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emeteries exist in the darkest corners of a bureaucratic system that keeps an eye on every regulated trade in Pennsylvania from car dealers to massage therapists.
People burying loved ones in the Keystone State write checks for thousands of dollars and sign agreements that promise they are buying something most businesses wouldn’t offer — a guarantee that a grave will be taken care of forever.
“Every cemetery company shall set aside annually and deposit into a permanent lot care fund a sum equal to at least 15% of the gross amount of the funds ... .”
— Pennsylvania statute Title 9, Chapter 3, Section 303
But cemeteries regularly fail and owners walk away, facing few apparent consequences while the burden of that perpetual care may end up falling on taxpayers and the communities where acres of land can become an eyesore.
Pennsylvania has a patchwork of laws that may give a false sense of security to consumers. There are no state workers directly assigned to monitor the financial health of cemeteries or to identify operators not obeying the rules for setting aside a perpetual care fund.
State statutes requiring cemeteries to set aside 15% of the sales of each grave plot for perpetual care don’t even apply to the majority of cemeteries — those owned by churches, religious organizations, fraternal organizations and families.
State officials don’t know exactly how many graveyards exist, although the Allegheny County Funeral Director’s Association estimates there are about 1,000 privately owned and religious cemeteries in the 11-county region around Pittsburgh.
Funeral director Frank Perman, a member of the organization and owner of Perman Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Shaler, estimates there could be as many as 6,000 graveyards across the state.
The best guess is that 80% to 85% of all cemeteries are exempt from state oversight, with the remaining 15% to 20% falling under any Pennsylvania review.
For the most part, these silent cities of the dead have fallen through the cracks, buried and forgotten.
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