In Re: of TCB-Judicial Sale ~ Appeal of: Seneca Leandro View, LLC

CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 20, 2023
Docket821 C.D. 2021
StatusUnpublished

This text of In Re: of TCB-Judicial Sale ~ Appeal of: Seneca Leandro View, LLC (In Re: of TCB-Judicial Sale ~ Appeal of: Seneca Leandro View, LLC) 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
In Re: of TCB-Judicial Sale ~ Appeal of: Seneca Leandro View, LLC, (Pa. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

In Re: Petition of Tax Claim Bureau-: Judicial Sale : : No. 821 C.D. 2021 Appeal of: Seneca Leandro View, LLC : Submitted: June 24, 2022

BEFORE: HONORABLE PATRICIA A. McCULLOUGH, Judge HONORABLE MICHAEL H. WOJCIK, Judge HONORABLE STACY WALLACE, Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION BY JUDGE WOJCIK FILED: April 20, 2023

Seneca Leandro View, LLC (Purchaser) appeals the order of the Greene County Court of Common Pleas (trial court) granting reconsideration and granting the petition of Eron Wiles (Owner) to set aside the tax sale of Tax Parcel 2-04-126 located at 404 East South Street, Carmichaels, PA (Property). We affirm.

I. On September 16, 2020, the Greene County (County) Tax Claim Bureau (Bureau) conducted an annual upset sale of properties with delinquent taxes, including the Property at issue herein. Purchaser was the successful bidder at the sale. On October 7, 2020, Owner filed an Exception and Objection to the sale in the trial court.1 See Reproduced Record (RR) at 9a-13a. On November 12,

1 Section 607(c) and (d) of the Real Estate Tax Sale Law (Law), Act of July 7, 1947, P.L. 1368, as amended, 72 P.S. §5860.607(c) and (d), states, in relevant part: (Footnote continued on next page…) 2020, Owner filed an Amended Exception and Objection in which she alleged, inter alia, that she does not reside at the Property, and had previously notified the Bureau of her new address at 324 South Pine Street, Carmichaels, PA. Id. at 16a.2 She asserted that despite this notification, the Bureau continued to mail information to the Property address and, unbeknownst to her, that the Property was offered for sale for unpaid taxes for the 2019 tax year. Id. Owner claimed that she did not receive the notice of the sale as required by Section 602(e) of the Law.3 See RR at 16a. Owner also alleged that she “made payments in excess of $1,800.00 [in 2020] on the delinquent taxes for the home,” and that “[t]he [trial] court should set aside the sale as it was performed illegally and in violation of [her] rights as set forth by [Section 601 of the Law,4]et seq.[,] and the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution.” Id. at 17a.

(c) In case no objections or exceptions are filed to any such sale within thirty (30) days after the court has made a confirmation nisi, a decree of absolute confirmation shall be entered as of course by the prothonotary.

(d) Any objections or exceptions to such a sale may question the regularity or legality of the proceedings of the bureau in respect to such sale, but may not raise the legality of the taxes on which the sale was held, of the return by the tax collector to the bureau or of the claim entered.

2 The trial court “clarifie[d] to the record that the physical street address [wa]s the reason for the amendment.” RR at 21a.

3 72 P.S. §5860.602(e). Specifically, Owner alleged that she never signed for the certified- mail notice of the sale required by Section 602(e)(1) of the Law; she never received the First Class mail notice as required by Section 602(e)(2) of the Law; and the Property was not posted for the 10 days prior to the sale as required by Section 602(e)(3) of the Law. See id. at 17a.

4 72 P.S. §5860.601. Section 601(a)(1) of the Law states, in pertinent part:

(Footnote continued on next page…) 2 On December 1, 2020, a hearing was scheduled to consider Owner’s Amended Exception and Objection. RR at 27a. At the hearing, Owner “indicate[d] that [she is] able to pay the taxes in full . . . .” Id. However, all of the parties agreed that Purchaser was not notified of the hearing. Id. As a result, the trial court directed the Bureau to notify Purchaser of Owner’s Amended Exception and Objection, and issued a Rule to Show Cause upon Purchaser “why the sale should not be voided upon [Owner’s] payment of all costs, fees and taxes . . . .” Id. at 27a-28a.

