Jul 21, 2017 2 min read

In advance of a judicial sale last month, Washington County Land Bank purchased its first three properties, two in Charleroi and one in West Brownsville.

Although there were concerns the formation of a land bank would result in the demolition of buildings, the land bank board plans to rehabilitate apartments above a commercial building at 526 Fallowfield Ave., Charleroi, and a one-story vacant house at 609 Third Street Extension in West Brownsville’s Blainesburg neighborhood.

A third property at 511 Fallowfield Ave., Charleroi, purchased for $861, is a vacant lot.

The commercial building in Charleroi was bought for $3,419, and the Blainesburg home, on which a lender was about to foreclose, cost $1,780.

West Brownsville and Marianna boroughs are new additions to Washington County Land Bank. Because West Brownsville’s Blainesburg neighborhood is part of California Area School District, that district, the boroughs and the Bethlehem-Center School District were admitted by a unanimous vote of the county commissioners on Thursday.

Rob Phillips, assistant community development director of the Washington County Redevelopment Authority, said he expects to reach out to the Fayette County-based Brownsville Area School District, which encompasses the remainder of West Brownsville. Borough officials spoke with Washington County Commissioner Harlan Shober about “problem properties,” Phillips said.

Marianna Borough had been working with West Bethlehem Township on a comprehensive plan through the redevelopment authority, and fighting blight has been a topic of discussion in that borough.

“We can help them with some of the demolition,” Phillips said.

A judicial sale is sometimes referred to as a “free-and-clear” sale because unpaid property taxes imposed by the county, municipality and/or school district are erased.

But it’s only “free and clear” to a point. State and federal tax liens placed against the properties are not wiped away at the judicial sales the county conducts.

The opening bid for property at a judicial sale is an amount made up of costs, recording fees and transfer taxes. Costs the county incurred included the work of sheriffs’ deputies, for example, who must serve the owner with notices related to the impending sale. There also are petition-filing fees the prothonotary’s office charges for related documents. The county also incurs costs for certified mailings.

It usually takes about three years for unpaid taxes and liens to accumulate on a property before it becomes a candidate for a “free-and-clear” sale.