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New app for Phila. foreclosure sales

In what is described as an effort to be as transparent as possible, the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office has unveiled a Web app offering detailed information on properties scheduled for mortgage foreclosure sale.

In what is described as an effort to be as transparent as possible, the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office has unveiled a Web app offering detailed information on properties scheduled for mortgage foreclosure sale.

The app, which Friday listed 736 properties scheduled for sale May 5, can be accessed at www.phillysheriff.com.

Sheriff Jewell Williams said the app will provide "a level of technical efficiency and service" that has never been offered by his office.

He said the app was in line with his efforts to provide more openness and accessibility to records and data for the public.

The app's interactive map allows the user to click on one of the properties scheduled for sale on May 5 and find out a host of details before the date.

When you click on any of the yellow property icons on the map - each turns orange when you do - data on the property appears on the right side of the map.

Data include the exact address, the anticipated opening bid - in one case, $9,900 - the name of the lawyer handling the foreclosure for the lender, the current owner, assessed value, zoning designation, and Office of Property Assessment number so you can look up tax payments and other information.

The web app also gives size and description of the property for sale.

Although many of the scheduled sales are typically postponed the day of the sale, as homeowners and lenders continue to negotiate to try to avert foreclosure, the app does provide enough data to "level the playing field," as Williams put it, for Philadelphians who might be looking for a first home.

That playing field includes many more individuals and first-time buyers these days as it does contractors and speculators, he said.