Pennsylvania Court Filings Intelligence

• Filing volume accelerating (+138.4%) — last 2 complete months (2093 filings) vs prior 2 complete months (878 filings). Excludes current month if still in progress.
• 40.3% off-site owners — share of Pennsylvania filings where the owner's mailing address differs from the property (rental, inherited, second-home, or transitional).
• Max gross cap rate 14.0% at HUD Fair Market Rent — $16,548/year on the $117,870 median estimated market value. Excludes operating costs.
• 59.2% of filings are Equity Division Sale — the dominant lead category in Pennsylvania during the observed window.

At a glance

Filing type breakdown

Each row is a distinct case verified for current owner-of-record before inclusion.

Filing velocity by case type

How each distress category is trending statewide — are foreclosures accelerating while divorces cool, or vice versa? This breakdown is only possible with direct court-record data.

Trend = recent 2-3 month volume vs prior 2-3 months (current partial month excluded). Positive = accelerating; negative = cooling.

Lender concentration analysis

Foreclosure activity is spread across many lenders, suggesting diverse distress sources rather than a single institutional wave.

HHI (Herfindahl-Hirschman Index): <1500 = competitive, 1500-2500 = moderate concentration, >2500 = highly concentrated. Based on 1883 foreclosure filings with identified plaintiffs.

Seasonal filing patterns

Court filings peak in Jun and are lowest in Jan. The 4.6x peak-to-trough ratio suggests strong seasonal patterns — investors who time their outreach around Jun can reach more distressed homeowners.

Average filings per calendar month across all observed years. Relative column shows each month as a percentage of the peak month (Jun), with a 4.6x peak-to-trough ratio.

ZIP code distress hotspots

Distress is geographically dispersed across 491 ZIP codes, with no single area dominating.

Top 10 of 491 ZIP codes with filings.

Non-resident owner analysis

Most filings (98%) involve owner-occupied properties. The relatively low absentee rate suggests distress is primarily hitting homeowners, not institutional investors.

Non-resident = owner's mailing address differs from the property address. Could indicate out-of-state landlords, inherited estates, second homes, or in-transition properties.

Distress composition and shifts

Pre-Foreclosure, Inherited Property share is rising. Equity Division Sale, High Urgency Pre Foreclosure share is declining. High diversity in distress types suggests multiple independent factors driving court filings, not a single economic shock.

Distress diversity score: 2.59 (Shannon entropy; higher = more diverse distress sources). "Recent" = last 2 complete months; "Earlier" = all prior months.

Top counties by filing volume

Counties with live deep-dive reports linked below. See all Pennsylvania counties tracked →

County-by-county comparison dashboard

Across 18 counties with 10+ filings, York County leads in filing volume (3679 filings, 33.2% of the state). Delaware County has the highest median property value ($297,903). Luzerne County has the highest absentee owner rate (27.0%).

Counties with fewer than 10 filings are excluded. Median value based on county assessor records. Resolution rate from tracked docket outcomes. Average events = average docket entries per case (higher = more complex proceedings).

Monthly statewide filing activity

Most recent month may be partial.

Property value distribution

Median: $117,870. Mean: $162,294. From third-party property enrichment.

Day-of-week filing pattern

Filings cluster Monday through Friday, with weekend filings essentially absent (court system closed).

Case lifecycle (foreclosure)

Median time between key court-process milestones, computed from docket-entry timestamps on the 241 Pennsylvania cases with documented filing-event data:

Source: court docket entries. Only cases under active monitoring track through milestones. Cases without a documented filing or service event excluded.

Housing stock + distress signals (filing-weighted across 22 Pennsylvania counties)

Underlying housing stock and distress indicators across Pennsylvania counties where we track filings, weighted by filing volume so high-filing counties dominate the rollup. From US Census ACS 5-year data. National reference values shown for context.

Source: US Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS 2023 5-year), filing-weighted across 22 Pennsylvania counties.

New construction across Pennsylvania (2025)

Total housing permits filed across the 22 Pennsylvania counties we track. Trend signal on whether new housing demand is accelerating or contracting state-wide.

Source: US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, summed across 22 Pennsylvania counties.

Rent benchmark (Pennsylvania HUD Fair Market Rents, filing-weighted)

HUD Fair Market Rents averaged across 22 Pennsylvania counties (spanning 18 metro areas), weighted by filing volume. FY 2026. Used to set Section 8 voucher amounts; investors use it as a defensible rent-estimate floor.

Source: US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents (2026), filing-weighted across 22 Pennsylvania counties.

Macro context: home prices and national delinquency

Court-filing volume should be read against the broader housing-market backdrop. Pennsylvania's home prices and the national mortgage-delinquency rate are the two macro signals most directly relevant to foreclosure exposure.

Sources: Federal Housing Finance Agency state house price indices (FRED series PASTHPI); Federal Reserve Board, Mortgage Delinquency 30+Day Rate on Single-Family Residential Mortgages (FRED series DRSFRMACBS). Updated quarterly.

Local-market benchmark

Demographics of the ZIPs where Pennsylvania filings cluster, weighted by filing count and benchmarked against Census ACS 2023 5-year:

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-year estimates, filing-weighted across 6 top ZIPs.

