as the process stays on schedule, PHFA states that your lender cannot pursue foreclosure action during that time. HEMAP itself is a loan, not a grant — it’s designed for homeowners who are behind through no fault of their own and can show they’ll be able to resume full payments, generally within 24 months.
Philadelphia’s Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program
If the property is an owner-occupied home in Philadelphia, there’s an added layer. The First Judicial District of Pennsylvania runs a Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program: once a lender files a foreclosure case on an owner-occupied property, the court schedules a conciliation conference and issues an order that prevents the lender from entering judgment until those conferences are finished. Conferences are held weekly, and the Department of Housing and Community Development connects homeowners with a free housing counselor through the Save Your Home Philly Hotline before the conference. Legal aid attorneys (Community Legal Services, Philadelphia Legal Assistance, SeniorLAW Center, and others) are also on hand to talk through options with homeowners who attend.
This program has meaningfully slowed down foreclosures in the city — the court’s own materials note the program had helped an estimated 10,000 Philadelphia households stay in their homes as of 2016. If your case is in Philadelphia and you believe it should have been flagged for the program but wasn’t, you can file a certification requesting a conference.
After Judgment: The Sheriff’s Sale
Once a lender gets a judgment, the county sheriff’s office schedules a public sale. In Philadelphia, mortgage foreclosure auctions are now held online rather than on the courthouse steps. Exactly how far out a sale is scheduled, and how much notice you get, varies by county and by how backed up that county’s sheriff’s office is — which is part of why there’s no single statewide number of “days until sale” that applies everywhere.
When Selling Can Still Protect Your Equity
The further a case moves toward a sheriff’s sale, the less control you have over the outcome. Before judgment, you set the terms if you sell: you can price the home, choose your buyer, and use the proceeds to pay off the mortgage and keep what’s left. Once a property reaches a sheriff’s sale, the sale price is set by the auction process, not by you, and any leftover proceeds go through a formal court distribution process that adds more time before you’d see them — if there’s anything left after the mortgage, liens, and costs are paid.
That’s the main reason selling earlier in the Act 91 or diversion-program window tends to protect more of a homeowner’s equity than waiting to see what happens at a sale. A cash sale closes on your timeline, without a financing contingency, repairs, or a listing period — which matters most for homeowners who no longer have months to spare.
Steps to Take If You’re Behind on Your Pennsylvania Mortgage
- Contact your servicer immediately — before or as soon as you miss a payment. PHFA and most servicers note that ignoring calls and letters is the worst option.
- Read your Act 91 notice carefully and apply with a listed counseling agency inside the 33-day window if you want to be considered for HEMAP.
- If the property is in Philadelphia, call the Save Your Home Philly Hotline and ask about the Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program conciliation conference.
- Compare your retention and disposition options — repayment plan, forbearance, a HEMAP loan, or selling the property, including to a cash buyer, before a sheriff’s sale date is set.
- Get a cash offer early if selling is the direction you’re leaning, so you have it in hand while you’re still deciding between options.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a foreclosure take in Pennsylvania?
There’s no single fixed number — it depends on your county’s court calendar, whether the property is owner-occupied, and whether a conciliation or diversion program applies. The process runs through an Act 91 notice, a lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas, a judgment, and finally a sheriff’s sale, and commonly takes several months from first notice to sale.
What is an Act 91 notice?
It’s a notice Pennsylvania law requires residential mortgage lenders to send before pursuing foreclosure on an owner-occupied home. It tells you about your right to apply for help through HEMAP and lists approved counseling agencies, per PHFA.
Can I sell my house after I get an Act 91 notice?
Yes. Getting an Act 91 notice doesn’t stop you from selling. Many homeowners use this window to weigh HEMAP, a repayment plan, or a sale before a lawsuit or sheriff’s sale date is ever scheduled.
Does selling to a cash buyer stop a Pennsylvania foreclosure?
Selling and closing before a sheriff’s sale pays off the mortgage and ends the foreclosure case, because there’s no longer a debt to foreclose on. It does not erase a lawsuit that’s already been filed on its own — you still need to close before the sale date.
What happens to the Philadelphia conciliation conference if I sell first?
If you sell and close before your conference date, there’s no more delinquency to resolve, so the case is typically resolved by the sale. Confirm the specific status of your case with the court or your attorney before assuming it’s closed.
Get a Cash Offer on Your Pennsylvania Home
If you’re behind on your mortgage anywhere in NJ, PA, or DE and want to know what a cash sale looks like before a sheriff’s sale date gets any closer, J.O Properties can give you a fair cash offer within 24 hours, with no repairs, no agent fees, and a closing date you choose. We buy houses in Philadelphia, throughout Montgomery County, and across the rest of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. If tangled ownership or title issues are also part of your situation, our guide to selling with a tangled title in Philadelphia covers that side of it.
Get a cash offer today or call or text us at (609) 546-4059.
Sources
- Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, “HEMAP – Emergency Mortgage Assistance – ACT 91 Foreclosure Counseling”: https://www.phfa.org/counseling/hemap.aspx
- Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, “Foreclosure Prevention | PHFA Foreclosure Help and Counseling”: https://www.phfa.org/homeowners/foreclosure.aspx
- First Judicial District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia Courts), “Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program”: https://www.courts.phila.gov/mfdp/
- Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office, “Mortgage Foreclosure Auction”: https://phillysheriff.com/event/mortgage-foreclosure-auction/