78 Dealing with Tax sales and Code Enforcement

My suggestion is that the City of Sharon Council members at a work session discuss and consider directing City staff in doing the following at the

Judicial Tax Sale(s) as well as at Upset Tax Sales  and Private Tax Sales for delinquent property taxes. Eighty percent of positive revitalization efforts begin with code enforcement. 

The law controlling the sale of tax delinquent properties clearly states that the delinquent owner is not relieved of civil or criminal

liability or for an obligation for maintenance or for nuisance remediation until the Tax Claim Office  transfers the deed to a

purchaser. (See: 72 P.S. Section 5860.642 Ownership Interests and Responsibilities of Delinquent Property Owner.)

1.) New owners of properties should be promptly informed if their winning bid has bought them a property that is not

in compliance with the building maintenance code. They should be served with a citation for all code deficiencies.

The code violations should be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

2.) As the properties for sale prior to a Judicial Sale are identified and known beforehand, the code status of

each property should be in hand before a sale is conducted. As the Judicial Sale is an in-person public auction a City Code

employee should attend and serve a Code citation upon the winning bidder at the sale in the Mercer Courthouse. At that

time the address and identification for the winning bidder can be verified as the citation should also be mailed by Certified

return receipt mail. 

3.) As the properties for sale prior to a Private Tax Sale are known beforehand but the Private Tax Sale is essentially administrative

in nature; the buyer should be notified of code violations through certified return receipt mail. This would have to be coordinated

through the Tax Claim Office / Bureau which is directly supervised by the County Commissioners. Two notices should be mailed via 

certified return receipt mail. First, when public notice is advertised by the Tax Claim Office of a forthcoming Private Tax Sale the 

person(s) who made the bid / application for a private tax sale of an eligible property should have the code status information mailed

to them with the July public notice. The Tax Office stay would do that. Second, when the administrative sale decision is made in

September, the person who bought the property, their name and address should be given to the Code Office so that they can

mail the Code citation to the new owner. Notice should be made to a winning competitive bidder in those cases where objections

are filed prior to September subsequent to public notice in the newspaper.

4.) Few properties are cleared at the annual Upset Tax Sale auction. The Tax Claim Office should inform the Code Office

when a sale occurs in order that the Code Office can send a citation to the new owner.

The suggestions for Private Tax Sale and the Upset Tax Sale coordination with the Code Office requires that the County Commissioners

direct the Tax Claim office staff to comply, be cooperative and proactive.

The suggestion for the Judicial Tax Sale requires only a courtesy notification to the Tax Claim Office as the Judicial Tax Sale

is a public meeting.