By Josh McKnight | The McKnight Team
Wrightstown Township supervisors voted unanimously on Aug. 17 to require a sewer lateral inspection before any property resale. The vote drew no public comment. The township solicitor acknowledged she had received written objections from the Suburban Realtors Alliance before the meeting and recommended passing the ordinance anyway.
A Bucks County sewer lateral inspection now stands between Wrightstown sellers and settlement, and the alliance says three parts of the ordinance conflict with state law.
What the Ordinance Requires at Resale
The ordinance applies when a property changes hands. It requires the seller to escrow funds for any repairs the inspection identifies. It mandates that those repairs be completed within 60 days or by the settlement date. It allows the township to withhold the resale certificate until the work is finished.
That last provision is the one with teeth. In Pennsylvania, a resale certificate from the municipality is a practical prerequisite to closing. Withholding it stops a settlement.
The Suburban Realtors Alliance argues all three provisions run afoul of the Municipal Code and Ordinance Compliance Act, the state law governing exactly this kind of municipal resale requirement. That law was written to keep townships from turning a property transfer into an open-ended repair mandate. The solicitor did not dispute the substance. She said the ordinance had already been advertised, so the board should pass it and amend later.
What a Bucks County Sewer Lateral Inspection Actually Costs You in Time
The money is not the real exposure. The calendar is. A 60-day repair window sounds generous until you map it against a normal contract. Thirty to forty-five days to settlement is typical here. Excavation contractors are not sitting idle. Neither is your buyer’s rate lock.
Set that against what the numbers show right now. The average Bucks County home value is $530,927, up 3.3 percent over the past year, with homes going to pending in around seven days, per Zillow data through July 31, 2026. Zillow does not publish town-level figures for Wrightstown, so the county number is the closest verified benchmark.
Homes here go under contract fast. The ordinance does not move at that speed.
Why an Ordinance Nobody Contested Still Matters
No resident spoke at the meeting. That is normal for a sewer ordinance and it is also how flawed ones survive. The people affected by a resale requirement are not in the room, because they have not listed yet.
The amendment promise deserves scrutiny. A board that passes an ordinance it has been told is legally defective, on the reasoning that fixing it now would require readvertising, has created a live requirement with an uncertain future. Sellers who go to market in the next several months operate under the version that passed, not the version that might be amended.
Reasonable people land differently on the underlying goal. Sewer laterals do fail, and a cracked lateral pushes groundwater into a treatment system every ratepayer funds. Wrightstown is not wrong to care about that. The objection is to the mechanism, not the motive. Both things can be true. The township can have a legitimate infrastructure problem and still have written an ordinance that oversteps what state law permits.
If you own in Wrightstown and you are even thinking about selling in the next two years, tell your neighbor. Most sellers will find out about this from a title company three weeks before settlement.
What This Means for You
If you are selling in Wrightstown, get the lateral scoped before you list, not after you are under contract. A camera inspection early turns a deal-threatening surprise into a pricing conversation you control. If the scope finds a defect, you decide whether to repair, credit, or price accordingly. If you are buying in Wrightstown, ask for the inspection report and the resale certificate status in writing before you remove contingencies.
Rules like this one vary township by township across Bucks County, and the difference rarely shows up until settlement is close. Wrightstown borders Newtown, where the requirements are different, and buyers routinely shop both without realizing it. The market detail on our Newtown PA homes for sale page is a useful starting point if you are comparing the two.
Thinking about buying or selling in Wrightstown or Bucks County? Let’s talk.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bucks County Sewer Lateral Inspections
Do I need a sewer inspection to sell my house in Pennsylvania?
Not statewide. Pennsylvania has no general requirement, but individual municipalities may impose one. Wrightstown Township adopted a resale inspection requirement on Aug. 17, 2026, joining a number of other townships across Bucks County.
Will a failed sewer lateral inspection affect my home value?
It affects your net proceeds more than your value. The ordinance requires escrowed funds and repairs completed within 60 days or by settlement, which converts a defect into a direct cost against your closing.
What is a resale certificate and can the township withhold it?
A resale certificate confirms a property meets municipal code before transfer. The Wrightstown ordinance permits the township to withhold it until lateral repairs are finished, which as a practical matter prevents settlement from occurring.
What happens if the ordinance is later amended?
Sellers are bound by the ordinance in effect at the time of transfer. The solicitor indicated the Suburban Realtors Alliance concerns would be addressed through a future amendment, but no timeline was given at the vote.
