Official Repudiation of Unlawful Restrictive Covenants
Property owners and homeowner associations are allowed to repudiate unlawful restrictive covenants from their deeds by filing a Repudiation of Unlawful Restrictive Covenants form with their county recorder of deeds office. The Return of Address form can also be filed so that the original documents can be returned to the rightful owner. This process was changed by The Repudiation of Discriminatory Real Estate Covenants, Chapter 74 of Act 54 of 2023.
An unlawful restrictive covenant is defined as a provision that purports to restrict ownership or occupancy of real property based on a practice or policy of discrimination against individuals or groups covered under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA). Subsection 7402 (2) clarifies that it would not be unlawful for a religious organization to affix a covenant or restriction to a property that prevents the use of the property for purposes that would be offensive to that religious organization and that it would also not be unlawful to use an age-based covenant or restriction intended to create a senior living community.
Repudiation Forms
Questions regarding repudiation forms should be directed to the PA Department of Community & Economic Development. The county recorder’s office is not permitted to give legal advice.