That’s an excellent question, Ted.   I’m not aware of any law in PA that imposes a limit on how long an abandoned mortgage encumbers a property.  What I can tell you, however, is that in 2003, the state legislature enacted a new Mortgage Satisfaction Act which permits certain designated persons other than the mortgagee to enter satisfactions into the record. 

The MSA sets forth alternate methods of obtaining mortgage satisfactions in certain instances.   It permits what is known as a “Settlement Officer Satisfaction” and establishes a duty on the part of a mortgagee to record a satisfaction of mortgage within a certain time frame upon receipt of a demand for satisfaction. It also prescribes penalties for a mortgagee’s failure to timely record a satisfaction piece once the underlying obligation has been paid in full.