Cumberland County Foreclosure Resources

Under Act 91 the lender must send a notice at least 30 days before filing the foreclosure complaint. It tells you that you may qualify for HEMAP and that you must meet with a HUD-certified housing counselor within 33 days of the notice date. That 33-day window is a real deadline — missing it can cost you HEMAP eligibility, and it runs long before any sheriff's sale is scheduled.

The Homeowner's Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program is administered by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. It makes loans to bring a delinquent mortgage current and can pay monthly mortgage costs for up to 24 months when the default is due to circumstances beyond your control. You must apply before the sheriff's sale. HEMAP is Pennsylvania-specific and has no equivalent in most other states.

Foreclosures in Cumberland County are heard at the Court of Common Pleas, in Cumberland County. The lender files a complaint with the Prothonotary's civil division at 1 Courthouse Sq, and the case proceeds before a judge. There is no non-judicial foreclosure track in Pennsylvania — every residential foreclosure goes through the court.

No. Pennsylvania does not provide a statutory right of redemption once the sheriff's sale is confirmed and the deed delivered. Your opportunities are all before the sale: responding to the Act 91 notice, applying for HEMAP, engaging any county conciliation or diversion program, and defending the foreclosure on its merits in court.

Yes, but only in a separate action brought within six months of delivery of the sheriff's deed. Pennsylvania also recognizes a fair-value defense, which limits the deficiency to the judgment amount minus the property's fair market value rather than the auction price. Where a property sold well below market at the sheriff's sale, that defense can substantially reduce the exposure.

Cumberland County sits on the west shore of the Susquehanna across from Harrisburg, and it is one of the fastest-growing counties in Pennsylvania — which shows up directly in the housing stock. The eastern townships — Hampden, Silver Spring, Lower Allen, Upper Allen — are the commuter suburbs closest to Harrisburg, largely post-war through 2000s subdivision housing at moderate to high valuations. Mechanicsburg and Camp Hill are older borough fabric with a mix of pre-war and later infill. Carlisle, the county seat, anchors the western side with a distinct identity built around the historic downtown and the Army War College. The I-81 and Route 11 corridors have added substantial warehousing and distribution capacity, and the western and southern townships toward Shippensburg and Newville remain more rural with fewer and less recent comparables.

Foreclosure complaints and responses go to the Cumberland County Prothonotary — Civil Division at 1 Courthouse Sq, Carlisle, PA 17013, and the sale itself is conducted by the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office. Free help is available locally through MidPenn Legal Services (Carlisle) at (717) 243-9400. If you have received an Act 91 notice, contact a HUD-certified housing counselor immediately — the 33-day deadline is the single most important date in the Pennsylvania process.