Act 29 Information
Overview: Pennsylvania House Bill 858 was signed into law as Act 29 of 2026 on July 20, 2026, to help combat community blight by establishing a unified, county-maintained contact registry for non-owner-occupied properties. Act 29 took effect on September 18, 2026.
Contact Registry Requirements: Owners of non-owner-occupied properties, along with applicable entities (including lenders following a sale or foreclosure), must provide the County Assessment Office with specified business or individual contact information within 30 days. Owner-occupied real property — property owned and occupied by an individual as their principal residence and domicile — is exempt from this requirement.
Required Information: The name, address, telephone number, and email address of a designated person or employee with the authority to repair, maintain, or resolve municipal code violations. Click here for the Property Owner Contact Information Form
Updates & Compliance: Any changes to contact information must be reported to the County Assessment Office within 30 days.
Potential Penalties: Failure to comply, or providing inaccurate information, may result in a fine of up to $500.
Submission: Submit completed forms to Mercer County Tax Assessment Office, 125 S. Diamond Street, Suite 4, Mercer, PA 16137.
Frequently Asked Questions
Click to Download ACT 29 FAQIt mandates the creation of a county property contact information list requirement. It requires certain parties, most notably lenders/purchasers of non-owner-occupied real estate, to give county chief assessors contact information for the person or business responsible for a property, and it imposes duties on chief assessors along with penalties on property owners for non-compliance.
Owners, lenders, or purchasers of non-owner-occupied properties (including those acquired through foreclosure or sheriff's sale) must provide the required contact information. Based on early guidance to lenders, this includes parties handling REO (real estate owned) and post-sale property management.
- The name and address of the responsible business designee or individual owner
- A telephone number and email address for the owner or an employee/agent authorized to act on the property
- Occupancy status of the property
- Authority to arrange repairs, maintenance, or resolve municipal code violations
The county chief assessor's office in the county where the property is located.
Within 30 days of the sale or transfer.
Any change must be reported to the county within 30 days of the change.
Failure to comply can result in a fine — early guidance from practitioners cites a $500 fine for non-compliance, though the exact penalty structure should be confirmed against the final statutory text for each violation type.
It's aimed at combating community blight, particularly around vacant or non-owner-occupied properties, by ensuring counties and municipalities have a reliable point of contact to address code violations, maintenance issues, or repairs.
No — it's specifically targeted at non-owner-occupied properties, such as investment properties, rentals acquired via foreclosure, or REO/bank-owned properties.
It was signed into law July 20, 2026; check the act's effective-date provision for the exact implementation date, since Pennsylvania acts often specify their own effective date (immediately, in 60 days, etc.) separate from the signing date.
- Start compiling the required contact and occupancy information at the time of bidding/acquisition, not after closing
- Build a 30-day compliance tracker for both initial reporting and any later updates
- Designate a responsible contact with actual authority to address repairs or code issues
- Confirm county-specific submission procedures, since chief assessors in each county may set their own intake process
The official bill text, history, and vote record are available on the Pennsylvania General Assembly's website under House Bill 858 (2025–2026 session), listed as Act No. 29 of 2026.
Note: This FAQ is a summary based on early legislative and law-firm summaries shortly after enactment. For compliance purposes, confirm details against the official Act 29 statutory text and consult counsel, as implementing guidance from the Mercer County Tax Assessment Office may still be developing.