Inklovich v. Johnson

42 Pa. D. & C.5th 338
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Alleghany County
DecidedNovember 21, 2014
DocketNos. AR 13-1407; 1613 WDA 2014
StatusPublished

This text of 42 Pa. D. & C.5th 338 (Inklovich v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Alleghany County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Inklovich v. Johnson, 42 Pa. D. & C.5th 338 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2014).

Opinion

HERTZBERG, J,

On June 5, 2011 defendant Phil Johnson (“landlord” hereinafter) and plaintiff Joshua Inklovich (“tenant” hereinafter) entered into a written agreement for the rental of the residence located at 218 Frederick Ave FRONT, Sewickley, Pa [340]*34015143. See Exhibit A from 7/22/2014 trial (“Exhibit A” hereinafter). The term of the agreement was three years, from July 1,2011 to June 30,2014, with a $1,500 security deposit and monthly rent of $1,500. The agreement required tenant to pay landlord $1,500 for the last month’s rent prior to occupancy and then an additional $3,000 after occupancy in $250 per month installments for the $1,500 security deposit and a second month’s rent in advance. See Exhibit A, pp. 7-8. Hence, tenant had to provide landlord with a total of $4,500, or the equivalent of three months of rent, for security against damage to the residence and default in the payment of rent. Landlord requested the provision for payment of two months of rent in advance when he found tenant had a low credit score, and tenant was agreeable to satisfying landlord’s concern over the credit score by paying the two months of rent in advance. See transcript of non-jury trial, 7/22/2014 (“T.” hereinafter), pp. 55-58.

Tenant paid landlord $1,500 prior to occupancy and each of the $250 per month installment payments after occupancy until landlord received the additional $3,000. Tenant also paid landlord each $1,500 monthly rental payment when due until a dispute arose between them. Landlord testified credibly that tenant seemed satisfied until July of 2012 when lightning felled a tree near the residence, damaging tenant’s automobile, and tenant’s losses were not covered by either landlord’s or tenant’s insurance. T, pp. 81-84. In December of 2012, while continuing to occupy the residence, tenant stopped paying his rent to landlord and allegedly paid the rent into an “escrow” account in tenant’s name at a bank. T, pp. 154-155; Exhibit D from 7/22/2014 trial.1

[341]*341On December 13, 2012 tenant sued landlord in a Magisterial Court. After the Magisterial District Justice decided the dispute in favor of landlord, tenant appealed to the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County. Tenant filed a complaint against landlord on April 22, 2013 requesting monetary damages arising from landlord’s alleged breaches of warranties of habitability and quiet enjoyment as well as a declaration that the rental agreement was void and unenforceable. Landlord filed a counterclaim requesting $1,500 per month rent from December of 2012. On August 30, 2013, tenant’s counsel notified landlord’s counsel that tenant had vacated the residence. A compulsory arbitration panel then heard the dispute but awarded tenant no monetary damages and instead found tenant owed landlord $12,300.

Tenant then filed an appeal from the arbitration award, and I presided over the non-jury trial. I also found tenant was not entitled to any monetary damages but that tenant owed landlord $9,250.2 Tenant filed a motion for post-trial relief, which I denied. Tenant then filed a notice of appeal to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and a “rule 1925(b) concise statement of errors complained of on appeal” (“concise statement” hereinafter). This opinion will next address each error that tenant alleges I made. See Pa. R.A.P. No. 1925(a).

Tenant first argues that landlord “breached paragraph 42(b) of the lease” (Concise statement, ¶ nos. 2 and 3), which obligates landlord to comply “with all state, county [342]*342and/or municipal codes.” I agree with tenant that landlord breached this provision since the Pennsylvania Landlord and Tenant Act prohibits security deposits in excess of two months during the first year and in excess of one month during the second year of any residential lease. See 68 Pa.C.S.§ 250.511a. I do not, however, agree with tenant’s implicit argument that because of this breach landlord forfeits his claim to all rent due him under the lease.3 The PennsylvaniaLandlord and tenant act provides no guidance on an appropriate remedy when a landlord requires too large of a security deposit. Id. I decided a partial forfeiture was appropriate and reduced landlord’s damages by the “unpaid rent between the date tenant vacated the premises and the end date of the lease.” 7/23/2014 findings. Thus, as a result of the security deposit exceeding the amount permitted by law, I prohibited landlord from claiming any rent from September 1,2013 to June 30,2014, a forfeiture of as much as $15,000 (ten months at $1,500 per month equals $15,000).

The doctrine of “substantial performance” protects landlord’s right to compensation for at least the rent during tenant’s occupancy unless the breach amounts to a material failure of performance. See Sgarlat v. Griffith, 349 Pa. 42, 36 A.2d 330 (1944). Tenant testified he needed the excess security deposit to move out of the residence before the end of the term and be able to invoke the “opt-out” provision of the lease. See Exhibit A, p. 7, ¶ no. 50(g) (“This contract may be terminated by tenant without cause or additional penalty at any time...between 07-02-2013 and 08-02-2013 with 30 days written notice and a liquidated damages payment of $1,550.00...”) However, tenant failed to prove any damages from being unable [343]*343to leave the residence sooner, since tenant testified only that he was able to purchase a home, but not that the purchase reduced his housing expense. T., p. 65. In any event, tenant’s testimony on the issue was not credible but instead was merely an “after-the-fact” effort to establish financial injury when none was incurred. Thus, the holding of the excess security deposit was a technical, inadvertent, or unimportant defect and not a material failure of performance. Id. Hence, even though landlord technically breached the contract, my decision to compensate him for rent during tenant’s occupancy was correct.

Tenant next argues that landlord breached the implied “warranty” of quiet enjoyment. See concise statement, ¶ nos. 4 and 6. A landlord breaches the covenant of quiet enjoyment by wrongful conduct that interferes with the tenant’s possession of the leased premises. See Kohl v. PNC Bank Nat. Ass’n, 590 Pa. 151, 912 A.2d 237 (2006). A classic example of a breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment is when a landlord locks a tenant out of the leased premises. See Minnich v. Kauffman, 265 Pa. 321, 108 A.2d 597 (1919). In these proceedings, tenant did not specify particular conduct of landlord that interfered with tenant’s possession of the residence during the trial, and the motion for post trial relief and the concise statement generally allege a breach of the covenant without specifying any wrongful conduct. The complaint identifies seven items that allegedly violate the covenant, but none involve any interference by landlord with tenant’s possession of the leased premises.4 Since tenant [344]*344failed to specify any conduct that interfered with tenant’s possession of the premises, I properly found the covenant of quiet enjoyment was not breached.

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Related

Pugh v. Holmes
405 A.2d 897 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1979)
McEVILLY v. TUCCI
362 A.2d 259 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1976)
Kohl v. PNC Bank National Ass'n
912 A.2d 237 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
Sgarlat v. Griffith
36 A.2d 330 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1944)
Minnich v. Kauffman
108 A. 597 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1919)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
42 Pa. D. & C.5th 338, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/inklovich-v-johnson-pactcomplallegh-2014.