Court Opinion

ID: 9369244
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-08 15:07:13.711146+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:13.548786
License: Public Domain

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Wecan Transport, Inc.,                            :
                  Appellant                       :
                                                  :
                v.                                :
                                                  :
York County Tax Claim                             :
Bureau and Konstantinos                           :   No. 292 C.D. 2022
G. Sgagias                                        :   Submitted: November 23, 2022

BEFORE:         HONORABLE ANNE E. COVEY, Judge
                HONORABLE ELLEN CEISLER, Judge
                HONORABLE MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, Senior Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION BY
JUDGE COVEY                                                     FILED: February 8, 2023

                Wecan Transport, Inc. (Wecan) appeals from the York County
Common Pleas Court’s (trial court) March 1, 2022 order (March 1 Order) denying
Wecan’s Praecipe for Status Conference, denying the York County Tax Claim
Bureau’s (Bureau) Praecipe to List for Pre-Trial Conference, and dismissing
Wecan’s objections/exceptions1 with prejudice. Wecan presents two issues for this
Court’s review: (1) whether the trial court erred by sua sponte dismissing Wecan’s
exceptions (2022 Exceptions) to a September 27, 2018 upset tax sale (Upset Sale)
on res judicata grounds; and (2) whether the trial court erred by dismissing Wecan’s
2022 Exceptions on res judicata grounds, when the facts underlying the 2022
Exceptions were unknown to Wecan in 2018 when it filed its original exceptions to
the Upset Sale (2018 Exceptions), and where Wecan was not provided an

      1
          The trial court refers to the exceptions as both objections and exceptions.
opportunity to present evidence, argument, or briefing to the trial court on the issue.2
After review, this Court affirms.
                On September 27, 2018, the Bureau held the Upset Sale, wherein it sold
the property located at 964 Old Rossville Road in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, to
Konstantinos G. Sgagias (Purchaser). On November 18, 2018, Wecan, through its
principal Emeka Kingsley Oguejiofor (Oguejiofor), filed the 2018 Exceptions,
claiming that it had no notice of the pending tax sale. On April 29, 2019, the trial
court overruled the 2018 Exceptions. Wecan then filed a post-trial motion raising
the sole issue of whether Wecan had provided the Bureau with a mailing address
different than that used by the Bureau to provide notice of the pending tax sale. On
May 31, 2019, the trial court denied Wecan’s post-trial motion from which Wecan

       2
           Wecan’s Statement of the Questions Presented includes four issues:
                [1.] Did the [t]rial [c]ourt err by dismissing Wecan’s 2022
                [E]xceptions to the tax sale on res judicata grounds, when the facts
                providing the basis for Wecan’s 2022 [E]xceptions were entirely
                unknown to Wecan at the time Wecan’s 2018 [E]xceptions were
                dismissed?
                ....
                [2.] Did the [t]rial [c]ourt err by sua sponte dismissing Wecan’s
                2022 [E]xceptions on res judicata grounds without considering or
                addressing the unavailability of the underlying facts to Wecan at the
                time Wecan’s 2018 [E]xceptions were dismissed?
                ....
                [3.] Did the [t]rial [c]ourt err by sua sponte dismissing Wecan’s
                2022 [E]xceptions on res judicata grounds without providing
                Wecan an opportunity to present evidence, argument, or briefing on
                that issue?
                ....
                [4.] Did the [t]rial [c]ourt err by sua sponte dismissing Wecan’s
                2022 [E]xceptions on res judicata grounds, when no party asserted
                res judicata as an affirmative defense?
Wecan Br. at 4. The Court has restated and reordered Wecan’s questions for brevity and clarity.
                                                 2
appealed to this Court. The trial court directed Wecan to file a concise statement of
errors complained of on appeal within 21 days pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of
Appellate Procedure (Rule) 1925(b) (Rule 1925(b) Statement). Wecan failed to file
its Rule 1925(b) Statement. Accordingly, this Court found Wecan had waived all
issues on appeal.3 Wecan appealed from this Court’s Order to the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court, which denied allowance of appeal.4
              On January 20, 2022, Wecan filed the 2022 Exceptions. The Bureau
and Purchaser did not file responses thereto. By way of the 2022 Exceptions, Wecan
sought to overturn the Upset Sale based on allegations that Purchaser was not an
eligible bidder because he owned property within York County through a limited
liability company that had unpaid taxes, and that he was acting as a straw purchaser
to avoid this restriction.
              On February 18, 2022, Wecan requested the trial court to conduct a
status conference and, on February 22, 2022, the Bureau requested a pre-trial
conference. On March 1, 2022, the trial court denied both parties’ conference
requests and dismissed Wecan’s 2022 Exceptions with prejudice. The trial court’s
March 1 Order stated, in relevant part:

