Every month, in every county of the commonwealth, a sheriff's sale ­typically takes place where third parties can bid on real estate in that county which is subject to tax or mortgage ­foreclosure proceedings.

These properties are sold in “as is, where is” condition and most bidders are ­generally not given the opportunity before the ­sheriff's sale occurs to inspect the property beforehand. In doing so, these bidders take an extreme leap of faith in the hopes that any money they save by ­purchasing the foreclosed property through these ­foreclosure proceedings will outweigh the cost of remediating any of the issues with it.

In a recent decision issued by the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Investment Resource Holding, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 583 (Aug. 1), a successful bidder of a ­foreclosed property in Lebanon County discovered the hard way the risks associated with ­maintaining a property before the deed so transferring the property is even issued.