Closing With the PLB

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CLOSING TIMELINE

(Estimated Timeline: 1 month)
  1. Buyer selects a Title company to handle the sale. 
  2. Buyer will receive a draft purchase and sale agreement, special warranty deed, and  enforcement mechanism documentation (reverter agreement and enforcement mortgage) to review.  
  3. Buyer approves the legal documents. 
  4. Sign purchase and sales agreement and pay good faith deposit:  
    1. The deposit will be $1,000 or 3% of purchase price (whatever is higher). 
    2. The deposit will be paid to the title company and credited to the purchase price at closing.  
  5. Buyer and Seller will select a closing date and coordinate with a title Company. 
    1. The PLB does not attend closings in-person and will sign closing documents in advance. 
    2. Select a closing date at least a week in advance for PLB staff to prepare for closing. 
  6. Title company will provide the settlement statement and owner’s affidavit to the PLB 2-3 days prior to closing.  
    1. Any sales with the Pittsburgh Land Bank are exempt from real estate transfer taxes per 68 Pa.C.S. 2121.   
    2. PLB legal counsel will review the owner’s affidavit. 
  7. Closing date: 
    1. Buyer executes all closing documents. 
    2. Title company sends proof of wire transfer to the PLB. 
  8. Congratulations! You have successfully acquired a property through the PLB. 

What does closing with the Land Bank look like?

Enforcement Mechanisms

How does the Land Bank ensure that buyers successfully complete their projects?​ The Land Bank will use one of the below post-closing requirements to ensure that buyers complete their projects according to their application. Click on each option below to read more.

A mortgage that is recorded against the property at the time of closing and is not satisfied until the renovation work has been satisfactorily completed. This mortgage doesn’t require the buyer to make any payments, nor does it accrue interest; it is a safeguard to make sure that the property conveyed is renovated in accordance with the specifications provided to the PLB and consistent with what the buyer wrote in their application to the PLB. This option is not recommended if a buyer is taking a mortgage from a construction lender at closing.

This is an agreement, not a mortgage, that requires the buyer to renovate the property in accordance with the specifications provided to the PLB in the buyer’s application and consistent with what was approved by the PLB Board. The Agreement is not recorded but a covenant is included in a deed stating that the Reverter Agreement exists and that the PLB has a reversion right. If the buyer does not improve the property within the agreed upon timeline and those improvements are not in accordance with the plan submitted to the PLB, then they will be in in default under the agreement, and a remedy under the agreement is the property reverts to the PLB. If that were to happen, the PLB could take the property back subject to any construction mortgage approved by the PLB, assuming that the Buyer ever began the project and took out a construction mortgage to complete the same. Once the project is completed, the PLB records a declaration in the record removing the deed reference to the Reverter Agreement and terminating the Reverter Agreement. 

In some cases, the Land Bank may use Deed Restrictions to further ensure that homes will be lived in by qualified owner-occupants for a certain number of years.

A Deed Restriction is a clause on the home’s deed that limits the use of the property.