Rule Text
(a) A claim to tangible personal property levied upon pursuant to a writ of execution shall be in writing and substantially in the form provided by Rule 3258 and shall be filed with the sheriff prior to any execution sale of the property claimed.
(b) The claim shall be signed by the claimant or some one on the claimant’s behalf, and shall set forth
(1) a list of the property claimed sufficient to identify it;
(2) an estimate of the value of the property;
(3) a statement of the source of the claimant’s ownership of the property.
Amendment history: The provisions of this Rule 3202 adopted August 30, 1965, effective March 1, 1966; amended April 8, 1997, effective July 1, 1997, 27 Pa.B. 2045. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (213435).
Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)
This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
When a sheriff seizes someone's belongings as part of a debt collection case, a third party who believes they own some of those items can file a formal claim to get them back. This claim must be filed in writing before the sheriff sells the property at an auction.
The written claim must include three things: a description of the specific items being claimed, an estimated value of those items, and an explanation of how the person came to own the property. The claim must be signed by the person making it or by someone acting on their behalf.
The court provides a standard form for this type of claim, found in Rule 3258. Filing this claim is the first step a person must take if they want to prove that property seized by the sheriff actually belongs to them and not to the person who owes the debt.
