Consolidated Reports and Return By the Tax Claims Bureau of Northumberland County -- Appeal of: S. Neff

133 A.3d 337, 2016 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 62
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 21, 2016
Docket752 C.D. 2014
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 133 A.3d 337 (Consolidated Reports and Return By the Tax Claims Bureau of Northumberland County -- Appeal of: S. Neff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Consolidated Reports and Return By the Tax Claims Bureau of Northumberland County -- Appeal of: S. Neff, 133 A.3d 337, 2016 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 62 (Pa. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION BY

Judge RENÉE COHN JUBELIRER.

Anthony Famágeltto and Linda Fama-geltto, husband and wife, (together, Appellants), appeal from a June 23, 2014 Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County (trial court) denying Appellants’ Petition to Set Aside Tax Sale (Petition to Set Aside) of their home at 12769 Route 89, Wattsburg Township, Erie County (Property).- On appeal, Appellants argue that the trial court erred when it denied their Petition to Set Aside because the County of Erie Tax Claim Bureau (Bureau) did not comply with multiple provi *339 sions of the Real Estate Tax, Sale Law 3 (Law) or due process. Appellants also argue that the trial court abused .its discretion when it granted the Bureau’s September 10, 2013 Petition to Waive Personal Service (Waiver Petition). . For the following reasons we affirm, in part, reverse, in part, and remand for further proceedings.

I. NOTICE PRIOR TO AN UPSET TAX SALE

We are once again called upon to address a property owner’s right to notice prior to a sale of property due to unpaid property taxes. “[T]he forfeiture of a person’s property rights for failure to pay taxes is a momentous event under the Pennsylvania and United States Constitutions.” Stanford-Gale v. Tax Claim Bureau of Susquehanna County, 816 A.2d 1214, 1216 (Pa.Cmwlth.2003). Accordingly, the General Assembly established detailed notice provisions within the Law in order to guard against the deprivation of property without due process. Donofrio v. Northampton County Tax Claim Bureau, 811 A.2d 1120, 1122 (Pa.Cmwlth.2002). Because tax claim bureaus have a constitutional duty to provide notice prior to a tax sale, tax claim bureaus bear the burden of showing strict compliance with the notice provisions of the Law and our inquiry focuses “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 [Law].” Smith v. Tax Claim Bureau of Pike County, 834 A.2d 1247, 1251 (Pa.Cmwlth.2003).

The notice requirements of the Law relevant to this case are as follows. Section 602 of the Law, 72 P.S. § 5860.602, requires three different forms of notice to property owners prior to an upset tax sale: publication, posting, and mail. 4 Appellants here challenge the Bureau’s compliance with the mailing requirements of Section 602(e) of the Law, which provides, in relevant part:

(e) In addition to such publications, similar notice of the sale shall also be given by the bureau as follows:
(1) At least thirty (30) days before the date of the sale, by United States certified mail, restricted delivery, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, to each owner as defined by this act.
(2) If return receipt is not received from each owner pursuant to the provisions of clause (1), then, at least ten (10) days before the date of the sale, similar notice of the sale shall b.e given to each owner who failed to acknowledge the first notice by United States first class mail, proof of mailing, at his last known post office address by virtue of the knowledge and information possessed by the bureau, by the tax collector for the taxing district making the return and by the county office responsible for assessments and revisions of taxes. It shall be the duty of the bureau to deter *340 mine the last post office address known to said collector and county assessment office.

72 P.S. § 5860.602(e)(1), (2).

When doubt is raised concerning the receipt of a mailed notice, Section 607.1 of the Law 5 requires taxing claim bureaus to conduct reasonable efforts to discover the whereabouts of, and provide notice to, the record owners of property scheduled to be exposed to an upset tax sale. We have summarized the efforts required as “determining the owners of record and then to use ordinary common sense business practices to ascertain proper addresses where notice of the tax sale may be given.” In re Tax Sale of Real Property Situated in Jefferson Township, 828 A.2d 475, 479 (Pa.Cmwlth.2003).

In addition to the notice requirements of Section 602 and 607.1, if the property is occupied by the owner, Section 601(a)(3) of the Law requires tax claim bureaus to personally serve property owners with written notice of a tax sale. Section 601(a)(3) of the Law provides:

No owner-occupied property may be sold unless the bureau has given the owner occupant written notice of such sale at least ten (10) days prior to the date of actual sale by personal service by the sheriff or his deputy or person deputized by the sheriff for this purpose unless the county commissioners, by resolution, appoint a person or persons to make all personal services required by this clause. The sheriff or his deputy shall make a return of service to the bureau, or the persons appointed by the county commissioners in lieu of the sheriff or his deputy shall file with the bureau written proof of service, setting forth the name of the person served, the date and time and place of service, and attach a copy of the notice which was served. If such personal notice cannot be served within twenty-five (25) days of the request by the bureau to make such personal service, the bureau may petition the court of common pleas to waive the requirement of personal notice for good cause shown. Personal service of notice on one of the owners shall be deemed personal service on all owners.

72 P.S. § 5860.601(a)(3). As such, because the Property at issue here was owner-occupied by Appellants, the Bureau was required to comply with Section 601(a)(3) of the Law.

With the foregoing principles in mind, we turn to the facts in the instant matter.

II. BACKGROUND

The trial court held hearings on the matter on April 29, 2014 and June 18, 2014, which adduced the following facts. Appellants received the ten acre Property as a wedding gift from Mrs. Famageltto’s father more than thirty years ago. From time to time, Appellants encountered difficulties staying current on their property tax bills and entered into two stay agreements with the Bureau as authorized by Section 603 of the Law. 6 Appellants de *341 faulted on the agreement,'and, pursuant to Section 603 of the Law, were prohibited from entering into any new payment agreements for three years. Appellants entered into a second stay of sale agreement in 2011 covering tax years 2009 and 2010.

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133 A.3d 337, 2016 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 62, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/consolidated-reports-and-return-by-the-tax-claims-bureau-of-northumberland-pacommwct-2016.