If you are facing a sheriff sale in Northampton County, you may be wondering what you can do to stop the sheriff sale. If the sole issue that you are dealing with is falling behind on your mortgage payments and facing a sheriff sale, I would typically recommend submitting a loan modification application. However, most mortgage servicers will not review a loan modification application if the application is submitted within 30 days of the sheriff sale.

If resolving the past due amount on the mortgage is not possible with a loan modification application, you should consider a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The reason a Chapter 13 bankruptcy can stop a sheriff sale is because of the automatic stay. The bankruptcy court’s automatic stay will stop all legal actions – including foreclosure actions – from proceeding as soon as the bankruptcy case is filed.

Once a Chapter 13 case is filed, the Northampton County Sheriff and the law firm that filed the foreclosure action should both be notified of the bankruptcy filing so they are made aware that the sheriff sale cannot proceed because of the bankruptcy. The mortgage arrears can then be resolved through the Chapter 13 plan. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy allows a person to repay debts such as the arrears on the mortgage over a period of up to 5 years.

After a person files bankruptcy, they will resume their regular monthly mortgage payments. The Chapter 13 plan will then propose to pay the past due amount on the mortgage. For example, if your mortgage payment is $2,000.00 per month and you’ve missed 15 payments, the mortgage is $30,000.00 past due. If you file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the Chapter 13 Plan will pay the mortgage lender back $30,000.00 over a period of 5 years and you would resume your normal mortgage payments after the bankruptcy case is filed.

If you are interested in discussing a foreclosure action, an upcoming sheriff sale, or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, feel free to call me at (610) 417-6345. You can find out if your home is listed for an upcoming sheriff sale in Northampton County here. I would be happy to discuss the case with you to review all options to stop a sheriff sale in Northampton County. I am a bankruptcy attorney located in Bethlehem, PA.

The following reasons can be used to support a request to backdate an unemployment claim:

• The Department is unable to handle all filings due to an excessive volume of telephone calls (6 weeks allowed).
• The claimant attempts to file by telephone, internet, or fax transmission, but the method used to attempt to file is unavailable or malfunctions (2 weeks allowed).
• The UC office fails to accept a filing as a result of error or mistake by the Department (52 weeks allowed).
• Sickness or death or a member of the claimant’s immediate family or an act of God (2 weeks allowed).
• The claimant makes reasonable and good-faith efforts to file timely, but is unable to do so through no fault of the claimant (2 weeks allowed).
• Causes due to the COVID-19 pandemic until the end of the current “high unemployment” period (52 weeks allowed).

If your request for backdating is denied and you are looking to file an appeal, please feel free to contact me at (610) 417-6345. I help claimants appeal Disqualifying Determinations issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor. Please note that I am located in Bethlehem, PA and can only represent claimants that are located within an hour from my office. I practice in the the following counties: Northampton, Lehigh, Monroe, Bucks, Berks, Montgomery, and Carbon.

Whenever a tenant appeals an eviction judgment entered in the Magistrate District Court (MDJ) to the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas, the eviction process stops if the tenant is granted a supersedeas. A tenant is able to obtain a supersedeas if they pay the lesser of the actual rent in arrears as determined by the Magistrate District Court (MDJ) or three month’s rent. However, in most cases, there is a process that tenants utilize to seek an exemption from this requirement. In the majority of cases, the tenant files a Petition to Proceed In Forma Pauperis. If this Petition is granted by the court, the tenant is only obligated to pay one-third of one month’s rent at the time their appeal is filed and the remaining two-thirds balance will be due within twenty (20) days. The tenant is then obligated to pay the ongoing rent payments each thirty (30) days after the appeal is filed. If the tenant ever defaults on any of the rent payments that become due after their appeal is filed, the landlord can terminate the tenant’s supersedeas and move forward with the eviction process back at the Magistrate District Court (MDJ). If you need any assistance terminating the tenant’s supersedeas, please feel free to call me at (610) 417-6345. Please also note that the landlord must file paperwork with the Lehigh County Clerk of Judicial Records to request the release of the rent deposits made by the tenant.

After the tenant appeals the eviction judgment in Lehigh County, the tenant is required to serve the Magistrate District Court (MDJ) and the landlord with the Notice of Appeal within ten (10) days and file an Affidavit of Service with the court. The Notice of Appeal must be served personally (hand-delivered) or by United States Certified Mail. An appeal can be stricken if the tenant fails to file an Affidavit of Service with the court within (10) days from the date their appeal is filed. The Notice of Appeal will inform the landlord that a Complaint must be filed within twenty (20) days from the date of service. Once the landlord files the Complaint, the tenant will then have twenty (20) days to file an Answer. If you are the landlord that is looking for an attorney to prepare and file the eviction complaint with the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas, feel free to call me at (610) 417-6345.

