Stop a Sheriff Sale in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania

A sheriff sale in Lackawanna County is the last step of a judicial foreclosure, not the first. The lender sued you in the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas, obtained a judgment, and asked the sheriff to sell the property. Everything before that step had an option attached to it, and so does this one: a Chapter 13 filed before the sale takes place stops it by operation of law.

This page covers how foreclosure actually runs in Lackawanna County — where the sale happens, what the court offers, and what filing looks like from here. It is general information about Pennsylvania and federal law, not advice about your loan.

The Lackawanna County Sheriff conducts real estate sales on a published schedule at the Lackawanna County Courthouse in Scranton, with the sale list posted by the Sheriff's Office ahead of each sale.

Lackawanna County's Court of Common Pleas has run mortgage foreclosure conciliation practice for owner-occupied cases with area housing counselors. Ask early in the case; the process is not available once a sale has already occurred.

Scranton-area filings often involve a home held in the family for decades with an unrecorded or shared title interest — an inheritance never formally transferred. That has to be sorted before filing, because an unrecorded interest still gets scheduled and exempted, and the servicer will raise standing if it is unclear. Middle District, Wilkes-Barre division serving this part of the district.

The automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362 takes effect the moment the petition is docketed in the Middle District. That stops a scheduled Lackawanna County sheriff sale — I have filed cases the morning of a sale.

From there, 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(5) lets you cure the arrears over the three-to-five-year plan while resuming the regular monthly payment. The lender cannot demand a lump sum and cannot refuse the cure. If your first mortgage exceeds the home's value, a wholly unsecured second mortgage or HELOC can also be stripped and discharged with the unsecured debt — relief that does not exist in Chapter 7.

To file quickly we need your mortgage statement, the foreclosure complaint or sale notice, the last six months of income, and a credit-counseling certificate. When a sale is imminent, a case can be filed within hours.

• Confirm your sale status with the Lackawanna County Sheriff's office rather than the last letter you received.
• Open a written loss-mitigation file with your servicer through their portal and keep every submission dated.
• If an Act 91 notice arrived within the last 30 days, meet with a HUD-approved counselor and ask about HEMAP through PHFA — that window does not reopen.
• Get a straight read on whether the ongoing payment is affordable. If it is not, surrendering through Chapter 7 and discharging the deficiency is often the cleaner exit, and saying so early is worth more than a plan that fails in month eight.