In re Estate of Landis

85 A.3d 506, 2014 Pa. Super. 7, 2014 WL 169842, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 9
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 15, 2014
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 85 A.3d 506 (In re Estate of Landis) 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
In re Estate of Landis, 85 A.3d 506, 2014 Pa. Super. 7, 2014 WL 169842, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 9 (Pa. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION BY

GANTMAN, J.:

Appellant, PNC Bank, National Association (“PNC”), appeals from the order entered in the Montgomery County Orphans’ Court, which approved the first account and recommended distribution of the estate assets of the Estate of Charles S. Landis, deceased (“the Estate”). We vacate and remand for further proceedings.

The relevant facts and procedural history of this case are as follows. In March 2004, Charles S. Landis (“Decedent”), in exchange for a loan of $138,450.00 on his residential real property located in Soud-erton, Montgomery County, granted a mortgage to Mortgage Investors Corporation. The mortgage was recorded as a first lien on the real estate on March 24, 2004.

Decedent died testate on May 31, 2011. Robin Lee Gilbert (“Executrix”) admitted Decedent’s will to probate and, on August 1, 2011, the Montgomery County Register of Wills granted Letters Testamentary to Executrix. At Decedent’s death, the 2004 mortgage was the first and only secured lien on the property. PNC obtained the mortgage by virtue of assignment.

On December 21, 2011, Executrix filed a petition for leave of court to sell the mortgaged real property, pursuant to 20 Pa. C.S.A. § 3353. In her petition, Executrix estimated the assets of the Estate comprised of cash accounts of $6,500.00 and the mortgaged real property. Executrix approximated the Estate’s debts at nearly $200,000.00, including the mortgage lien PNC held on the real property. In the petition, Executrix claimed the Estate owed $117,320.19 on PNC’s mortgage lien. In essence, Executrix claimed the Estate was insolvent.

The Orphans’ Court issued a preliminary decree and citation to PNC to show cause why the sale Executrix requested should not be allowed on December 22, 2011. PNC filed no objections to the petition or the sale. The court issued an uncontested decree, granting Executrix’s petition on February 2, 2012. In its decree, the court authorized a “judicial sale” under 20 Pa.C.SA. § 3353 and discharged all liens on the real property, so the property could be transferred with a clear title. The sale on the real property closed on March 6, 2012.

On November 15, 2012, Executrix filed an account of the Estate from the period May 31, 2011 (Decedent’s death) to November 6, 2012. In that account, Executrix valued the Estate’s principal at $131,967.40. Of that principal amount, Executrix listed $120,761.69 as proceeds from the sale of Decedent’s Souderton real property. Executrix also identified $107,924.64 in funds available for distribution. The account included a proposed distribution of the Estate, in which the Estate would pay first and in full the costs of estate administration, Executrix’s commission, attorneys’ and accountant’s fees, as well as outstanding funeral and medical expenses. The account listed PNC as a “Class 6 creditor” pursuant to 20 Pa.C.S.A. § 3392 (relating to priority of unsecured creditors of estate).

On December 17, 2012, PNC filed a petition for distribution of the judicial sale proceeds, arguing PNC was entitled to the entire proceeds of the sale, as PNC was the only secured lienholder of the real property. PNC estimated the amount due [509]*509under the mortgage lien was $123,287.42. The court immediately issued a preliminary decree directing Executrix to show cause why the Estate should not distribute to PNC the entire proceeds of the judicial sale. On December 24, 2012, PNC also filed objections to the November 2012 account and proposed distribution of the estate assets.

Executrix filed a petition for adjudication, including Executrix’s proposed schedule of distribution on January 7, 2013. In the distribution, Executrix again listed PNC as a “Class 6 creditor” pursuant to 20 Pa.C.S.A. § 3392 and subordinated PNC’s position in the distribution scheme to the claims of several unsecured creditors of the Estate. The distribution allocated to PNC $18,223.10, or 99.6% of the remainder of the Estate. On January 25, 2013, the court dismissed PNC’s December 17th petition for distribution as unnecessary in light of PNC’s filed objections to the account and proposed distribution. That same day, the court ordered the parties to file memoranda of law outlining their respective positions concerning PNC’s objections.

