At the trial court level, Morris Parks petition to set aside the tax sale was denied because the trial court judge found that the service requirements under the act had been satisfied. 3118 Petition to transfer liquor license Petition for vehicle registration suspension It based this finding on a comment made by Grudsky in the course of examination by his counsel: [Grudsky] 215 Amherst Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11235. 97, 99, 498 A.2d 57, 58 (1985)(holding that the Personal Addressee Only requirement applies to equally to partnerships.) Rather, according to Colins, the act requires posting of the petition and rule on the most public part of the property.. The Starbucks Union Vote: a Pyrrhic Victory for Labor? Jeff is the son of James Easter, the . Following the purchase of the property, Morris Park cleaned the property but left the property vacant, occupied only by a garage and a trailer surrounded by a chain link fence, the opinion said. Added by the Act of July 3, 1986, P.L. endobj The Tax Sale Law mandates that the taxing authority provide three types of notice: (1) published notice, (2) mail notice and (3) posted notice. The tax claim bureau sent taxpayer a second notice, but its file did not document that it took any additional efforts to discover taxpayer's whereabouts. at 164. Act of July 7, 1947, P.L. Tax sales are disfavored by Mississippi courts. As such, the Tax Claim Bureau did not meet its burden of proving that it made reasonable efforts to discover the whereabouts of the owner and notify him. Id. endobj When our clients, the owners/operators of a family-run auto parts and repair shop in South Philadelphia, were notified by the city government that they were delinquent on the real estate taxes they were understandably confused and concerned. Sabarese v. Tax Claim Bureau of Monroe County, 451 A.2d 793 (Pa.Cmwlth.1982). See Pa.R.C.P. 3 0 obj 2022 Nochumson P.C. <>>> Colins then discussed the level of scrutiny Pennsylvania courts employ on municipalities throughout the state that attempt to sell a property through tax foreclosure proceedings. Filed: October 1st, 2019 Precedential Status: Precedential Citations: None known Docket Number: 1426 C.D. The most common mistake a County makes is not sending mailed notice restricted delivery to an owner. Colins stated that Philadelphias failure to perfect service by first-class and certified mail made compliance with the posting mandate under the act all the more important. This list is growing every week so please have a look regularly. Needless to say, our clients were quite surprised to learn that, unbeknownst to them, the property was sold at the sheriffs sale scheduled for the following month. Therefore, it will be the Courts determination to evaluate whether the basis laid out in the petition to set aside is proper cause under the law. What are the notice requirements of the upset tax sale law? Getting the sale set aside means that the homeowner regains title until the lender can restore the mortgage. 72 P.S. The parties have stipulated that public notice was properly given. The Mississippi Court of Appeals held that In Mississippi, it is public policy to favor and protect landowners from [the sale of their land] for taxes.C.F.P. The properties are sold at auction. We pride ourselves on unparalleled service. 2009) requires proper notice be delivered to property owners informing them of a pending tax sale. Please direct comments or questions to. Petition to Set Aside Upset Tax Sale ~ Appeal of: C. Hansford, 1426 C.D. The Commonwealth Courts ruling in Morris Park could possibly cause the way petitions attempting to set aside tax sales are heard in Philadelphia if the sheriff does not change the way it completes the affidavit of service related to the posting on the property of the citys petition and subsequently issued rule. endobj Grudsky and his wife own the building. Ct. 2009) . Blue . Petition to Set Aside Upset Tax Sale (Petition).1 Essentially, the issue before this Court is whether Hansford was an owner occupant of 41 East Wyoming Street, Allentown, Pennsylvania 18103 (Property) at the time of the upset tax sale.2 The facts are undisputed.3 Hansford has owned the Property "[s]ince Grudsky appealed to this Court.3 In his first issue, he contends that the Tax Claim Bureau's acknowledged failure to search the Lackawanna County telephone directories invalidates the tax sale. Maya did not announce a new principle. Where the certified mailing is returned unclaimed, the tax claim bureau must take additional steps to notify the property owner. ). If the clerk fails to follow these requirements, the land owner may present that evidence in his Petition to Set Aside Tax Sale. ] N.T. Registration Sys. They indicated that the Erie County assessment records had been searched, but this was not true. 459] Section 1201, Pub. Piercing the Corporate Veil in Construction Defect Cases, How to Get Your Business Reopened During the COVID-19 Pandemic, The Pennsylvania Home Improvement Contractors Act. Grudsky contends that the Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau (Tax Claim Bureau) did not comply with the notice requirements of the Real Estate Tax Sale Law (Tax Sale Law)1 and, thus, the trial court erred. We held that strict compliance with the [Tax Sale] Law's notice provisions is essential to prevent the deprivation of property without due process. Steinbacher, 996 A.2d at 1099. Mercedes Salazar, Robles' wife, also testified. 1 0 obj Colins believed that the trial court judge abused his discretion by finding that Philadelphia complied with its notice and service requirements under the act. ); R.R. Upset tax sales are the process by which Pennsylvania counties sell properties to recover unpaid real estate taxes. We explained that the tax sale notice provisions are strictly construed and even where the statutory task is pointless [it] does not excuse its attempted performance. Id. