City
of Philadelphia v. Phan – Commonwealth Court – October 24, 2016
Owner
of property which was mixed-use (barber shop ground floor; residential
apartment on second) was entitled to redeem it from tax sale under 53 P.S.
7293, the Municipal Claims and Tax Liens Act.
The
purpose of sheriffs’ sales under the Act is not to strip owners of their
property, but to collect delinquent taxes. City of Philadelphia v. F.A.
Realty Investors Corporation, 95 A.3d 377, 384 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2014). Thus,
the Act provides property owners with the ability to recover tax-delinquent
properties both prior to and after sheriffs’ sales thereof. See Sections
31 and 32 of the Act, 53 P.S. §§7292-7293, which allows redemption of a
property which has been “occupied as a residence. . . for at least
ninety days prior to the date of the sale and continues to be so occupied on
the date of the acknowledgment of the sheriff's deed therefor.” 53 P.S. §7293(a), (c)
There
is no requirement in the statute that the entire property have been occupied as
a residence, and the Cout refused to imply one.
Nor is there a requirement that the residence be owner-occupied. Here, the residential part of the unit was a
rental property.
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