On March 12, 2013, the court entered an order confirming Executrix’s account and ordered distribution of the Estate according to Executrix’s proposal. The court determined the “judicial” sale of Decedent’s real property extinguished PNC’s lien outright, along with its right of first priority to distribution of the net sale proceeds. PNC timely filed a notice of appeal on April 8, 2013. That same day, PNC filed an emergency petition to stay the trial court’s order pending appeal, which the court granted on April 11, 2013. The trial court did not order, and PNC did not file, a statement of errors complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b).

PNC raises three issues for our review:

DID THE [ORPHANS’] COURT ERR BY RULING THAT A JUDICIAL SALE OF THE DECEDENT’S PROPERTY CONDUCTED PURSUANT TO 42 PA.C.S.A. § 8152 RESULTED IN “EXTINGUISHMENT” OF BOTH PNC’S FIRST-LIEN MORTGAGE AS WELL AS PNC’S FIRST-PRIORITY RIGHT TO RECEIVE DISTRIBUTION OF THE PROCEEDS REALIZED FROM THE SALE OF THE PROPERTY, AND INSTEAD AWARDING DISTRIBUTIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH A SCHEDULE DESIGNATING PNC AS A “CLASS 6 CLAIMANT” SUBORDINATE TO THE CLAIMS OF OTHER UNSECURED CREDITORS PURSUANT TO 20 PA.C.S.A. § 3392?
WAS PNC, AS HOLDER OF A MORTGAGE CONSTITUTING A FIRST-PRIORITY LIEN ON THE DECEDENT’S PROPERTY AS OF THE DATE OF DEATH, ENTITLED TO FIRST PRIORITY IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE NET PROCEEDS FROM THE JUDICIAL SALE OF THE PROPERTY, AND HENCE OF THE ESTATE, UNDER PENNSYLVANIA LAW?
SHOULD THE [ORPHANS’] COURT’S INTERPRETATION OF 42 PA.C.S.A. § 8152 BE REJECTED BECAUSE IT CONTRADICTS ESTABLISHED CANONS OF STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION UNDER PENNSYLVANIA LAW BY RENDERING SECTION 8152 UNCONSTITUTIONAL, AS APPLIED, AND BY PRODUCING AN ABSURD AND UNREASONABLE RESULT?

(PNC’s Brief at 4).

.For purposes of disposition we combine PNC’s issues. Initially, PNC argues 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8152 dictates that judicial sales of real property do not generally [510]*510impair prior mortgage liens. PNC avers Section 8152(b) allows for the possibility that a judicial sale divests a mortgage lien, if the court authorizes such divestiture under two sections of the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries (“PEF”) Code. PNC contends the first of these sections, 20 Pa. C.S.A. § 3353, does not address the distribution of sale proceeds. PNC maintains Section 3353 provides only that the court may authorize a judicial sale if the court finds the sale is necessary for the proper administration and distribution of the estate. PNC alleges the second provision, 20 Pa.C.S.A. § 3357, allows a court to discharge mortgage liens pursuant to a judicial sale only with the lienholder’s written consent. PNC avers it did not consent in writing to the court’s discharge of its mortgage lien through the judicial sale. PNC submits the purpose of Section 8152 is to transfer the real property with clear title to the purchaser. PNC maintains Section 8152 does not go so far as to permit the court to extinguish a secured creditor’s lien and lien priority against the proceeds of the sale. PNC claims the court incorrectly interpreted 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8152 along with the related sections of the PEF Code to extinguish PNC’s lien and as well as its priority as to the proceeds of the sale.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
85 A.3d 506, 2014 Pa. Super. 7, 2014 WL 169842, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 9, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-landis-pasuperct-2014.