Transaction Coordinator in Philadelphia, PA.

The Property Sales Certification is required on every sale and takes five business days

Licenses and Inspections states that Pennsylvania state law requires a Property Sales Certification to sell real estate in Philadelphia, and that real estate agents and those selling any property in the city, commercial or residential, need to get it. The certification gives the property's zoning classification, the last established use in the zoning record, and a disclosure of uncorrected violations of the housing, building, safety and fire ordinances.

The fee is $139 and processing takes five business days, whether the application goes in online through eCLIPSE or in person at the Permit and License Center, which is by appointment. The application form allows a property owner, a real estate professional (agents, brokers and title companies) or another party to apply. It takes one unit per application, and anything other than a one or two family dwelling, including condominiums and mixed use buildings, is filed under the Other category.

With a five business day turnaround, the certification gets ordered the day the agreement is signed, and any open violation it reports becomes a negotiation item while there is still time to deal with it.

• Fee: $139
• Lead time: Five business days after payment
• Where: eCLIPSE online, or the Permit and License Center at 1401 John F. Kennedy Blvd. by appointment
• Who can apply: Owner, real estate professional or other party, one unit per application

Philadelphia has its own lead disclosure rule for sales of homes built before 1978

Chapter 6-800 of the Philadelphia Code, the Lead Paint Disclosure and Certification law, reaches sales as well as leases. Section 6-803 provides that before any buyer is obligated under a contract to purchase residential housing built before 1978, the seller must disclose the absence or presence of lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards, either by producing the results of a comprehensive lead inspection and risk assessment by a certified lead inspector, or by giving the buyer the Philadelphia Department of Public Health form stating that the property was built before 1978 and likely contains lead-based paint. The seller must also give the buyer the lead hazard information pamphlet prescribed or approved by the Department of Public Health.

Section 6-804 requires the purchase contract to provide in writing that the buyer has a ten day period, unless the parties agree to a different period, to obtain a comprehensive lead inspection or risk assessment from a certified lead inspector at the buyer's expense. If the inspection reveals lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards, the buyer may terminate the contract within five days of receiving the inspection report, with all deposit moneys refunded unless the parties agree in writing to a different disposition. Section 6-805 requires a lead warning statement in large type in every contract for the sale of residential housing built before 1978.

The lead-safe or lead-free certification is the landlord half of the same chapter: the City requires it to execute a new or renewed lease and to get or renew a rental license, not to convey title. On a pre-1978 sale we confirm the disclosure, the pamphlet and the inspection period are in the file before the buyer is bound. On an investor purchase the certification becomes the buyer's job after settlement.

The City wants the water payoff request at least 30 days before settlement

Water payoffs are handled by the Water Department with the Law Department, and they cover outstanding water balances and liens, agency repair bill balances and liens, HELP loan balances and water code enforcement judgments. The request goes in on the City's Water Payoff Request Form, completed as a fillable PDF and not by hand, emailed to wateramountdue@phila.gov at least 30 days before settlement, with the property address in the subject line and a separate request for each property address and account number.

Two cautions are printed on the City's own material. A payoff request does not replace a lien search by the title company. And where the meter at the property is estimating or non-compliant, the City says you must call 215-685-6300, and warns that failing to do so may affect your ability to receive a payoff. The form adds that with estimated readings the balance may be higher than shown and charges may be billed to the account retroactively, and it sends those accounts to the Meter Shop at 215-685-3000.

The returned form states the last meter reading, whether it was actual or estimated, the balance, and a good through date. Payment goes by certified check, settlement agent escrow check or money order payable to City of Philadelphia. Thirty days is longer than many agreements leave after inspections, so this request goes out with the title order.

• Send to: wateramountdue@phila.gov, one request per address and account
• When: At least 30 days before settlement
• Estimated or non-compliant meter: Call 215-685-6300 first
• Not included: A lien search, which stays with the title company

Rental licenses do not transfer to the buyer

Licenses and Inspections states that Rental Licenses are not transferrable: a new owner of a previously licensed property must close the old Rental License and apply for a new one. The fee is $69 per unit, with no fee for owner-occupied units, and the license renews annually. A new owner proves ownership with a recorded deed or a settlement sheet signed by both buyer and seller. The department will not accept an agreement of sale or a receipt of sheriff's sale.

The license has prerequisites that take longer than the application. The owner must be current on all City taxes and fines, have no outstanding Licenses and Inspections violations, hold a Commercial Activity License or Activity License Number, and certify lead compliance: any property built before March 1978 must be certified lead-free or lead-safe. An owner who lives outside Philadelphia must name a managing agent with a Philadelphia mailing address. Each condominium unit needs its own license.

Before a tenant moves in, the owner must also hand over a Certificate of Rental Suitability issued by Licenses and Inspections no more than 60 days before the start of the lease. It is free, it is issued through eCLIPSE, and it cannot be issued while violation notices are outstanding, other than violations under appeal. None of this blocks settlement, which is exactly why an investor buyer needs it on a list before closing.