Lehigh County automatically schedules the case for an Arbitration Hearing once a landlord-tenant appeal is filed. The Arbitration Hearing date is usually scheduled around 90-120 days from the date the appeal is filed with the court. The court will mail out a Case Management Order informing the parties of the date, time, and address of the hearing. A panel of three attorneys will conduct a hearing an issue an Arbitration Award on the hearing date. Either party has thirty (30) days to appeal the Arbitration Award to request a trial with a Lehigh County Judge. If the Arbitration Award is not appealed within thirty (30) days, the Arbitration Award becomes final, and it can be entered as a judgment. If the Arbitration Award grants possession to the landlord, the landlord can proceed with the eviction process if the tenant does not appeal the decision within thirty (30) days. If you are looking for representation in a landlord-tenant appeal in Lehigh County, feel free to call me at (610) 417-6345. I hope you found this article information so you can navigate the appeal process in Lehigh County.

If the Magistrate Court found that the tenant was past due on their rent at the time of the Magistrate District Court (MDJ) hearing, the tenant is obligated to deposit the lesser of the actual rent in arrears or three month’s rent at the time their appeal is filed in Northampton County in order to obtain a supersedeas. There is a process that tenants can utilize to seek an exemption from that requirement, which is known as a Petition to Proceed In Forma Pauperis.

If the tenant files a Petition to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and obtains the court’s approval, the tenant is only obligated to pay one-third of one month’s rent at the time the appeal is filed to obtain a supersedeas and the two-thirds balance becomes due twenty (20) days later. Then each successive thirty (30) days, the tenant must continue to pay the ongoing rent to the Northampton County Prothonotary. If the tenant ever defaults on the rent payments that become due after their appeal is filed, the landlord is permitted to terminate the supersedeas and the landlord is then authorized to proceed with the eviction process back at the Magistrate District Court (MDJ). You can call me (610) 417-6345 if you need assistance terminating a tenant’s supersedeas.

After the tenant files an appeal, the tenant must serve the Magistrate District Court (MDJ) and the landlord with a copy of the Notice of Appeal. Service of the Notice of Appeal must be made by personal service (hand-delivery) or by mailing a copy of the Notice of Appeal by United States Certified Mail. An Affidavit of Service must then be filed with the court within ten (10) days of the appeal being filed. The Notice of Appeal will also contain a Rule to File Complaint, which informs the landlord that a Complaint must be filed with the court within twenty (20) days from the date the appeal is served by the tenant. If you are interested in retaining an attorney in Northampton County to represent you in the appeal, feel free to call me at (610) 417-6345. After the landlord files the Complaint with the court, the tenant will have twenty (20) days to file an Answer.

If the tenant files an Answer and continues to deposit their ongoing rent payments with the court, the tenant will remain protected from the eviction. In order to evict the tenant, the landlord must obtain a court order granting the landlord a judgment for possession. The landlord is required to file paperwork with the court to obtain a hearing date. If you are a landlord that is seeking a court hearing to evict a tenant in Northampton County, please feel free to call me at (610) 417-6345 to discuss your case. I hope you have found the information outlined in this article helpful. I would be happy to discuss any landlord-tenant issues that you may be experiencing in Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

Don’t panic when you receive this determination. You have the right to appeal this determination and it usually only means that the Department of Labor is auditing the case for suspected fraud. I believe the Pennsylvania Department of Labor is simply doing their due diligence into an application for UC benefits before they decide to pay an applicant their benefits. I have found that Section 401(c) is often cited when the claimant resides outside of Pennsylvania or the employer is located outside of Pennsylvania.

The Disqualifying Determination will inform the claimant that they have the right to file an appeal within 21 days from the date the determination is mailed. If the determination is appealed, a hearing will be scheduled and the claimant will have an opportunity to establish that the application is valid. I have been successful in representing claimants that have been denied benefits under Section 401(c). During the hearing, I simply have the applicant verify their employment information so the UC Referee conducting the hearing understands that the UC claim submitted by the claimant was valid and legitimate.

If you received a denial under Section 401(c) and wish to retain an unemployment compensation attorney to assist you in filing an appeal and representing you at a referee hearing, please feel free to call me at (610) 417-6345.

I see it happen all the time — a landlord successfully obtains a judgment to evict a tenant based on the tenant’s failure to pay rent, the tenant files an appeal, and lies to the court saying they paid rent for the month the appeal was filed. What is the landlord suppose to do?

