Bill Text: PA SB478 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Providing for the tax sale of abandoned properties.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 14-7)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-10 - Referred to FINANCE [SB478 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-SB478-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 470
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 478 Session of2011
INTRODUCED BY BROWNE, PILEGGI, SMUCKER, ERICKSON, YAW, ALLOWAY, WAUGH, FONTANA, TARTAGLIONE, COSTA, GREENLEAF, BAKER, EARLL, SOLOBAY, WOZNIAK, YUDICHAK, WILLIAMS, PICCOLA, M. WHITE AND PIPPY, FEBRUARY 10, 2011
REFERRED TO FINANCE, FEBRUARY 10, 2011
AN ACT
Providing for the tax sale of abandoned properties.
The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) Pennsylvania's older communities are vital to the
Commonwealth's economic health by providing a focal point for
businesses and services, and to the Commonwealth's quality of
life with their rich histories and diverse communities.
However, many older communities suffer from blighted
properties that have been abandoned by their owners.
(2) The citizens of this Commonwealth are adversely
affected by abandoned, blighted and tax-delinquent
residential, commercial and industrial properties, including
those citizens who live or work in proximity to substandard
buildings, as well as those who own property in the vicinity
of the buildings.
(3) Abandoned, blighted and tax-delinquent residential,
commercial and industrial structures pose a safety threat and
public nuisance, and their blighting effect diminishes the
value of nearby property.
(4) If these buildings are not demolished or
rehabilitated and brought into code compliance, they are
likely to remain abandoned and further deteriorate, resulting
in increased cost to the Commonwealth, municipality and
taxpayers to secure and ultimately demolish these buildings.
(5) Properties sold at tax sale sometimes remain
blighted and become tax delinquent again.
(6) Providing a mechanism to remove or transform
abandoned, blighted and tax-delinquent buildings into
productive reuse is an opportunity for communities to
modernize, revitalize and grow, and to improve both the local
economy and the quality of life for neighbors.
(7) The General Assembly declares that it is in the best
interests of the Commonwealth, municipalities and communities
to establish a process, as set forth under this act, for
declaring properties abandoned and ensuring that the
properties, when purchased at tax sale, will be demolished or
rehabilitated and returned to productive use.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Abandoned
Property Tax Sale Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Abandoned property."
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(1) A property on which there is a building that has not
been legally occupied for at least the previous 12 months and
the municipality finds at least one of the following:
(i) The building is a public nuisance.
(ii) The building is in need of substantial
rehabilitation and no rehabilitation has taken place
during the previous 12 months.
(iii) The building is unfit for human habitation,
occupancy or use.
(iv) The condition and vacancy of the building
materially increases the risk of fire to the building and
to adjacent properties.
(v) The building is subject to unauthorized entry
leading to potential health and safety hazards, and the
owner has failed to take reasonable and necessary
measures to secure the building or the municipality has
secured the building in order to prevent the hazards
after the owner has failed to do so.
(vi) The property is an attractive nuisance to
children, including the presence of abandoned wells,
shafts, basements, excavation and unsafe structures.
(vii) The presence of vermin or the accumulation of
debris, uncut vegetation or physical deterioration of the
structure or grounds has created potential health and
safety hazards, and the owner has failed to take
reasonable and necessary measures to remove the hazards.
(viii) The dilapidated appearance or other condition
of the building negatively affects the economic well-
being of residents and businesses in close proximity to
the building, including decreases in property value and
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loss of business, and the owner has failed to take
reasonable and necessary measures to remedy the
conditions.
(ix) The property is an attractive nuisance for
illicit purposes, including prostitution, drug use and
vagrancy.
(2) The term shall include structures if the structures
are the only improvements on the property.
(3) The term shall not include auxiliary structures
which are incidental to the main building on the property.
"Municipality." Any city of the first, second, second class
A or third class, any incorporated town, any township of the
first or second class and any borough.
"Public nuisance." Any property which, because of physical
condition or use, is regarded as a public nuisance at common law
or has been declared a public nuisance in accordance with the
local housing, building, health, fire or related codes.
Section 3. Publication of notice and review by municipality.
(a) List.--At least 60 days prior to the date scheduled for
a tax sale, the county shall make public a list of properties to
be offered at the sale. The county shall provide a copy of the
list to the mayor, or comparable municipal official, of any
municipality in which a property scheduled for sale is located.
(b) Notification.--Within 30 days of receipt of the list
under subsection (a), the municipality may notify the county of
any abandoned properties within its jurisdiction.
(c) Sale.--No less than 15 days prior to the scheduled tax
sale, the county shall make public a revised list of properties
to be offered for sale indicating which are abandoned.
Section 4. Requirements for purchaser of abandoned properties.
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In addition to any other requirements of the act of May 16,
1923 (P.L.207, No.153), referred to as the Municipal Claim and
Tax Lien Law, the act of July 7, 1947 (P.L.1368, No.542), known
as the Real Estate Tax Sale Law, or the act of October 11, 1984
(P.L.876, No.171), known as the Second Class City Treasurer's
Sale and Collection Act, the purchaser of an abandoned property
shall do all of the following:
(1) Within 30 days of the sale and prior to the transfer
of title, enter into a redevelopment agreement with the
municipality in which the property is located or, at the
option of the municipality, with the redevelopment authority
obligating the purchaser to redevelop the property in
accordance with all municipal codes and any officially
adopted plans for the geographic area in which the property
is located. If the municipality or the redevelopment
authority determines that demolition of the building is
appropriate, the purchaser may demolish instead of
redeveloping the property. The redevelopment plan shall
include all of the following at a minimum:
(i) A specified time by which the redevelopment or
demolition must be completed.
(ii) A description of the redevelopment work or
demolition to be completed.
(iii) Remedies for noncompliance, including the
right of the municipality or redevelopment authority to
acquire title to the property if the redevelopment or
demolition is not completed by the agreed-upon date.
(2) Within 30 days of the sale and prior to the transfer
of title, post a bond to ensure compliance with the
redevelopment agreement, naming the municipality or
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redevelopment authority as the beneficiary.
Section 20. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 90 days.
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