(1) The bureau shall sell the property if all of the following are met:

(i) A tax claim has become absolute.

(ii) The property has not been discharged from the tax claim nor removed from the sale under [S]ection 603 . . . and a sale of the property has not been stayed by agreement under this article.

(iii) The property is not in the possession of the sequester.

72 P.S. §5860.601(a)(1).

In turn, Section 603 of the Law provides, in relevant part:

Any owner . . . may, at the option of the bureau, prior to the actual sale, . . . enter into an agreement, in writing, with the bureau to stay the sale of the property upon the payment of twenty-five per centum (25%) of the amount due on all tax claims and tax judgments filed or entered against such property and the interest and costs on the taxes returned to date, as provided by this [Law], and agreeing therein to pay the balance of said claims and judgments and the interest and costs thereon in not more than three (3) instalments all within one (1) year of the date of said agreement, the agreement to specify the dates on or before which each instalment shall be paid, and the amount of each instalment. So long as said agreement is being fully complied with by the taxpayer, the sale of the property covered by the agreement shall be stayed.

72 P.S. §5860.603. 3 On December 31, 2020, Purchaser filed a Petition to Intervene in the proceedings, and an Answer to the Amended Exception and Objection filed by Owner. RR at 30a-41a, 42a-48a. Accordingly, on January 8, 2021, the trial court issued a Consent Order noting Purchaser’s intervention, cancelling the Rule, and scheduling a hearing for February 2, 2021. Id. at 50. At the February 2, 2021 hearing, Sue Ellen Kingan, the County’s Director of Tax Claim, testified, in relevant part, that the Property was exposed for sale on September 16, 2020, for the delinquent taxes owed for the 2018 and 2019 tax years. RR at 160a. She stated that Purchaser paid the upset sale price of $4,263.28. Id. at 160a, 169a. Kingan outlined the notice process implemented by the Bureau to conform to the Law’s notice, publication, and posting requirements. RR at 160a- 62a, 163a-70a. She testified that prior to the Property’s posting, in January of 2020, Owner called her on the telephone and indicated that the Bureau’s initial notice of delinquent taxes had not been received. Id. at 175a-76a. Nevertheless, after the telephone call, Owner made payments on the delinquent taxes, ultimately paying the entire delinquent amount. Id. at 178a-79a, 215a. Kingan identified Owner’s Exhibit C, a copy of the Bureau’s Real Estate Tax Lien Certificate (Certificate), listing the taxes owed on the Property and the payments that Owner made. RR at 180a, 274a-76a. Kingan acknowledged that the Certificate had refreshed her recollection regarding Owner’s partial payment of the delinquent taxes prior to the upset sale. Id. at 180a. The Certificate shows that at the time of the January 2020 telephone call, Owner owed $1,346.87 for the 2017 tax year; $1,322.78 for the 2018 tax year; and $1,102.53 for the 2019 tax year. RR at 275a-76a. The Certificate also shows

4 that to satisfy the taxes for the 2017 tax year, Owner made a payment of $250.00 on January 29, 2020; a payment of $350.00 on February 4, 2020; a payment of $238.93 on March 12, 2020; and a payment of $507.94 on September 1, 2020. Id. at 275a. Because the total delinquent taxes for the 2017 tax year were paid, an additional $492.06 that Owner paid on September 1, 2020, was applied to the delinquent taxes due for the 2018 tax year. Id. at 184a, 275a. Owner also testified at the trial court’s February 2, 2021 hearing, stating that she spoke with Kingan in January 2020, and notified Kingan that she had moved down the road from the Property. RR at 210a.

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In Re: of TCB-Judicial Sale ~ Appeal of: Seneca Leandro View, LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-of-tcb-judicial-sale-appeal-of-seneca-leandro-view-llc-pacommwct-2023.