Pennsylvania’s Act 90 of 2010, codified at 53 Pa. C.S. Chapter 61, gives every municipality in the Commonwealth two sharp tools against property owners who let buildings deteriorate or fall behind on municipal bills. A municipality can refuse to issue you permits anywhere in Pennsylvania based on a problem property you own in a different town, and it can sue you personally to recover the money it spends cleaning up your violations. Both powers kick in once a serious code violation or a final delinquency has gone unresolved for six months.
When a Municipality Can Deny Your Permits
Section 6131 lets a municipality refuse a permit for one of two reasons. The first is a serious code violation on any property you own in Pennsylvania where you have taken no substantial steps to fix the problem within six months of being notified, and where a court or magisterial district judge has already imposed fines, penalties, or a judgment ordering the correction. The second is a final, unappealable delinquency on property taxes, water, sewer, or trash charges tied to your conduct as owner.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 – Municipal Permit Denial
A “serious violation” is defined as a condition posing an imminent threat to the health and safety of a dwelling’s occupants, people in surrounding buildings, or passersby.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 – Definitions The word “imminent” does real work. A cosmetic defect or routine maintenance lapse does not qualify. A collapsing roof, exposed wiring, or a broken sewer line does.
Two carve-outs limit the denial power. A municipality cannot refuse a permit you need to fix the very violation that triggered the citation. And a delinquency that is under appeal or being contested in a court or administrative proceeding cannot be used as a basis for denial.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 – Municipal Permit Denial If a court has issued a stay or supersedeas on the underlying judgment, you must tell the municipality that is trying to deny the permit, and the property cannot be used against you until the stay lifts.
A Problem in One Town Blocks Permits in Another
The statute reaches across municipal lines. Section 6131 applies when the applicant “owns real property in any municipality” in Pennsylvania with a qualifying violation or delinquency.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 – Municipal Permit Denial A neglected building in Pittsburgh can block your permit application in Philadelphia. If you own properties across several counties, you cannot wall off the trouble in one jurisdiction from the paperwork you need in another.
A denial has to be in writing and must identify the street address of the offending property, the municipality and county where it sits, and the court docket number for each parcel cited. It must also tell you that you can request a letter of compliance from the relevant state agency, municipality, or school district.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 – Municipal Permit Denial If the written denial is vague or missing those details, that is grounds to push back.
Which Permits Are Affected
“Municipal permits” under § 6103 covers building permits, occupancy permits, exceptions to zoning ordinances, and approvals under other land use ordinances.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 – Definitions That reaches almost everything you need to build, renovate, change the use of, or legally lease a property.
Decisions about the underlying validity of a zoning ordinance or map, and the acceptance of a curative amendment, are not included.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 – Definitions A challenge to a zoning classification itself remains available even while a permit freeze is in effect.
How to Get Your Permits Unblocked
A permit denied under § 6131 stays blocked until you obtain a letter of compliance from the appropriate agency confirming one of three things: the property has no remaining delinquencies, it now complies with all applicable codes, or you have submitted and the agency has accepted a remediation plan to address the serious violation.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 – Municipal Permit Denial The third option matters. You do not have to finish every repair before the freeze lifts. A credible, accepted plan to begin fixing the problem can be enough.
There is also a backstop against bureaucratic delay. If a state agency, municipality, or school district fails to respond to a compliance letter request within 45 days, the property is deemed compliant. A slow office cannot indefinitely trap an owner who has actually fixed the underlying problem.
Personal Liability for Cleanup Costs
Section 6111 lets a municipality bring an in personam action against you directly for a continuing violation where you have taken no substantial steps to fix the problem within six months of receiving a correction order.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 Pa.C.S. 6111 – Actions In a single lawsuit, the municipality can recover all penalties imposed on you plus any remediation costs it incurred fixing the violations itself. Those costs can far exceed the value of the property that caused the problem.
Once a court enters judgment under § 6111, § 6112 lets the municipality attach a lien against your other assets. The statute draws one line: it does not authorize placing a lien on the personal assets of shareholders, limited partners, members, or beneficiaries of a corporation, association, or trust, except where other law already allows piercing that protection. If you hold a blighted property through an LLC, your personal assets outside the entity have some insulation. The entity itself has none.
Who Counts as an “Owner”
The definition reaches further than the name on the deed. It includes heirs, assignees, beneficiaries, and lessees, so long as the ownership interest appears in public records.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 – Definitions Mortgage lenders are specifically excluded; a bank holding a mortgage on a blighted property is not an “owner” for Act 90 purposes.
Inheriting a property or signing a long-term lease on one can expose you to permit denials and personal liability even though you did not create the condition. Before you take an interest in Pennsylvania real estate, check for outstanding code violations and municipal delinquencies tied to the parcel. That diligence is the difference between acquiring a property and acquiring someone else’s enforcement problem.
Notice, Appeals, and Stays
Act 90’s tools come with built-in process. A permit denial requires that you were already notified of the violation, that six months have passed, and that a court or district judge has imposed fines or a judgment.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 – Municipal Permit Denial An in personam action requires the same six-month window after the correction order.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 Pa.C.S. 6111 – Actions A pending appeal of a correction order can pause enforcement, and a court-ordered stay bars a municipality from using that property as a basis for denial while the stay is in place.
What Bankruptcy Does and Does Not Stop
Filing for bankruptcy triggers the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362, which generally halts collection actions, lien enforcement, and lawsuits on pre-petition debts. That would normally freeze a § 6111 lawsuit or a § 6112 lien attachment. But the stay does not apply to actions by a government unit exercising its police or regulatory power, as long as the government seeks compliance rather than a money judgment.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay A municipality withholding permits to force code compliance fits that exception. Bankruptcy may delay the financial recovery side of Act 90 enforcement. It will not generally force a municipality to issue permits while serious violations remain.
Deducting What You Pay
How a settlement or judgment is worded affects your tax bill. Under 26 U.S.C. § 162(f), fines and penalties paid to a government for violating any law are not deductible as business expenses.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 162 – Trade or Business Expenses Code violation penalties imposed by a court fall into that bucket.
The statute carves out amounts that constitute restitution, property remediation, or payments made to come into compliance with the law, provided the court order or settlement agreement specifically identifies the payment as such.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 162 – Trade or Business Expenses If a settlement lumps fines and cleanup costs together without separating them, the entire amount risks being treated as non-deductible. When negotiating a resolution, insist that the agreement break out repair and cleanup costs as remediation to preserve deductibility for that portion.