Housing Authority of Pittsburgh v. Gilmore (In re Gilmore)

261 B.R. 175, 2001 Bankr. LEXIS 702
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 12, 2001
DocketBankruptcy No. 00-27276-JFK; Motion No. ISF-1
StatusPublished

This text of 261 B.R. 175 (Housing Authority of Pittsburgh v. Gilmore (In re Gilmore)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Housing Authority of Pittsburgh v. Gilmore (In re Gilmore), 261 B.R. 175, 2001 Bankr. LEXIS 702 (Pa. 2001).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION1

JUDITH K. FITZGERALD, Chief Judge.

Before the court is the Motion for Relief from Automatic Stay filed by the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) against Debtor. HACP obtained an Order of Possession through the state court system and was two days short of executing on the Order when Debtor filed a Chapter 13 petition. HACP was attempting to evict Debtor, a tenant, from one of the units it owns at the Arlington Heights housing project on the ground that he breached non-monetary covenants in the lease, which HACP, contends cannot be cured. One of the lease provisions at issue concerns alleged drug-related activity, as to which the criminal charges have been dismissed, and no proof of the conduct appears of record in any of the three courts involved, ie., the district justice court, the Court of Common Pleas and this court.

The difficulty facing this court is that Debtor failed to timely appeal the state court’s order denying his motion for leave to appeal nunc pro tunc, that also granted possession to HACP. This bankruptcy stayed the appeal period. Debtor has 24 days remaining under applicable state court procedures to appeal an adverse ruling by the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, per Judge Wettick. It likewise appears from the record available that an error of law may have occurred in that the record does not show that HACP has ever proven entitlement to possession on the allegations of criminal drug-related [177]*177conduct. This court, however, is not a state appellate court. Debtor is left with convincing a state appellate court of his entitlement to remain in possession of his leasehold. At the time he filed this bankruptcy, Debtor was (and remains) in possession of his rental unit.

I will set out a chronology of relevant facts so as to juxtapose them against a recently decided case which may be instructive to an eventual disposition:

10/29/96 Debtor and an HACP representative signed a lease which included provisions for a $99.00 security deposit and a monthly rent of $248.00. (Exhibit A, HACP’s Brief in Support of Motion for Relief from Stay.)
2/15/00 Debtor was arrested on three drug charges and a disorderly conduct charge at his unit in the Arlington Heights housing project (Exhibit C, HACP’s Brief in Support of Motion for Relief from Stay.)
2/15/00 Another person, not a tenant in the Debtor’s apartment (Yvonne Wofford), was also arrested on the same charges. The police report of the incident is all that appears in the record to explain the events surrounding HACP’s efforts to evict Debtor. (Exhibit A to Debtor’s Supplemental Memorandum and Relevant Documents.) It indicates that the arresting officer was called to the scene of Debtor’s apartment due to a report of “a violent domestic [argument].” Upon arrival, the officer could not gain access to the unit, so the 911 operator called the unit and shortly after, the security door was opened by Ms. Wof-ford. Ms. Wofford2 told the officer she was not the resident and there was no problem at the unit. She denied access to the officer. Nonetheless, as the officer pushed past her, while she tried to slam the door against him, he smelled “a heavy odor of marijuana,” and saw what appeared to be a “blunt” burning in an ash tray on the living room table. He led Ms. Wofford back into the hallway, as she shouted obscenities, causing him to place her under arrest. He then saw the Debtor and a Ms. Astonah Turner enter the hallway from the street, along with another female. The officer then had all four persons enter the apartment while he waited for backup and tried to discover whether there was a domestic dispute underway. His report does not indicate any evidence of a domestic disturbance. His report does not identify anyone present in the apartment when he first gained entry other than Ms. Wofford.
Inside, he again saw the “blunt” and some suspected marijuana seeds in a brandy snifter. As the backup arrived, the officer placed Debtor under arrest. Debtor told the officer he was the tenant, that he had called the police to report a robbery in Mount Oliver, that there was never a domestic dispute, and that the marijuana belonged to some unknown black males [178]*178who were using his apartment to get high.
Ms. Wofford gave the officer four baggies of suspected marijuana from her pants pockets. Debtor had no contraband on his person. There the police report ends.3
2/16/00 Debtor was arraigned before City Magistrate Coles on three drug charges and one summary offense, disorderly conduct; he was convicted, through his plea, of only the disorderly conduct charge. (Exhibits B & C, HACP’s Brief in Support of Motion for Relief from Stay.4) The drug charges were dismissed as to both Debtor and Ms. Wofford.
5/31/00 HACP filed action against Debtor alleging damages to the leasehold in the amount of $35.00; unpaid rent of $0.00; additional rent remaining unpaid on hearing date; and social eviction under lease sections 81(1-2) and K. The cited provisions all relate to obligations of the tenant. Paragraph 81(1) prohibits drug related criminal conduct. Paragraph 81(2) prohibits criminal activity that threatens the health, safety or right to peaceful enjoyment by other tenants or management. Lease paragraph 8K prohibits serious or repetitious conduct that can be either criminal or not which impairs the peaceful enjoyment by other tenants of their accommodations or community facilities or that impairs the physical or social environment of the community. (Exhibit A, HACP’s Supplemental Brief and Relevant Exhibits.) Paragraph 8T of the lease indicates that conduct specified in paragraph 81 and 8K constitutes a violation of the lease.
[179]*1796/13/00 District Justice Longo granted HACP possession and judgment for $70.00 in rent arrears and $78.75 in judgment costs (Exhibit E, HACP’s Brief in Support of Motion for Relief from Stay.) The Judgment states “possession granted,” and not “possession granted if money judgment is not satisfied by time of eviction”.
6/30/00 Debtor paid the judgment amount of $148.75 to HACP. (Exhibit B, HACP’s Supplemental Brief and Relevant Exhibits.)
7/3/00 The Notice of Judgment/Transcript Residential Lease was filed, adding another $27.75 as “costs in this proceeding” for a total of $176.50 (Unlettered Exhibit filed with HACP’s Supplemental Brief and Relevant Exhibits) although Debtor had already paid the original judgment amount.
7/6/00 HACP served 7/3/00 Order for Possession on Debtor by posting (same unlettered Exhibit as referred to in 7/3/00 item above).
7/21/00 Debtor presented a Motion for Appeal Nunc pro Tunc from District Justice Longo’s Order. (HACP represents on unnumbered page 4 of its Supplemental Brief and Relevant Exhibits that Debtor’s Motion for Appeal was filed on 7/21/00; however, at page 3 in its Brief in Support of Motion for Relief from Automatic Stay it avers that Debtor’s Motion was filed on 7/28/00. One of the copies of the “cover” page of Debtor’s Motion for Appeal Nunc pro Tunc, which copy accompanies HACP’s Supplemental Brief, has many date stamps of the local clerk of court, one of which is 7/21/00 and another of which is 7/28/00.)

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Bluebook (online)
261 B.R. 175, 2001 Bankr. LEXIS 702, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/housing-authority-of-pittsburgh-v-gilmore-in-re-gilmore-pawb-2001.