PA law requires that challenges to condemnations must be filed within 30 days of service of the Declaration of Taking. The document that is filed challenging the taking is called “Preliminary Objections.”

HB 2387, currently being considered in the PA House of Representatives, would increase the time for filing the Preliminary Objections to 90 days. This would be a significant change. A condemnee is required to properly state all of its objections within 30 days. Failure to include an objection may waive the ability to assert that objection. Therefore, it places significant pressure on the condemnee to file its challenge correctly and asserting all of its challenges within the 30 day period. Increasing that period to 90 days would help alleviate that pressure.