In re Rivera

16 Pa. D. & C.3d 122, 1980 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 277
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lancaster County
DecidedJuly 15, 1980
DocketTrust Book no. 46
StatusPublished

This text of 16 Pa. D. & C.3d 122 (In re Rivera) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lancaster County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Rivera, 16 Pa. D. & C.3d 122, 1980 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 277 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1980).

Opinion

MUELLER, J. and BUCKWALTER, J.,

The immediate matter before the court is a motion for summary judgment filed by the Lancaster Housing Authority (authority). This action had its roots in a regular meeting of the authority on April 14, 1980. At that meeting, the board of directors of the authority approved a rent increase for all units at the Hickory Tree Heights project to be effective June 1, 1980 as follows: (1) $91 to $141 per month for a two bedroom dwelling; (2) $109 to $169 per month for a three bedroom dwelling. The purpose of the rent increase was to make the Hickory Tree Heights project fiscally secure at some future time in or around 1982. The authority board’s decision was based upon a report from its auditors/accountants, Trout, Ebersole and Groff.

On April 22, 1980 the tenants of Hickory Tree Heights received notice of the approval of the rent increase, along with a new lease, which was to go into effect on June 1, 1980. No notice was given prior to approval of the rent increase, and the pro[124]*124posed rent increase had not been listed on the authority’s agenda for the April 14th meeting.1

At the authority’s next regular meeting held May 12, 1980, the Hickory Tree Heights Tenants Association presented an alternative plan, which the authority agreed to consider and forward to its auditors/accountants for review and recommendation. The minutes of that meeting reflect that the authority agreed that if its auditors/accountants recommended a revised rent increase, a special meeting would be held prior to May 31, 1980.

On May 14, 1980 various tenants, hereinafter referred to as appellants, filed a pleading entitled “Petition for Review” in this court. Appellants also filed a petition for supersedeas on May 21, 1980. The authority filed preliminary objections, a supporting brief and an application for security on May 23, 1980. On May 29, 1980, a hearing was held on the petition for supersedeas.2 The evidence disclosed that the Hickory Tree Heights project has 100 units, and the authority has only month-to-month leases with the tenants terminable on 30 [125]*125days’ notice.3 Not all of the tenants are appellants. The only income to the authority is from rents, and the Hickory Tree Heights project has been operating at a deficit for at least the last four years. On May 30, 1980 this court granted a supersedeas to appellants conditioned on the payment of security in the monthly amount of $25 per tenant-party which is to be placed in an escrow account until final decision of this court. A separate order determined that the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure would control further proceedings in this matter. Upon application by counsel for authority the security for the supersedeas was modified by order dated June 6, 1980.4

The authority filed the present motion for summary judgment on June 25, 1980, and argument was held on July 7, 1980 after both parties had filed briefs. This court has carefully reviewed the arguments raised by bothparties. The courtfinds that it is unable to conclude that the authority as the moving party is entitled to summary relief under [126]*126Pa.R.A.P. 1532, which Rules of Appellate Procedure were established as controlling further proceedings by the order dated May 30, 1980. Therefore, the court will deny the motion for summary judgment.

Both counsel stated at argument that if the court determined that summary judgment was inappropriate, the court should then proceed to a determination of the petition for review on the merits. Counsel for the appellants also stated that appellants had no further testimony to present. Section 754(b) of the Local Agency Law, 2 Pa.C.S.A. §754(b), provides that:

“(b) Complete record. — In the event a full and complete record of the proceedings before the local agency was made, the court shall hear the appeal without a jury on the record certified by the agency. After hearing the court shall affirm the adjudication unless it shall find that the adjudication is in violation of the constitutional rights of the appellant, or is not in accordance with law, or that the provisions of Sub-chapter B of Chapter 5 (relating to practice and procedure of local agencies) have been violated in the proceedings before the agency, or that any finding of fact made by the agency and necessary to support its adjudication is not supported by substantial evidence. If the adjudication is not affirmed, the court may enter any order authorized by 42 Pa.C.S §706 (relating to disposition of appeals.)”

The question as to whether the authority’s decision to adopt a rental increase constituted an “adjudication” pursuant to 2 Pa.C.S.A. §101 was presented for consideration by this court. The pertinent part of the definition found in section 101 provides that an adjudication consists of “[a]ny final [127]*127order, decree, decision, determination or ruling by an agency affecting personal or property rights, privileges, immunities, duties, liabilities or obligations of any or all of the parties to the proceeding in which the adjudication is made.”

We find that the authority’s decision to adopt a rental increase does not constitute an adjudication as defined in section 101. The following quote from Local 736, etc. v. City of Williamsport, 470 F. Supp. 344, 347 (M.D. Pa. 1979), defines to our satisfaction the term personal or property rights or interests:

‘“To have a property interest in a benefit, a person must clearly have more than an abstract need or desire for it. He must have more than a unilateral expectation of it. He must, instead, have a legitimate claim of entitlement to it.’ Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 577, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 2709, 33 L.Ed. 2d 548 (1972). The federal courts have held many interests to be ‘property’ interests. For instance, see Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division v. Craft, 436 U.S. 1, 98 S.Ct. 1554, 56 L.Ed. 2d 30 (1978) (utility services); Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed. 2d 18 (1976) (Social Security disability benefits); Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565, 95 S.Ct. 729, 42 L.Ed. 2d 725 (1975) (suspension of student from public school for disciplinary reasons); Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254, 90 S.Ct. 1011, 25 L.Ed. 2d (1970) (welfare benefits). However, the recognizable ‘property’ interests are not infinite. Board of Regents v. Roth, supra. Furthermore, no matter what a particular person’s subjective expectation may be, if the interest he seeks to have protected by the Fourteenth Amendment is terminable ‘at will’ by governmental authorities, there is no procedural due process protection. See Bishop v. Wood, 426 U.S. 341, 96 S.Ct. 2074, 48 L.Ed. 2d 684 (1976). In essence, if the [128]*128interest one seeks to protect cannot be terminated except based on certain criteria, then that interest may be encompassed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

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Related

Goldberg v. Kelly
397 U.S. 254 (Supreme Court, 1970)
Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth
408 U.S. 564 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Goss v. Lopez
419 U.S. 565 (Supreme Court, 1975)
Mathews v. Eldridge
424 U.S. 319 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Bishop v. Wood
426 U.S. 341 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Codd v. Velger
429 U.S. 624 (Supreme Court, 1977)
Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division v. Craft
436 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Local 736, Williamsport Firefighters v. City of Williamsport
470 F. Supp. 344 (M.D. Pennsylvania, 1979)
People's Rights Organization v. Bethlehem Associates
356 F. Supp. 407 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1973)

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Bluebook (online)
16 Pa. D. & C.3d 122, 1980 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 277, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-rivera-pactcompllancas-1980.