Pennsylvania Landlord-Tenant Appeal Overview

When a tenant appeals an eviction judgment within ten (10) days of the Magistrate Hearing to the Court of Common Pleas, the Pennsylvania Rules of Procedure require the tenant to pay the lesser of the rent actually in arrears or 3 months’ rent. Pa. M.D.J.R.C.P. 1008.  However, there is a loophole thanks to Rule 1008(C). Tenants who don’t have the ability to pay this amount can file a Petition asking the court to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) by claiming that their income is under a certain level.

By filing in forma pauperis (IFP), the tenant is required to submit an affidavit to the court verifying whether or not rent was paid in the month in which the appeal was filed. If the tenant states that rent was not paid in the month the appeal was filed, the tenant has to pay 1/3 of the monthly rent to the court when the appeal is filed and the remaining 2/3 balance within twenty (20) days. The tenant then must pay monthly rent to the court each successive thirty (30) days following the appeal.

However, sometimes a tenant claims in the tenant supersedeas affidavit that rent was paid in the month the appeal was filed, even though it was not, and the court doesn’t even require the tenant to present proof of payment. What is a landlord supposed to do when the tenant commits this blatant perjury?

File a Motion to Terminate the Tenant’s Supersedeas

When a tenant lies on the Tenant Supersedeas Affidavit by claiming that rent was paid when it was not, the landlord would be required to file a Motion with the Court asking the court to terminate the tenant’s supersedeas. The supersedeas is a legal term which means that the proceedings in the lower court are suspended and prohibits the landlord from seeking possession while the appeal is pending.  If a Motion isn’t filed, you’ll have to wait until thirty (30) days after the appeal is filed to see of the tenant fails to make ongoing rent payments to the court’s escrow and hope that you can terminate the supersedeas at that time.

Sanctions and Penalties

Most landlords are interested in whether there are any additional penalties and whether they can collect attorney’s fees based on the tenant’s false statement to the court. As far as obtaining attorney’s fees, hopefully, your Lease Agreement permits the recovery of attorney’s fees in the event of a breach of the Lease Agreement. Under that scenario, your attorney can request an award of counsel fees during the arbitration hearing. Alternatively, proper procedure must be followed to in order to file a Motion for Sanctions against the tenant by demanding that the tenant amend the false filing with the court prior to seeking sanctions. To pursue criminal penalties for perjury, I would recommend contacting the District Attorney or consider filing a Private Criminal Complaint.

Obtaining Representation

If you are a landlord with a tenant that is giving you the business by playing games with the legal system, give me a call. I represent landlords in the Lehigh Valley area including Bethlehem, Allentown, Easton, Stroudsburg, Doylestown, Reading, Lehigh County, Northampton County, Berks County, Bucks County Monroe County, and Montgomery County. I can assist you in all landlord-tenant matters by helping you obtain possession, getting a judgment against the tenant, and hopefully collecting the judgment.

Call me at (610) 417-6345 for a consultation.

What is unreasonable noise?

Unreasonable noise is to be given its “plain, ordinary meaning” and is defined as “noise which is not fitting or proper in respect to the conventional standards of organized society or a legally constituted community.” In order for the Commonwealth to convict someone of violating 18 Pa. C.S.A. 5503(a)(2), the Commonwealth must prove that the Defendant’s actions intentionally or recklessly caused or created a risk of causing a public inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm.

“The offense of disorderly conduct is not intended as a catchall for every act which annoys or disturbs people and it is not to be used as a dragnet for all the irritations which breed in the ferment of a community. It has a specific purpose; it has a definite object, it is intended to preserve the public peace.” Commonwealth v. Hock, 728 A.2d 943 (Pa. 1999).

Disorderly conduct for unreasonable noise is a specific intent offense.  The Commonwealth must prove that the Defendant intended to cause or created the risk of causing a public inconvenience.  The court will look into factors such as the volume of the noise, whether the the public peace was upset, and the time of day the noise took place.

In Commonwealth v. Maerz, 2005 Pa. Super. 267 (Pa. Super. 2005), the Court decided the issue of whether shouting profanities at a neighbor is considered disorderly conduct. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania vacated the sentence entered by the Court of Common Pleas convicting Defendant of disorderly conduct. In entering the ruling, the Court stated that the Defendant’s language was irrelevant since the prohibition against unreasonable noise is directed at the volume of the speech and not its content.

Furthermore, the Court found that there was no evidence that the Defendant was unreasonably noisy. The Court reasoned that just because the neighbor was annoyed and irritated by the Defendant’s loud outburst alone does not create an inference that the Defendant intended to cause a public inconvenience. Moreover, the court reasoned that the level of noise was not inconsistent with the neighborhood’s tolerance levels and that the public peace was not upset. Based on this reasoning, the Superior Court vacated the Defendant’s conviction.

Charged With Disorderly Conduct?