Most active foreclosure plaintiffs in Pennsylvania

Top mortgage holders and servicers named in Pennsylvania foreclosure complaints. Names are normalized to collapse common legal-suffix variants.

Source: plaintiff names extracted from Pennsylvania foreclosure complaint text. Court records are public information.

Post-filing sale outcomes in Pennsylvania

What happens to distressed properties after a court filing? By cross-referencing each filing's property with county assessor and deed-transfer records, we track which properties sold, how long the process took, and at what price. This analysis covers 8910 filings (80.5% of all 11070 filings) where parcel-level tracking is available.

Time from filing to sale

How quickly do distressed properties sell after a court filing is recorded? This distribution shows where post-filing sales cluster.

Sale rates by filing type

Not all distress types lead to property sales at the same rate. Foreclosures tend to result in eventual sales more often than probate or divorce filings.

How sales relate to the filing

Not every post-filing sale is caused by the court case. We classify each sale's relationship to the original filing so investors can focus on the highest-signal outcomes. 44.9% of confirmed sales were directly driven by the filing.

Source: county assessor and deed-transfer records cross-referenced with court filings by parcel ID. Sale outcomes tracked for 8910 of 11070 filings (80.5% parcel coverage). Timing based on 107 sales with valid filing and sale dates. Prices based on 7 sales with recorded sale amounts.

Case Outcomes & Resolution Timeline

47.2% of tracked cases have reached a resolution, with a median time of 71 days from filing to resolution. The most common resolution is judgment entered (4162 cases, 82% of resolved).

Outcomes by Case Type

Based on 10742 of 11073 Pennsylvania court filings with active docket monitoring (97%). Based on a robust sample; percentages are reliable. Outcomes derived from docket entries (judgments, dismissals, sheriff sales, and settlement agreements). 5674 cases are still active or pending resolution.

Property Value Profile

The median assessed value of properties in court filings is $83,990. Divorce filings involve the highest-value properties (median $403,689), while Title Clearance Play filings trend lower (median $27,100). The largest segment (55.8%) falls in the Under $100K range.

Based on county assessor records for 8329 properties with court filings (75.2% of total filings) across Pennsylvania. Values are tax-assessed amounts, not market listing prices.

Investment Opportunity Score by ZIP Code

Across 262 ZIP codes with sufficient court filing data, ZIP 16001 (Whitestown Township) ranks highest with an investment opportunity score of 72/100, driven by high filing volume (498 cases). 104 of 262 scored ZIPs are above the average score of 31.

Based on 11073 court filings across 262 ZIP codes in Pennsylvania. ZIPs with fewer than 3 filings are excluded. Property values from county assessor records. Absentee status from property ownership verification.

Distress Capital Analysis

$1,055,523,983 in assessed property value is currently tied up in 8329 court-filed properties. 84% of properties with equity data carry 20%+ equity, signaling owners with real financial stakes in resolution. Equity Division Sale filings represent the largest capital pool ($512,459,710 across 4860 properties).

Equity Position of Distressed Properties

Capital at Risk by Filing Type

Based on 8329 properties with assessor valuations (75.2% of 11073 total filings) across Pennsylvania. Values are county assessor estimates. Equity calculated from estimated value vs outstanding mortgage balance where available.

Property Type Distribution

79.0% of distressed properties are classified as Residential, followed by Single Family (9.6%). Notably, Tax Distress filings skew toward Agricultural (100.0%).

Property classifications from county assessor records for 6,793 properties (61.4% of total filings across Pennsylvania). Categories normalized from assessor codes.

Case Aging & Stall Analysis

2,419 cases (21.9%) have been active for over a year without resolution. Stalled Project cases resolve fastest (median 16 days), while Equity Division Sale cases take longest (median 106 days). 651 filings in the last <30 days represent fresh opportunities.

Case aging computed from filing date to present for unresolved cases across Pennsylvania. Resolution classified from court docket entries (judgments, settlements, dismissals, sheriff sales).

Property Age & Distress Profile

6,452 filings (58.3% of scope) have year-built data. Pre-1960 properties are most common (52%). Newer properties (2000+) average $221,611 — 2.2x the value of Pre-1960 stock ($99,398). 1960–1979 cases resolve fastest (median 29d) vs 1980–1999 (52d).

Value trend: 2000+ properties average $221,611 — 2.23x the value of Pre-1960 stock ($99,398).

Construction year sourced from county tax assessor records across Pennsylvania. Value is assessed value from the most recent available tax assessment. Resolution timing based on court docket events.

Municipality filing concentration across Pennsylvania

Court filings in PA span 274 municipalities. Cranberry Township leads with 206 filings (7.1% of total), predominantly Equity Division Sale (72.3%). Distress is dispersed across many municipalities — the top 3 account for only 19% of filings.

Top 15 of 274 municipalities with court filings across Pennsylvania. Data from 2,894 filings (26% of total). Municipality names from county assessor records.

