Husak v. Fayette County Tax Claim Bureau

61 A.3d 302, 2013 WL 28386, 2013 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 3, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 61 A.3d 302 (Husak v. Fayette County Tax Claim Bureau) 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.

Bluebook
Husak v. Fayette County Tax Claim Bureau, 61 A.3d 302, 2013 WL 28386, 2013 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1 (Pa. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION BY

Judge SIMPSON.

In this factually complex statutory appeal, E.D. Lewis (Purchaser) appeals from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Fayette County1 (trial court) that granted a petition to set aside an upset tax sale on behalf of Richard S. Husak and his wife, Kelly J. Husak (collectively, Owners). The trial court determined the Fayette County Tax Claim Bureau (Bureau) failed to comply with the notice requirements of the Real Estate Tax Sale Law (Tax Sale Law)2 and voided the September 2010 tax sale.

Purchaser contends the trial court erred in setting aside the tax sale and holding that: Owners were owners under the Tax Sale Law; Owners had standing to object to the tax sale; and, Owners were entitled to notice of the tax sale. Purchaser also contends the trial court erred in setting aside the tax sale where the record established that the Bureau sent the required notices to the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the record owner of the subject property at the time of the tax sale, and, where a final decree in a quiet title action adjudicated the validity of the tax sale against Fannie Mae. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I. Background

A. Tax Sale

Owners owned and resided on the subject property since 1996, when Owner Richard Husak acquired the property from his grandmother. In February 2006, upon foreclosure, Fannie Mae purchased the property at a sheriffs sale. Fannie Mae recorded the sheriffs deed. Owners’ parents mortgaged their separate property to assist Owners in reacquiring the property from Fannie Mae. Owners continued to reside on the property.

In April 2006, Owners purchased the property from Fannie Mae for approximately $150,000. At that time, Fannie Mae executed a quitclaim deed. See Reproduced Record (R.R.) at 149. However, Owners’ counsel did not record the non-notarized deed. Rather, Owners’ counsel attempted to obtain a notarized original deed from Fannie Mae. Owners assert they did not receive a “corrective” quitclaim deed from Fannie Mae until March 2011, which they immediately recorded. See id. at 145.

Meanwhile, from the time Fannie Mae received the purchase price for the April 2006 quitclaim deed to Owners, and the time it provided Owners with the appropriate deed in 2011, the Bureau sent all tax notices to Fannie Mae as the last recorded owner.

However, the taxes on the property were not paid for tax years 2008, 2009, and 2010. In March 2009, the Bureau sent Fannie Mae notice of a tax claim based on the 2008 delinquency, at its address of 1900 Market Street, Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA, 19103. The Bureau received a return receipt signed by a “J. Pierce.” Id. at 106.

In March 2010, the Bureau sent notice that the 2009 taxes were not paid. Thereafter, the Bureau sent a June 2010 notice [304]*304of sale for the unpaid 2008 taxes by certified restrictive delivery addressed to Fannie Mae in Philadelphia. Id. at 107. The notice advised that an upset tax sale of the subject property was scheduled for September 2010. Id. The notice also indicated the total value of the subject property was $120,290 and the approximate upset price was $7,235.43. Id.

Further, the Bureau mailed the notice of tax sale to:

FANNIE MAE
1900 MARKET ST STE 800
PHILADELPHIA PA 19103-3517

Id. at 108. However, U.S. Postal Service records “indicate that this item was delivered on 06/25/2010 at 06:20 a.m. in PHILADELPHIA, PA, 19102.” Id. at 109 (emphasis by underline added). “J. Pierce” signed the return dated June 25, 2010. Id.

In July 2010, the Bureau posted a neon orange “Notice of Public Tax Sale” sign on a telephone pole next to the driveway to the house on the subject property. See id. at 142-43.

In August 2010, the Bureau published a “Notice of Public Tax Sale” regarding the subject property in The Herald Standard, The Daily Courier and the Fayette Legal Journal.3 See id. at 144.

The tax sale took place on September 20, 2010, at which time Purchaser bought the subject property. Shortly thereafter, the Bureau sent Fannie Mae a post-sale notice by certified mail advising that the sale occurred. Again, “Pierce” signed the return receipt. Id. at 106. In November 2010, the Bureau recorded a deed for the subject property to Purchaser in the Fay-ette County Office of the Recorder of Deeds.

In December 2010, Purchaser filed an action to quiet title against Fannie Mae alleging the tax sale was valid and that it divested Fannie Mae of any and all right, title or interest in the subject property. In March 2011, the trial court, through Judge Steve P. Leskinen, decreed the tax sale valid. Approximately 35 days later, Judge Leskinen entered final judgment in the quiet title action.

B. Petition to Set Aside

In July 2011, Owners filed a petition to set aside the tax sale. They averred they purchased the subject property back from Fannie Mae in May 2006 and received a non-notarized quitclaim deed. Owners’ former counsel then requested a notarized deed. However, Owners did not receive a notarized recordable deed from Fannie Mae until March, 2011, well after the tax sale. Owners were willing to pay all taxes due on the property.

Owners further averred they resided on the subject property at all times, but they never received notice of the tax sale. Among other arguments, Owners asserted strict compliance with all three notice requirements (published notice, certified [305]*305mail notice and posted notice) of Section 602 the Tax Sale Law is required. In re: Upset Sale Tax Claim Bureau McKean Cnty. on September 10, 2007, 965 A.2d 1244 (Pa.Cmwlth.2009). If any of the Bureau’s notices are defective, the sale is void. Id. Strict compliance is necessary to guard against the deprivation of property without due process of law. Id.

Further, to meet the due process requirements, the Bureau is required to make a reasonable effort to discover the identity and address of persons whose interests are likely to be affected by the tax sale. Wells Fargo Bank of Minnesota, NA v. Tax Claim Bureau of Monroe Cnty., 817 A.2d 1196 (Pa.Cmwlth.2003). The Bureau has the burden of proving its compliance. Id. The fundamental inquiry is the reasonableness of the notice given. In re Upset Sale, Tax Claim Bureau of Bucks Cnty., 48 Pa.Cmwlth. 435, 410 A.2d 376 (1980). An element of reasonableness is that the taxing authorities not disregard common sense business practices in attempting to find persons responsible for paying the delinquent taxes before resorting to delinquent tax sale procedures. Id. Here, Owners averred, the Bureau resorted to tax sale procedures without employing any common sense business practices in attempting to find the persons responsible for the taxes.

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Bluebook (online)
61 A.3d 302, 2013 WL 28386, 2013 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/husak-v-fayette-county-tax-claim-bureau-pacommwct-2013.