I went to the magistrate, filed a landlord/tenant complaint to remove a tenant…
Question
I went to the magistrate, filed a Landlord/Tenant complaint to remove a tenant, and had the hearing at which time I received possession of the property. The tenant filed an appeal at the court house. At that time she owed $126.50 for the cost
incurred for the judgment and on the day of her appeal the rent was due in the amount of $500. She only paid for the appeal of $68.50 and nothing else. It has been 10 days since she filed and she has no money to pay anything until July. I
claim she is in default I and should be able to get possession without filing another appeal. The Prothonatary’s office will not speak to me and I think they screwed up by not getting any money from the tenant. I have only 9 days to an appeal
according to the Notice. This is in Pennsylvania. Can you give me some guidance on this?
Answer
An appeal usually prevents the tenant from being evicted as long as all rules governing the appeal process are followed. One of the most important rules in most jurisdictions, unless the judge grants a waiver, is that the tenant begin depositing all monthly rent into an escrow with the court at the time the appeal is filed. Failure to open the escrow account or deposit the money in full and on time can lead to dismissal of the appeal and eviction of the tenant.
You didn’t say whether this was a requirement for your case or, if so, whether the tenant deposited the funds into the escrow account. Different jurisdictions within PA and even different judges within a particular court may have different interpretations of the statutes and procedures. Furthermore, judges sometimes let their emotions interfere with enforcing the law.
Because failure to properly follow the court’s rules related to eviction can significantly extend the eviction period, it is often more cost effective to hire an attorney who specializes in evictions on behalf of landlords, preferably with intimate knowledge regarding the particular court of jurisdiction. A competent attorney can also help maximize the amount of any judgment obtained against the tenant.
It is often best to obtain a money judgment even if the tenant leaves before completion of the eviction process because (1) judgments are good for 5 years or more in most states, (2) judgments can be
renewed for addition periods, (3) interest is added to a money judgment – often at a higher rate than available from most other investments, (4) the judgment can be collected in any other state that the defendant might move to, and (5)
judgments are sometimes paid off because the debtor needs to remove the item from their credit record in order to obtain a loan or rent another property.