The link below is a new form of the combined Act 6/91 pre-foreclosure notice, which must be sent at least 33 days (30 days plus 3 days for mailing) before commencing an owner-occupied residential mortgage foreclosure, or executing on a “residential mortgage obligation” (which can include a money judgment and/or conformed confession of judgment ) against “residential real property” (as both of those are defined in Act 6) in Pennsylvania:
Download Act 91 Notice — Fillable Form (PDF)
The new form is currently available for use and MUST be used as of September 1, 2016.
The material changes to the Act 6/91 Notice include the following:
- The notice must be sent in English with a Spanish translation on the reverse side.
- The notice has also been translated into Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese and Cambodian. While only English and Spanish versions of the Notice are required, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (“PHFA”) encourages lenders to send out one of the approved additional versions in the appropriate language if the lender has reason to believe that the borrower is likely to communicate in that language.
- The Notice may not be printed on company letterhead. There is also no signature line provided on the form.
- Absolutely no deviations from the form are permitted, except for the entry of the date at the top of each page, and the information relevant to the particular homeowner’s account. The specific cells in the form may not be added to or deleted. If a particular field is not applicable it is to be marked as “N/A.” If the necessary information will not fit in the cells provided, the cells may be enlarged, or the form may be generated by the lender, but only in a format identical to the official version.
- Other changes to the form’s fonts and formats are NOT permitted. In fact, any change in format will not meet the requirements of Act 6/91 and may result in a presumption of deficiency under Pennsylvania law and challenge the validity of the foreclosure action.
- The date on the Act notice triggers the 30 day period for a stay of proceedings to allow the homeowner to apply for assistance. PHFA presumes that the date printed on the notice is contemporaneous with the date of mailing, but if the postmark date is later in time, said postmark date will override the printed date on the notice in determining the timeliness of the face-to-face meeting.
- Lenders must ensure that the Account Summary information is valid for the date printed on the notice.
- Lenders must continue to attach a list of credit counseling agencies for the specific county where the property is located. Lenders must update their credit counseling agencies list in accordance with PHFA’s published update schedule (which has not yet been set forth as of the date of this writing).
- Additional information is available at the link below and may (but need not be) provided to the borrower before, or with the Act notice:
Download HEMAP Fact Sheet (PDF)
If you are a lender and have questions regarding the new Act 6/91 Notice, contact Kristen Ladd at kladd@utbf.com or 484-653-2233.
