On May 7, 2020, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf issued an Executive Order extending protections from certain foreclosures and evictions through July 10, 2020. This new Executive Order extends the existing moratorium, which was put in place by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, for an additional 60 days. A full copy of the Executive Order can be found here.

The effective date of the Executive Order is May 11, 2020, and imposes limitations on the ability to commence evictions or foreclosures in Pennsylvania. For landlords, the notice requirements mandated by the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 and the Manufactured Home Community Rights Act are stayed for 60 days, effectively suspending the ability to commence the prerequisite process for the initiation of eviction proceedings. Going forward, all eviction timelines must be computed with a start date of July 10, 2020, at which point any previously delivered notices will be deemed delivered and evictions may proceed.

For lenders, the Executive Order also imposes a 60-day stay of the requirements under the Loan Interest and Protection Law, 41 P.S. §101 et. seq. (Act 6) and the Homeowners Emergency Assistance Act, 35 P.S. § 1680.41 et. seq. (Act 91). These provisions mandate the manner and type of notice that lenders must provide prior to initiating a foreclosure action. As with the eviction process, foreclosure and eviction timelines must be computed with a start date of July 10, 2020, and, upon lifting of the eviction and foreclosure stay, any previously delivered notices will be deemed delivered and proceedings may commence. After July 10, and assuming that future executive orders do not further extend the stay, new foreclosure and eviction proceedings requiring compliance with Act 6 and Act 91 may proceed in the normal course.

Despite these restrictions, the Executive Order does not release tenants or borrowers from their obligation to make required payments, and while evictions and foreclosure proceedings are stayed, every tenant or borrower may continue to accrue a balance and potential late fees if timely payments are not made. If you are a tenant, landlord, borrower, or lender impacted by this Executive Order, the Real Estate group at Blank Rome is available to counsel and guide you through this changing legal landscape.