Quarterly Filing Volume Trends across Pennsylvania

Filing trends across 18 comparable quarters show 10,841 tracked filings in PA. Equity Division Sale shows the largest composition shift, declining share from 67.0% to 56.1%.

Composition shift: Equity Division Sale filings are declining share, moving from 67.0% to 56.1% of total filings (-10.8 percentage points).

Only comparable quarters shown (collection ramp-up periods excluded). Filing dates from verified court records. Current partial quarter excluded from trend calculations.

Property Value Distribution

The median property value in distressed filings is $67,010, with the largest concentration (43.9%) in the Under $50K range. Real Estate Dispute filings have the highest median value ($257,396) while Title Clearance Play filings are lowest ($18,000).

Assessed property values from county assessor records for 8,855 properties (80.0% of total filings) across Pennsylvania. Values reflect tax-assessed amounts, not market price.

Ownership Duration Before Filing

The median ownership duration before a court filing is 9.4 years, with 47.7% of owners holding the property 10+ years (a strong equity signal for investors). Inherited Property cases show the longest tenure (20.1 yr median) vs. Tax Sale Rescue (2.9 yr).

Duration calculated from last recorded property sale to court filing date for 7,753 properties (70.0% of total filings) across Pennsylvania. Longer ownership often correlates with higher equity.

Repeat litigation patterns across Pennsylvania

Of 10,757 unique property owners in court filings, 276 (2.6%) appear in multiple cases, including 31 with 3 or more filings. The most active repeat filer has 5 cases. Tax Distress cases have the highest repeat rate at 11.9%.

Repeat rate by case type

Analysis based on 10,757 unique owner names across Pennsylvania court filings. Repeat filers are property owners appearing in 2 or more distinct cases. This pattern identifies recurring distress — a signal invisible in aggregated property databases.

Serial distressed properties across Pennsylvania

Of 7,431 unique properties in court filings, 178 (2.4%) have multiple filings (averaging 21.4 filings per property). Average time between repeat filings: 2 months. Title Clearance Play properties have the highest repeat rate at 13.6%.

Serial distress rate by case type

Analysis based on 7,431 unique property addresses across Pennsylvania court filings. Serial distressed properties have 2 or more distinct case filings at the same address — indicating recurring financial or legal distress. These properties are high-value investor targets.

Land vs improvement value composition

Across 7,484 properties with assessed value breakdowns, the median land share is 19.3% (median land value $14,600, median improvement value $61,100). 138 properties (1.8%) are land-dominant (50%+ land value) — potential teardown or vacant-lot targets. Tax Distress cases skew most land-heavy (median 22.1%) while Real Estate Dispute skews most improvement-heavy (3.5%).

Land share distribution

Land share by case type

Analysis of 7,484 Pennsylvania properties (67.6% of filings) with assessed land and improvement value breakdowns. Land-dominant properties (50%+ land value) may represent teardown candidates or vacant lots. Improvement-heavy properties (under 20% land) typically indicate rehab opportunities.

Prior sale value trajectory

Across 7,428 properties with purchase and assessed value data, the median value change since purchase is -25.9%. 4,855 properties (65.4%) are underwater (current assessed value below purchase price). Short-hold owners (<5 yr) show a median -45.5% value change vs -1.3% for long-hold (10+ yr). Forced Liquidation cases have the highest underwater rate (78.9%) while Real Estate Dispute has the lowest (13.6%).

Value change distribution

Holding period vs value change

Value trajectory by case type

Analysis of 7,428 Pennsylvania properties (67.1% of filings) with both prior sale price and current assessed value data. Underwater properties have a current assessed value below their last purchase price. This analysis reveals whether distressed properties carry equity upside (investor opportunity) or are overleveraged (indicating deeper distress).

The Pennsylvania pre-foreclosure visibility gap

The largest public foreclosure-aggregator interfaces surface only post-auction bank-owned properties in Pennsylvania. Pre-foreclosure court filings are not visible to their non-paying users. Keystone tracks the court filing the day it hits the docket, weeks or months before any property reaches the auction stage those aggregators surface.

Full audit: Court-vs-aggregator coverage gap report.

FEMA flood zone exposure across Pennsylvania

Are distressed properties concentrated in flood-prone areas? By checking each property's coordinates against FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer, we identify which filings fall in Special Flood Hazard Areas (mandatory flood insurance zones). This analysis covers 5253 properties with geocoded locations.

Source: FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL), queried by property coordinates. Zones A/AE/AH/AO/V/VE are Special Flood Hazard Areas (1% annual flood chance, mandatory flood insurance). Zone X is minimal risk. 5253 properties checked.

Methodology and data sources

• Court filings sourced direct from county court dockets in Keystone's Pennsylvania coverage area via daily automated collection. Court records are public information.
• Every filing is verified for current owner-of-record before inclusion. Entity-owned filings (LLCs, trusts, banks) and stale-owner filings are excluded.
• Property value figures come from third-party enrichment (56% coverage on this dataset).
• Individual case data, defendant names, and property addresses are not published. Reports show aggregated statistics only.
• See /reports/methodology for full data sources, sample sizes, and limitations.
• This report was generated 2026-07-12 from the live database.

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