The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently ruled that the failure of a local sheriff’s office to include a return of service document in filings related to a disputed tax sale violated notification requirements under state law.  In that case, the allegation was that the Montgomery County Tax Claim Bureau failed to comply with notice provisions because affidavits filed in court by the county sheriff did not include notice of the tax sale.  “In this case, Bureau relied on the affidavits to meet its burden of proving compliance with all applicable statutory notice requirements,” ” Judge Patricia McCullough said in the opinion. “However, because the affidavit of personal service did not include the copy of the notice required by [the statute], that affidavit of personal service was not ‘complete on its face.'”  The court also reversed the trial court’s reliance on the incomplete affidavits to conclude that there was proper notice, emphasizing that “law is clear that ‘no owner occupied property may be sold’ unless the owner has received personal service of notice.”