If you have been charged with disorderly conduct, feel free to call me to discuss your case. I represent clients located in Northampton and Lehigh County and would be happy to discuss your case with you if you are located in the Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton area. Call me at (610) 417-6345.

A typical scenario occurs when a tenant has a complaint about a certain problem existing on the property such as mold, lack of heat, water leaks, insect or rodent infestation, or code violations. The tenant has a duty to inform the landlord of the problem and give the landlord a reasonable period of time to fix the problem. In the event the landlord is not diligent in fixing the problem within a reasonable period of time, the tenant is able to exercise their remedies under law.

The tenant generally has three remedies when a landlord fails to make necessary repairs: (1) in the event of a serious breach rendering the property unfit for habitability, the tenant can declare the landlord in breach of the Lease Agreement, end the Lease Agreement, and vacate the premises; (2) the tenant can repair the issue themselves, notify the landlord of the same, provide the landlord with the cost of repairs, and deduct the costs from their rent; or (3) place ongoing rent into an escrow account, notify the landlord of the same, and release the rent from escrow once the landlord makes repairs.

The tenant is prohibited from withholding rent unless ongoing rent is placed into an escrow account. In the event rent is withheld without placing rent into an escrow account, the landlord can file eviction proceedings against the tenant. Please also be advised to consult an attorney before exercising remedies as each case must be evaluated based on their own facts and circumstances. A landlord is not required to provide a tenant with an absolutely perfect property. A landlord is only required to provide the tenant with a property that is safe and habitable. Remedies should only be exercised in the event of a serious breach rendering the property uninhabitable. In the event a remedy is exercised improperly, a tenant can be held responsible for unpaid rent, late fees, court costs, and attorney’s fees.

If you have a tenant that is withholding rent from you, please contact me to discuss your case. I am a landlord-tenant attorney located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, assisting clients in the Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton area. Feel free to call me at (610) 417-6345.

What if I sent the tenant a list of damages and the tenant still tries to sue me?

I’ve encountered this problem before where a client contacts me to inform me that they’re being sued by a former tenant after notifying the tenant that their security deposit is not being returned since the landlord’s damages exceed the amount of the security deposit. The tenant then tries to claim that they never received the itemized damages letter and now wants to file a lawsuit seeking double the amount of the security deposit (treble damages) for not complying with Pennsylvania’s Landlord-Tenant Act.

To avoid this problem, the letter containing the itemized list of damages should always be sent via certified mail. Sending the letter via regular mail creates the possibility of the tenant claiming that they never received the itemized list of damages.

Additionally, landlords should be more proactive in initiating legal action against the tenant before the tenant initiates legal action against them. Most landlords feel that it’s either too costly or may be a waste of time to chase around a tenant for additional money after the tenant has already vacated the property. However, not taking steps to recover the full amount of damages sets up a tenant to claim that they never received an itemized list of damages.

What to do if you’re being sued by a tenant for the security deposit.

In the event you’re being sued by a tenant for the security deposit, contact an attorney immediately. A counterclaim should be filed against the tenant for the full amount of the damages. A counterclaim must be filed at least five (5) days prior to the scheduled court hearing. Pa. R.C.P.M.D.J. 315.  The hearing would then be rescheduled between 12-30 days from the filing of the counterclaim.

Begin gathering important documentation about the case. Obtain the Lease Agreement, any correspondence (letters, emails, and text messages) between you and the tenant, the itemized list of damages, before and after photos, estimates, invoices, and receipts.

If you are looking for representation in any landlord-tenant matters, feel free to contact me by calling (610) 417-6345.  I am a landlord-tenant law attorney located in Bethlehem, PA, and primarily represent clients located in Northampton and Lehigh County.

In order to obtain unemployment benefits after quitting in Pennsylvania, a claimant needs to establish that (1) the claimant had necessitous and compelling reasons for quitting their job; and (2) all alternatives were exhausted prior to quitting. Quitting employment to care for a sick family member is often considered cause of a necessitous and compelling nature, but the critical part of the eligibility analysis will come when the Board of Review takes a look at whether or not all alternatives were exhausted prior to quitting.

Factors that the Board of Review will typically look at is what type of notice was provided to the employer, how often the topic was discussed with the employer, whether multiple managers or supervisors were contacted about the issue, whether the matter was discussed with Human Resources, whether the claimant requested FMLA, a temporary leave of absence or a reduced work schedule, the claimant’s spouse’s employment, whether any other family members or friends could have provided care, whether the claimant sought a hired caretaker, the proximity between the claimant and the family member, and the medical condition and type of care the family member required.

Benefits will only be granted to the claimant when there was truly nothing else that could have been done other than for the claimant to quit their employment in order to provide care for a sick or ill family member. If you have been denied benefits after quitting your job to care for a sick family member, please call me at (610) 417-6345 for a consultation.