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OR RECEIPT OF FIREARMS [1201 to 1203. The statutory notice provisions in the Tax Sale Law must be strictly construed lest a person be deprived of property without due process. Maya v. County of Erie Tax Claim Bureau, 59 A.3d 50, 55 (Pa.Cmwlth.2013) (citations omitted); Smith v. Tax Claim Bureau of Pike County, 834 A.2d 1247, 1251 (Pa.Cmwlth.2003)([T]he focus is not on the alleged neglect of the owner, which is often present in some degree, but on whether the activities of the Bureau comply with the requirements of the statute.). Copyright 2023, Thomson Reuters. Such notice shall set forth (1) the purposes of such sale, (2) the time of such sale, (3) the place of such sale, (4) the terms of the sale including the approximate upset price, (5) the descriptions of the properties to be sold as stated in the claims entered and the name of the owner.72 P.S. <>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI]>>/MediaBox[0 0 612 792]/Contents 18 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> 8 0 obj endobj we immediately filed a petition to set aside the sheriffs sale with the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. The property owner testified that she owned two other properties in Erie, and assessment records for those properties listed her sister's residence in Erie as the address for all notices. What our clients did not know at the time is that the day prior to the sheriffs sale a letter had been faxed, after business hours, from the city government to our clients attorney at the time, who had already left his office for the night, informing him that the sheriffs sale would take place the following morning and that the property would be for sale. At the subsequent hearing, we presented the testimony of our clients and their former attorney in support of the arguments we made in the petition to set aside the sheriffs sale. Although Colins reiterated that Philadelphia had no duty to locate the whereabouts of a property owner even for a vacant property where the mailing address of the property owner is clearly deficient, he held that proper posting is not only an additional reasonable step that should be taken to adequately safeguard constitutional due process once a municipal authority has knowledge that service through the mail was ineffective, but a basic and longstanding statutory obligation.. 351. 123 South Broad Street #1600 Id. In Philadelphia, owners of real estate have a legal obligation to pay taxes. Likewise, in Kemler v. Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau, 2015 WL 5430360 (Pa.Cmwlth. The trial court found that 3089 Brighton 6th Street, Brooklyn, New York was Grudsky's proper mailing address. 5860.607a(a)(emphasis added). 78a. This Court set aside the tax sale because the tax claim bureau failed to make the searches of county records listed in Section 607.1. The trial court also held that a reasonable effort would have included contacting the township zoning office or searching the internet. 5860.607a. As such, it was irrelevant whether the statutorily mandated search would have been successful. Failure of the chancery clerk to file the requisite affidavits renders a tax deed void. 123 South Broad Street #1600 Unpub. 2002). 3132 . In re Upset Tax Sale Conducted on September 11, 2014, 2016 WL 916867, at *1 (Pa.Cmwlth. 5. In a memorandum opinion written by Colins, the Commonwealth Court disagreed with the trial court judge and instead ordered that the tax sale be set aside due to inadequate proof of service of the citys petition and subsequently issued rule. of Bosico, 412 A.2d 505, 506 (Pa. 1980), citing 20 Pa.C.S.A. Relevant here is the statutory directive that the tax claim bureau exercise reasonable efforts to discover the whereabouts of the property owner and notify him. Here, the Tax Claim Bureau did not check current telephone directories within Lackawanna County, which is specifically required by Section 607.1 of the Tax Sale Law. Please try again. In his second issue, he contends that Koldjeski's failure to document the date of his searches of various court records invalidates the tax sale. endstream The burden of proving circumstances warranting the exercise of the court's equitable powers is on the petitioner. The trial court determined that Murphy did not receive proper notice of the tax sale and that the Bureau did not take sufficient action by following up on its inquiry to POA. Attorneys Bob Campbel l and Vic Cavacini successfully petitioned the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County to set aside an upset tax sale on their client's property that had previously stripped their client of their home. IN RE: UPSET TAX SALE OF SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 Michael Grudsky, Appellant v. Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau and George Robles. If those taxes are not paid the City will enter a judgment against the property owner. 77a. 2018 (Pa. Commw. Therefore, a strong defense to stopping a petition to set aside sheriff sale may be that the filer lacks standing to bring the claim. endobj 46. <> Grudsky did not appear at the hearing, and the trial court awarded Robles title to the trailer, which he has repaired. Jefferson Township is inapposite. Colins was particularly dismayed with the information contained within the affidavit of service filed with the trial court by the sheriff of Philadelphia. The appellee also averred that he complied with all statutory provisions applicable to tax deeds. at 5. Therefore, it is critical you speak with an attorney before filing a petition to set aside sheriff sale. 1 0 obj On September 29, 2014, the property was sold at an upset tax sale to George Robles for $1,377.04. Further, section 27-43-3 must be given a strict construction, and its requirements fully satisfied. Id. Pa.R.C.P. Needless to say, our clients were quite surprised to learn that, unbeknownst to them, the property was sold at the sheriffs sale scheduled for the following month. 5860.603. <>stream Reprinted with permission from theApril 12, 2016 edition of The Legal Intelligencer 2016 ALM Media Properties, LLC. He and his family last visited the property in the summer of 2014 and use[d] the trailer[. The Pennsylvania Contractor and Subcontractor Payment Act, Zoom Webinar: State and Federal Prompt Payment Act, Federal Arbitration Act Preempts Pennsylvania Payment Act, SCOTUS Opens Up Federal Courts to Land Owners. 13 0 obj Specifically, it was not obligated to check the telephone directories of Allegheny County. 1368, as amended, 72 P.S. 7. 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petition to set aside tax sale pennsylvania