Six states in this series have a homestead exemption to look up. Pennsylvania does not have one. Its exemption subchapter runs from 42 Pa.C.S. § 8121 to § 8128 and there is no homestead section in it - the nearest thing is a general monetary exemption of three hundred dollars that happens to mention real property. That absence is not a drafting oversight to work around; it is the fact that shapes every Pennsylvania chapter 7 file involving a house, because it pushes almost every debtor towards the federal exemptions instead.
What Pennsylvania Actually Exempts
42 Pa.C.S. § 8123(a) is the general monetary exemption: "In addition to any other property specifically exempted by this subchapter, property of the judgment debtor (including bank notes, money, securities, real property, judgments or other indebtedness due the judgment debtor) to the value of $300 shall be exempt from attachment or execution on a judgment." Real property is in the list. The amount is three hundred dollars.
The debtor may claim it in kind and designate the specific items it attaches to, unless the designated property is not capable of appropriate division, or may claim it in cash out of the proceeds of a sale. Subsection (b) then removes it from several classes of judgment, including a judgment for support, a judgment against a debtor who is not an individual, and - the one that matters here - a judgment "obtained in foreclosing a mortgage secured upon real property," with the exception "limited to the real property secured by the mortgage."
The rest of the subchapter does not fill the gap. Section 8121 sets scope and provides that where two statutes grant exemptions "in terms of a specific sum of money" they are not aggregated - the debtor gets the benefit of the largest. Section 8124 exempts particular property: wearing apparel, Bibles and school books, sewing machines belonging to seamstresses or used and owned by private families, uniforms and accoutrements, and then a long run of retirement and insurance provisions. No land, no residence, no dwelling.
Which Is Why the Federal List Matters Here
11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(1) lets an individual debtor exempt property under either the federal list in subsection (d) or the state-law package in subsection (b)(3). Subsection (b)(2) makes the federal list available "unless the State law that is applicable to the debtor under paragraph (3)(A) specifically does not so authorize." Ohio wrote such a statute; Oklahoma and Louisiana wrote such statutes. Pennsylvania's exemption subchapter contains nothing of the kind.
So a Pennsylvania debtor has a real election to make, and for anyone with equity in a house the arithmetic is not close. The federal homestead at § 522(d)(1) is $31,575 for cases commenced on or after 1 April 2025 - the Judicial Conference's triennial adjustment, published at 90 Fed. Reg. 8941, raised it from $27,900 on a 13.2004 per cent increase rounded to the nearest $25. Section 522(d)(5) adds a wildcard of $1,675 plus up to $15,800 of any unused homestead amount, which can be stacked onto the residence.
One constraint on the election is worth knowing on a joint file. Section 522(b)(1) provides that in joint cases, and in individual cases by or against debtors who are husband and wife whose estates are jointly administered, "one debtor may not elect to exempt property listed in paragraph (2) and the other debtor elect to exempt property listed in paragraph (3)" - and if the parties cannot agree, they are deemed to elect the federal list where that election is permitted. In Pennsylvania it is.
The Entireties Question
For married Pennsylvania debtors the decisive provision is often neither the state $300 nor the federal $31,575. It is 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(B), which exempts "any interest in property in which the debtor had, immediately before the commencement of the case, an interest as a tenant by the entirety or joint tenant to the extent that such interest as a tenant by the entirety or joint tenant is exempt from process under applicable nonbankruptcy law."
The Code defers entirely to state law on the extent of that protection, and it is available under subsection (b)(3) - the state-law route - rather than alongside the federal list. Whether a particular Pennsylvania house held by the entireties produces anything for the estate when only one spouse files is a question for the court on the facts and the creditor profile, not something to be read off a chart. For a vendor the operational point is simpler: on a one-spouse filing against an entireties property, do not assume the trustee will be funding anything until the issue is resolved.
The Domicile Rule Comes First
Before any of this, check where the debtor lived. 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(A) applies the exemption law of the place where the debtor's domicile was located for the 730 days immediately preceding the filing; where the domicile was not in a single state for that period, the place of domicile for the 180 days immediately preceding the 730-day period, or for the longer part of those 180 days. A Pittsburgh house owned by a debtor who moved from Ohio a year ago is measured against Ohio's $182,625, not Pennsylvania's $300.
And the closing sentence of § 522(b)(3) is a safety valve that cuts the other way: "If the effect of the domiciliary requirement under subparagraph (A) is to render the debtor ineligible for any exemption, the debtor may elect to exempt property that is specified under subsection (d)."
What the Trustee Then Has to Do
The duty itself is federal and identical in every state. 11 U.S.C. § 704(a)(1) requires the trustee to "collect and reduce to money the property of the estate for which such trustee serves, and close such estate as expeditiously as is compatible with the best interests of parties in interest"; § 704(a)(2) requires the trustee to "be accountable for all property received."
The Handbook for Chapter 7 Trustees turns that into field instructions. Where property "appears to have value for the estate, the trustee must obtain control over the property, which may include changing the locks at the premises, hiring guards, etc." and "must immediately take all other steps which may be reasonably necessary to preserve the assets. It is not always sufficient to wait until after the meeting of creditors to take action to preserve assets." On insurance, the trustee must confirm the debtor's cover or obtain cover for the estate; where there is none, the property is encumbered and the estate has no funds, the trustee "must contact the secured creditor immediately," then either agree funding of insurance and safeguarding under section 506(c) or obtain a court order charging the secured creditor under the same section.
