J-S84003-16

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

JOE BUCK PROPERTIES, LLC IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

PENNSYLVANIA

Appellee

v.

RANDY ROCCO

Appellant No. 1061 EDA 2016

Appeal from the Order March 23, 2016

In the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County

Civil Division at No(s): No. 2015-07371

BEFORE: OLSON, SOLANO and FITZGERALD,* JJ.

JUDGMENT ORDER BY OLSON, J.: FILED DECEMBER 20, 2016

Appellant, Randy Rocco, appeals pro se from the order entered on 

March 23, 2016, granting summary judgment to Joe Buck Properties, LLC 

(Joe Buck) in an ejectment action. We dismiss the appeal as moot.

We briefly summarize the facts and procedural history of this case as 

follows. In 2003, Appellant executed a mortgage and promissory note on a 

property located at 224 Creekwood Drive in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In 

2009, the mortgage company filed a complaint in mortgage foreclosure 

against Appellant and later filed a motion for summary judgment. Appellant 

filed a response and cross-motion for summary judgment, alleging the 

mortgage company fraudulently obtained the mortgage. The trial court 

granted the mortgage company’s motion for summary judgment. In its 

subsequent opinion, the trial court addressed Appellant’s allegations of 
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fraud, specifically rejecting Appellant’s claim that the mortgagee’s agent 

notarized her own signature on the mortgage. On appeal, we affirmed the 

trial court’s decision in an unpublished memorandum. See Citi Mortgage, 

Inc. v. Randy Rocco, 121 A.3d 1122 (Pa. Super. 2015) (unpublished 

memorandum). Our Supreme Court denied further review. See Citi 

Mortgage, Inc. v. Randy Rocco, 128 A.3d 1204 (Pa. 2015). 

In August 2015, Joe Buck purchased the property by sheriff’s sale. In 

October 2015, Joe Buck filed a complaint in ejectment against Appellant. In 

January 2016, Joe Buck filed a motion for summary judgment that the trial 

court granted by order filed on March 23, 2016. This timely pro se appeal 

resulted. On May 16, 2016, Appellant filed an application for an emergency 

stay of ejectment with this Court, which we denied by per curiam order on 

May 20, 2016.

On appeal, Appellant presents four allegations of error related to his 

prior claims of fraud in the underlying mortgage foreclosure action. Those 

issues have already been decided and we are bound by the prior panel’s 

decision. See Burkett v. St. Francis Country House, 133 A.3d 22, 36 

(Pa. Super. 2016) (The Superior Court is constitutionally bound by prior 

Superior Court panel decisions). Thus, only issues related to the ejectment 

action would be properly before us.

However, during the pendency of this appeal, Joe Buck filed a motion 

to dismiss the appeal as moot. In its motion, Joe Buck avers the ejectment 

proceeded and it secured possession of the premises on June 7, 2016. In 
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support of its motion, Joe Buck attached a copy of the Buck’s County docket 

in this matter noting the eviction was completed. Appellant has not 

responded. This Court has previously determined:

Our courts cannot decide moot or abstract questions, nor 

can we enter a judgment or decree to which effect cannot 

be given. As a general rule, an actual case or controversy 

must exist at all stages of the judicial process, or a case will 

be dismissed as moot. An issue can become moot during 

the pendency of an appeal due to an intervening change in 

the facts of the case or due to an intervening change in the 

applicable law. 

* * *

This Court will decide questions that otherwise have been 

rendered moot when one or more of the following 

exceptions to the mootness doctrine apply: 1) the case 

involves a question of great public importance, 2) the 

question presented is capable of repetition and apt to elude 

appellate review, or 3) a party to the controversy will suffer 

some detriment due to the decision of the trial court.

Orfield v. Weindel, 52 A.3d 275, 277–78 (Pa. Super. 2012). Here, 

because the issue of possession, which was the subject of the ejectment 

action, is resolved, there is no actual controversy. See Wolf v. Long, 468 

A.2d 508, 509 (Pa. Super. 1983) (dismissing an appeal from an ejectment 

action as moot, where the only questions before the court related to 

possession and where the tenants vacated the premises while the appeal 

was pending). None of the three exceptions to the mootness doctrine apply 

herein. 

Motion to dismiss the appeal as moot granted. Appeal dismissed. 
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Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 12/20/2016