On a multi-unit building, the certification does not prove the units are legal

Licenses and Inspections answers this one directly in its Rental License FAQ. The property certification only identifies the last approved use in the zoning record. It does not confirm that a use was legally established under the Building Construction and Occupancy Code, or that the use has not been legally discontinued. The department points to its Code Bulletin BU-2001 on property certifications.

The proof the City asks for when the buyer applies for a rental license on two or more units is different: a Certificate of Occupancy, or a prior Rental License record issued in the last three years for the same number of units, or, where neither exists and the use was established before 2000, a Zoning Permit with an Affidavit of Continuous Use. The FAQ states that the new owner must prove the use is legal, and that where the prior license lapsed for more than three years the new owner may need zoning or building permits.

On a duplex, triplex or mixed use purchase, the time to pull those records is the inspection period. The City points new owners to atlas.phila.gov for documents that may verify the use.

City liens and judgments each have their own payoff desk

Philadelphia does not issue one municipal lien letter. Where Licenses and Inspections has cleaned, sealed or demolished a property, the owner is billed, and the City says a lien may be entered if the bill is unpaid for 30 days. Payoff statements for those bills come from the Philadelphia Tax Center, free, without a login, using the property address or the Office of Property Assessment number and an effective payoff date. The Agency Receivables unit of the Department of Revenue handles them at 215-686-6600.

Court judgments are routed by docket number. The City publishes a table keyed to the two digit code in a Municipal Court Code Enforcement docket number: code 72 is water and goes to wateramountdue@phila.gov, codes 32 and 36 are Licenses and Inspections and Health Department matters, which the City says go through the Law Department's online payoff request form from July 1, 2026 (questions to 215-683-5110), and delinquent Real Estate Tax may sit with one of the City's outside collection firms. Each delinquent Real Estate Tax year carries its own 15 digit lien number with the letter R in the middle.

For the Department of Records, questions about tax, water, Licenses and Inspections liens and judgments are referred to the Judgments and Liens Index Office. The practical point for a coordinator: when title reports a City lien, the docket number decides which office to chase, and those requests are not interchangeable.

Real Estate Tax is one bill due March 31, and the relief programs reset at sale

The City and the School District of Philadelphia both tax real estate, and the Department of Revenue bills them together. Bills are usually mailed in December and the tax is due and payable March 31. The City publishes that single due date. Unpaid tax accrues additions of 1.5 percent per month from April 1, and on January 1 of the following year it is registered delinquent and liened. The City's Real Estate Tax page lists the combined rate as 1.3998 percent of assessed value: 0.6159 percent City and 0.7839 percent School District, shown there for the 2025 tax year.

The Homestead Exemption reduces the assessed value of an owner-occupied primary residence by $100,000, which the City says saves most homeowners up to $1,399 a year. The City's Real Estate Tax page still shows the earlier $80,000 figure, while the Homestead page and the City's June 30, 2026 release give $100,000. It is tied to the owner. The Department of Revenue says an approved owner never has to reapply unless the deed changes, and that homeowners in a relief program generally do not need to reapply unless ownership has changed. A buyer who will live in the home files a new application: the final deadline is December 1 each year, and applying by October 1 gets the benefit onto the bill. Where a previous owner is still listed, the City says to call 215-686-9200 or file on paper.

Other features do not follow the usual assumptions. The Longtime Owner Occupants Program requires the owner to have lived in the home for at least ten years. An owner with a 10-year residential abatement is not eligible for the Homestead Exemption until the abatement expires or is removed, and a removed abatement cannot be put back. A seller whose property no longer qualifies must notify Revenue within 45 days.

Tax Year 2027 assessments are already out, so this year's bill is not next year's bill

The Office of Property Assessment completed a citywide revaluation for Tax Year 2027. It began mailing Notices of Valuation on June 29, 2026, and the new values are posted at property.phila.gov. The City's published key dates are: December 1, 2026, Revenue begins mailing Real Estate Tax bills; January 1, 2027, the new assessments take effect; March 31, 2027, the tax is due. The City estimated the change for the median-valued residential property at approximately $97 for Tax Year 2027, and said actual impacts vary with assessed value, relief programs and future tax rate decisions.

For a file closing this autumn or winter, the tax figure on the current bill reflects the old value. A buyer's lender escrow, and any conversation about carrying costs, should start from the 2027 value on the City's property search. Formal appeals to the Board of Revision of Taxes are due by the first Monday in October of the year before the tax year. The City's published formal appeal deadline for Tax Year 2027 values is Monday, October 5, 2026, and a buyer who takes title after that date inherits the 2027 value as it stands.

An empty house can need a Vacant Residential Property License

The City requires a Vacant Residential Property License for an unoccupied residential property, and states that the license is not needed if the property is being renovated. The fee is $202, including a non-refundable $20 application fee, and it renews annually. The owner needs a Commercial Activity License or Activity License Number, and must be current on City taxes to renew. The City warns that an owner who needs the license and does not get it may be subject to fines and violations.

This matters on estate sales, long-vacant listings and investor purchases that will sit empty before work starts. The Department of Records gives the same advice from the fraud side: it tells owners to secure and check on vacant properties and to apply for this license, because empty houses are where deed fraud happens.