Philadelphia City Council Suspends Foreclosure Sales, Calls for a Six Month Moratorium

Housing Wire has learned that the City Council of Philadelphia passed a resolution Thursday afternoon calling for the Sheriff’s Department to immediately suspend all foreclosure sales in the county scheduled for April — essentially imposing a 30-day “pause” on any foreclosures that had been scheduled to be auctioned off during the month (foreclosure sales are held monthly). The resolution also calls for the Sheriff to seek an additional six month moratorium through the courts, according to a private memo released by a local law firm in the Philadelphia area and obtained by HW.

It’s unclear at this time what reaction the Philadelphia Sherriff’s office has to the city’s proposed resolution. Calls for comment were not immediately returned.

Attorneys that spoke with Housing Wire said that they believe the actions of the City Council to be a blatant abuse and violation of existing state law. “These actions, as proposed, will obviously cause a major disruption to the practice of mortgage foreclosure law in Philadelphia County, which handles the largest volume of foreclosures in the State of Pennsylvania,” the memo said.

One source, an attorney outside of the state, wondered if the city was also planning on paying for costs associated with delaying the sales. “Is the good city of Philadelphia also planning on paying investors for excess property maintenance, and assuming the increased risk of theft and property damage, too?,” the source said, who asked not to be named.

More details will be provided as they become available.