Where the property is fully encumbered and of nominal value the instruction is to abandon under sections 554 and 704 at once and tell the secured creditor. And the Handbook adds the reason trustees move fast: "If a loss occurs as a result of the trustee's failure to insure or protect estate property, the trustee could be subject to liability including a surcharge."
What This Means If You Do the Work
- There is no Pennsylvania homestead figure to look up; the state number is $300 under 42 Pa.C.S. § 8123 and it covers real property
- Expect most Pennsylvania debtors with home equity to elect the federal exemptions - $31,575 under § 522(d)(1), plus up to $15,800 of unused homestead rolled into the § 522(d)(5) wildcard and $1,675 on top
- On a joint filing both debtors must take the same list; disagreement defaults to the federal one
- On a one-spouse filing against entireties property, the § 522(b)(3)(B) question usually has to be resolved before the estate funds anything
- Check the 730-day domicile rule before applying any Pennsylvania figure at all
- A fully encumbered house of nominal value goes to abandonment under section 554, and the servicer's own preservation duty resumes
- Where there is equity, the trustee will want control established and insurance settled before the meeting of creditors - agree section 506(c) funding with the secured creditor first, not after the invoice
For the same analysis in a state that opted out and indexes its own figure, see the Ohio homestead and its adjusted amount; for the ordinary supervisory structure, a chapter 7 trustee's duty in Texas; and for the state with no U.S. Trustee at all, Alabama's Bankruptcy Administrator districts. The remaining homestead answers are Oklahoma's uncapped acreage, Louisiana's $35,000 with its disaster clause and Arkansas's quarter acre without regard to value. Pennsylvania's other routes into someone else's building are separate: the Act 135 conservatorship and a Pennsylvania guardian of the estate. On the municipal side see Philadelphia's vacant property licence. Field capability is on our Pennsylvania page, with the servicer view in the Pennsylvania state guide.
Ethreon works chapter 7 estate property across Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Harrisburg, Erie, Scranton and the counties between — for trustees who need control of a house established and evidenced before the meeting of creditors, and for the secured creditors who fund it under section 506(c). Lock changes, board-ups, winterisation, dated photo condition reports and per-visit cost records built for a fee application. Send the case number and the property address through the contact form.
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Frequently Asked Questions
1Does Pennsylvania have a homestead exemption?
Not in its exemption statutes. The relevant subchapter of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 8121 through 8128, contains a scope provision, a waiver provision, a $300 general monetary exemption, an exemption of particular property, and provisions on exhibitions, common carriers, personal earnings and transfers of claims. There is no homestead section among them.
2What is the $300 exemption?
42 Pa.C.S. § 8123(a): in addition to any other property specifically exempted, "property of the judgment debtor (including bank notes, money, securities, real property, judgments or other indebtedness due the judgment debtor) to the value of $300 shall be exempt from attachment or execution on a judgment." Real property is named in the list, so it can be applied to a house - but $300 of it.
3Can a Pennsylvania debtor use the federal exemptions?
Yes. 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(2) makes the federal list available unless state law "specifically does not so authorize," and Pennsylvania's exemption subchapter contains no such provision. A Pennsylvania debtor may therefore elect § 522(d), whose homestead at (d)(1) is $31,575 for cases commenced on or after 1 April 2025, with a further wildcard at (d)(5) of $1,675 plus up to $15,800 of any unused homestead amount.
4What about property held by husband and wife together?
That is the route that matters most in Pennsylvania. 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(B) allows a debtor to exempt "any interest in property in which the debtor had, immediately before the commencement of the case, an interest as a tenant by the entirety or joint tenant to the extent that such interest as a tenant by the entirety or joint tenant is exempt from process under applicable nonbankruptcy law." Where only one spouse files and the house is held by the entireties, how far that reaches is a question of Pennsylvania property law and of the facts, and it is decided by the court rather than by any figure in a table.
5Does § 8123 apply against a mortgage lender?
Not against the mortgaged property. Section 8123(b)(5) excepts a judgment "obtained in foreclosing a mortgage secured upon real property whether the judgment is by an action in mortgage foreclosure or an action on a note, bond or other evidence of indebtedness accompanying a mortgage," and states that the exception "shall be limited to the real property secured by the mortgage."
6Which state's exemptions apply if the debtor moved recently?
The ones where the debtor was domiciled for the 730 days before filing, under 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(A); where the domicile was not in a single state for that whole period, the law of the place of domicile for the 180 days immediately preceding the 730-day period, or for the longer part of it. A Philadelphia house can be measured against another state's exemption entirely - and where the domiciliary rule would leave the debtor with no exemption at all, § 522(b)(3) lets them elect the federal list.
7What does any of this have to do with securing the property?
Everything, because 11 U.S.C. § 704(a)(1) directs the trustee to "collect and reduce to money the property of the estate," and the Handbook for Chapter 7 Trustees ties the duty to secure to property that "appears to have value for the estate." A house whose equity is covered by the elected exemption is not that property. The practical difference between a $300 state exemption and a $31,575 federal one is the difference between a trustee with a reason to act and a trustee heading for abandonment.