Brodsky, W. v. MJC Industries, Inc.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 18, 2015
Docket760 EDA 2014
StatusUnpublished

This text of Brodsky, W. v. MJC Industries, Inc. (Brodsky, W. v. MJC Industries, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brodsky, W. v. MJC Industries, Inc., (Pa. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

J-A02019-15

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

WILLIAM AARON BRODSKY IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee

v.

MJC INDUSTRIES, INC.

Appellant No. 760 EDA 2014

Appeal from the Judgment Entered on February 20, 2014 In the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County Civil Division at No.: 2013-03355

BEFORE: PANELLA, J., LAZARUS, J., and WECHT, J.

MEMORANDUM BY WECHT, J.: FILED MAY 18, 2015

MJC Industries, Inc. (“MJC”), appeals the trial court’s order granting

partial summary judgment to William Brodsky in his suit seeking damages

and/or injunctive relief under the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act,

12 Pa.C.S. §§ 5101, et seq. (hereinafter “the FTA” or “the Act”). Because

we find that the order that MJC seeks to appeal was not a final order as

defined under Pa.R.A.P. 341, we quash the appeal for want of jurisdiction

and remand. On remand, we also direct the trial court to rule upon the

merits of MJC’s motion to dismiss to the extent that it raises non-waivable

jurisdictional questions.

The trial court has provided the following factual and procedural

history of this case:

In 2001, [Brodsky] was approximately twelve (12) years old when he met Michael Mesko. Sometime thereafter, Mesko J-A02019-15

became sexually involved with [Brodsky. Brodsky] eventually reported these incidents[,] leading to Mesko’s arrest by the Allentown Police Department in February 2010. Mesko was charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S. § 3123. On October 13, 2010, Mesko [pleaded] guilty to this charge and was sentenced to 5-15 years of incarceration.

Prior to his incarceration, Mesko owned and operated a landscaping business, Mesko Landscaping, Inc., which used for its operations certain real estate owned by Mesko personally. On October 12, 2010, the day before Mesko’s guilty plea, he signed a deed transferring his fee simple ownership of real property located at 3268 Route 212, Springtown, PA[,] 18081 (hereinafter “the Route 212 property”) to [MJC] in exchange for $1.00. In addition, on the same date, Mesko signed a deed transferring his ownership of approximately 36 acres of real estate located at 1515 Woodcock Road, Kintnersville, PA[,] 18930 (hereinafter “the Woodcock Road property”) to [MJC] in exchange for $1.00. Mesko also transferred stock in Mesko Landscaping, Inc. to Glenn Jackson, CEO of [MJC]. Other than the assets transferred, Mesko only retained a cabin in the Poconos, which he valued between $25,000 and $40,000. This cabin was subsequently sold at sheriff’s sale because Mesko was unable to pay the real estate taxes thereon. Mesko admitted that he did not retain any other valuable assets. The 1515 Woodcock Road property was unencumbered by any mortgage, tax lien or other liability at the time of transfer. Both Mesko and Jackson admitted that they believed the value of this property was approximately $200,000. Brodsky’s appraiser valued the property to be $250,000 in October 2010. The [Route 212 property] was encumbered by a $200,000 line of credit. [Brodsky’s] appraiser valued this property to be $265,000 in October 2010.

On April 1, 2011, [Brodsky] filed a civil suit against Mesko in the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas, . . . which resulted in a stipulated judgment against Mesko in the principal amount of $500,000.00. . . .

On May 13, 2013, [Brodsky] filed the instant action in order to collect upon said judgment. At the time this suit was brought, [Brodsky] had not collected any sum toward[] the $500,000 judgment. On June 26, 2013, [MJC] filed an [a]nswer to [Brodsky’s complaint]. Thereafter, the parties engaged in

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discovery, and various motions and responses were filed by the parties. On December 26, 2013, [Brodsky] filed a [m]otion for [s]ummary [j]udgment claiming that the allegations of the [c]omplaint were uncontroverted and[,] therefore, no genuine issue of material fact existed. On January 28, 2013, [MJC] filed [its] response to [Brodsky’s motion for summary judgment] as well as a “Motion to Dismiss Complaint with Prejudice for Failure to Join Indispensable Party and Lack of Jurisdiction.” The parties filed additional supporting memoranda thereafter.

Upon review of the filings and the allegations therein, [the trial court] determined that there was no genuine issue of material fact. On February 7, 2014, [the court] issued an [o]rder granting [Brodsky’s motion for summary judgment], which is the basis of this appeal. [MJC] filed [its notice of appeal] to the Superior Court on March [7], 2014.

Trial Court Opinion, 7/2/2014, at 1-3 (citations omitted). Thereafter, the

trial court issued an order directing MJC to file a concise statement of the

errors complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b), and MJC

timely complied, raising nine issues that were prolix in their formulation.

The trial court thereafter issued the above-excerpted opinion, which

considered and rejected MJC’s legal arguments.

We have no authority to consider a case that comes before our court if

we lack jurisdiction over the subject matter. Consequently, when a party, or

this Court independently, identifies a cloud over our jurisdiction, we must

address that question before all others. See In re Miscin, 885 A.2d 558,

561 (Pa. Super. 2005) (“We may examine the issue of appealability sua

sponte because it affects [this] Court’s jurisdiction over the case.”). Brodsky

has identified such a cloud in the instant matter. See Brief for Brodsky

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at 12. Consequently, our analysis must begin with our jurisdictional

authority.

In order to do so, we must address aspects of this case’s posture that

were omitted from the trial court’s account. In Brodsky’s complaint, he

raised five separate theories of relief. In his first three counts, he sought

relief for a fraudulent transfer of assets pursuant to 12 Pa.C.S.

§§ 5104(a)(1), (a)(2), and 5105, respectively. Complaint at 3-5. In

connection with each of these counts, he requested the following relief:

(1) [J]udgment in [Brodsky’s] favor and against [MJC], pursuant to 12 Pa.C.S. § 5108(b) and (c), in the amount of $500,000, plus interest and costs, or, in the alternative, an [o]rder pursuant to 12 Pa.C.S. § 5107(b) allowing [Brodsky] to execute against the real properties transferred; (2) an [o]rder pursuant to 12 Pa.C.S. § 5107 enjoining [MJC] from further disposition of the properties and any other assets of the debtor; (3) an [o]rder pursuant to 12 Pa.C.S. § 5107 appointing a receiver to take charge of the properties; and (4) other relief as the [c]ourt deems just and proper, including reasonable counsel fees incurred by [Brodsky] in this action.

Id. at 4; see id. at 5 (same); id. at 6 (same).

In his fourth count, Brodsky asserted a claim for a constructive trust,

wherein he sought the following relief: “[Brodsky] demands the imposition

of a construct[ive] trust enjoining further dissipation or alienation of the

properties by [MJC] and other relief as the [c]ourt deems just and proper.”

Id. at 7. In his fifth count, Brodsky sought temporary and permanent

injunctive relief: “[Brodsky] prays for an [o]rder enjoining [MJC] from

transferring, assigning, encumbering, pledging, or otherwise disposing or

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dissipating [the Properties] or any other assets formerly belonging to

[Mesko] to anyone except the Bucks County Sheriff, the Lehigh County

Sheriff, [Brodsky], or [Brodsky’s] counsel until further [o]rder of this

[c]ourt.” Id. at 8.

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