How to File Form 91W: Writ of Possession, Sheriff Delivery, and Alias Writ

To get a writ of possession in Philadelphia after winning an eviction, a landlord files Form 91W, the praecipe for writ of possession, with the Philadelphia Municipal Court once the mandatory post-judgment waiting period has passed, then delivers the issued writ to the Sheriff’s Office for service and execution. The form itself is short. The timing, the supporting information, and the handoff to the Sheriff are where cases get delayed.

When You Can File

You cannot file the praecipe the day you win. Philadelphia Municipal Court Rule 126(b) requires a 10-day wait from the date of judgment for residential leases, and 15 days for non-residential leases, before the writ can issue.¹

On the back end, you have 120 days from the judgment date to file. Miss it and the judgment goes stale; you would have to refile the eviction case from scratch. If proceedings were paused by a tenant’s appeal, a bankruptcy filing, or another court-ordered stay, the 120-day window restarts from the date that stay is lifted.²

Information You Need Before Filling Out the Form

Pull your signed judgment papers and copy the details directly from them. The clerk will reject a praecipe whose names, address, or docket number don’t match the court’s record.

Court docket number from the original eviction hearing.
Full legal names of every adult defendant named in the original complaint.
Complete property address, including unit or apartment number.
Date of judgment. The clerk uses this to confirm the waiting period has elapsed.
Judgment amount awarded, covering unpaid rent, court costs, and any attorney fees.

The form is available on the Philadelphia Municipal Court website or at the court’s filing office.³

Filing With the Court

Bring the completed praecipe to the Philadelphia Municipal Court First Filing Unit at 1339 Chestnut Street, Room 1000, Philadelphia, PA 19107.³ The clerk verifies that the judgment exists, that the waiting period has run, and that the form matches the record. Once everything checks out, the court issues the writ with an official seal.

Payment: money orders, business checks, and attorney checks only. No personal checks. Make them payable to the Office of Judicial Records.⁴ If you want filed copies mailed back rather than waiting at the counter, include a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Delivering the Writ to the Sheriff’s Office

The court-issued writ does nothing on its own. The Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office serves and executes all residential writs of possession in Philadelphia.⁵

Make one copy of the original writ for each defendant. Bring all copies plus the sealed original to the Sheriff’s Office main desk at 100 South Broad Street, 5th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19110, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.⁶

The total Sheriff’s fee for serving a Municipal Court writ of possession is $345:

Sheriff’s fee: $300, regardless of how many defendants are named.
Mileage charge: $25 per address.
State fee: $20 per address.

The office accepts only attorney’s checks, cashier’s checks, certified checks, or money orders payable to the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office. No personal checks, no cash.⁷

What Happens After the Sheriff Takes the Writ

A deputy goes to the property and tries to serve the writ in person. If personal service fails within five days, the deputy posts the writ on the premises.⁶

The forced eviction date is scheduled at least 10 days after the writ is posted or served.⁸ During that window, tenants can move out, negotiate, or ask the court for a stay. If a tenant files a hearing request form with the Sheriff, the court must hear the matter within three business days.⁹

If the tenants are still there on the eviction date, the deputy returns and removes the occupants. Have a locksmith on site so the locks are changed as soon as the deputy clears the building. The deputy then returns the writ to the court with a notation confirming execution, which closes the file.

If the First Writ Doesn’t Execute: The Alias Writ

If the initial writ falls through, whether the deputy couldn’t serve it or a brief stay interrupted things, you can file an alias writ of possession starting 11 days after the original writ was issued.¹ It runs through the same track: file with the court, deliver to the Sheriff, pay the service fee again. Scheduling the lockout typically adds another seven to ten days.

Both the original and the alias writ requests must fall within the 120-day window from the judgment date, or from the lifting of any stay.¹⁰

If the Tenant Appeals

A tenant can appeal a Municipal Court judgment for possession within 10 days of the date the judgment was entered. An appeal by itself doesn’t halt the eviction. The tenant has to obtain a supersedeas, which requires depositing rent owed with the Office of Judicial Records and continuing to pay monthly rent into escrow for the duration of the appeal. If the tenant stops making escrow payments, you can file a praecipe to terminate the supersedeas and resume the eviction.¹¹

While a valid supersedeas is in place, you cannot file for the writ. Once the appeal resolves in your favor or the supersedeas is lifted, the 120-day clock to request the writ starts fresh from the date the stay ends.²

Handling Property Left Behind

After the lockout, Pennsylvania’s Act 129 controls what you do with anything the tenant left in the unit. You cannot throw it out the same day.

The former tenant has 10 days from when you take possession to contact you about retrieving their belongings. If they do, you must store the property for up to 30 days at a location of your choosing. The tenant is responsible for any reasonable storage costs if they collect items after the initial 10-day period.¹²

If the tenant never contacts you within those 10 days, you can dispose of the property as you see fit. If you sell any of it and the proceeds exceed what the tenant owes, send the surplus to the tenant by certified mail. Throughout the 10- or 30-day period, you must exercise ordinary care with the belongings. A landlord who violates these rules faces triple damages plus the tenant’s attorney fees and court costs.¹²

One useful shortcut: if the writ of possession itself included notice of the tenant’s 10- and 30-day property rights, you don’t have to send a separate written notice. If it didn’t, send notice by regular mail to the tenant’s forwarding address, or to the property address if you don’t have a forwarding one.¹²

1
Philadelphia Courts. First Judicial District of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Municipal Court Civil Division Compiled Rules
2
Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 246 Pa. Code Rule 515 – Request for Order for Possession
3
Philadelphia Municipal Court. Instruction Sheet for the Landlord and Tenant Form
4
Philadelphia Municipal Court. Instruction Sheet for the Statement of Claim Form
5
PHL Council. After New Law Regulates Evictions, Landlord-Tenant Office Shuts Down
6
Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office. Writ of Possession
7
Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office. Schedule of Sheriff Fees
8
PALawHELP.org. Landlord Tenant Overview and Notice Requirements
9
Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 231 Pa. Code Rule 2973.3 – Notice Served with Writ of Possession
10
Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 246 Pa. Code Rule 516 – Issuance and Reissuance of Order for Possession
11
Philadelphia Courts. Supplemental Instructions for Obtaining Stay of Eviction
12
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 68 – Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 – Disposition of Abandoned Personal Property