              [T]he [trial c]ourt has received a Praecipe for Status
              Conference and a Praecipe to List for Pre-Trial
              Conference in this matter, the first filed by counsel for
              [Wecan] and the later filed by counsel for the . . . Bureau.
              The [trial c]ourt hereby DENIES both the request for a
              status conference in this matter and the request for a pre-
              trial conference in this matter. Further, the [trial c]ourt
              hereby DISMISSES [Wecan’s] [2022 Exceptions] with
              prejudice. The September 2018 [] [U]pset [S]ale has
              already been adjudicated up to and including the

       3
         See In re: York Cnty. Tax Claim Bureau (Pa. Cmwlth. Nos. 838, 1250 C.D. 2019, filed
Dec. 31, 2020).
       4
         See In re: York Cnty. Tax Claim Bureau, 272 A.3d 1284 (Pa. 2022).
                                             3
               Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Thus, [Wecan’s] [2022
               Exceptions] are barred by res judicata.

March 1 Order at 1.
               On March 14, 2022, Wecan filed a motion for reconsideration, which
the trial court denied. Wecan appealed to this Court.5 On March 30, 2022, the trial
court directed Wecan to file a Rule 1925(b) Statement. On April 19, 2022, Wecan
filed its Rule 1925(b) Statement. On April 21, 2022, the trial court issued its opinion
pursuant to Rule 1925(a) (Rule 1925(a) Opinion).6
               Wecan contends that the trial court erred by sua sponte dismissing the
2022 Exceptions on res judicata grounds. “[I]t has long been held that a court may
not raise an issue sua sponte that does not involve the court’s subject matter
jurisdiction.” Orange Stones Co. v. Borough of Hamburg Zoning Hearing Bd., 991
A.2d 996, 999 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2010). However, this Court has explained that “[t]o
have a justiciable case, there must be, inter alia, a viable party seeking relief and the
court must have subject matter jurisdiction; where either one or both are absent the
court is without authority to adjudicate the matter and the court may sua sponte
raise either or both of the foregoing.” Appeal of Yardley, 646 A.2d 751, 754 (Pa.
Cmwlth. 1994) (italics and bold emphasis added; footnote omitted).
               Section 607(d) of the Real Estate Tax Sale Law (RETSL)7 provides:

               Any objections or exceptions to [an upset] sale may
               question the regularity or legality of the proceedings of the
               bureau in respect to such sale, but may not raise the
               legality of the taxes on which the sale was held, of the

       5
         “This [C]ourt’s review of a trial court’s order in a tax sale matter is limited to determining
whether the trial court erred as a matter of law, rendered a decision that is unsupported by the
evidence, or abused its discretion.” City of Phila. v. Rivera, 171 A.3d 1, 4 n.7 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2017)
(quoting City of Phila. v. Auguste, 138 A.3d 697, 700 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2016)).
       6
         Because Purchaser and the Bureau failed to file briefs, by August 24, 2022 Order, this
Court precluded them from filing briefs and otherwise participating in this appeal.
       7
         Act of July 7, 1947, P.L. 1368, as amended, 72 P.S. §§ 5860.101-5860.803.

                                                  4
              return by the tax collector to the bureau or of the claim
              entered. In case any objections or exceptions are filed they
              shall be disposed of according to the practice of the court.
              If the same are overruled or set aside, a decree of absolute
              confirmation shall be entered by the court.

72 P.S. § 5860.607(d). Thus,

              [t]he legislature in the [RETSL] specifically limited
              challenges to tax sales by the [b]ureau to owners or lien
              creditors of the real estate, and then limited them only to
              filing objections or exceptions to the “regularity or
              legality of the proceedings of the bureau in respect to
              such sale.” 72 P.S. § 5860.607(d).

Yardley, 646 A.2d at 756 (emphasis added).

              [T]he legislature specifically states that any objections or
              exceptions to such [an upset] sale may question the
              regularity or legality of the proceedings of the [b]ureau in
              respect to the sale of the property being challenged. The
              foregoing language clearly and unequivocally limits the
              objections or exceptions of an owner or a lien creditor to
              whether the [b]ureau complied with the procedures
              delineated by the legislature to bring a delinquent tax
              property to a public sale and the return and
              confirmation thereof. It is only the regularity or
              legality of the [b]ureau’s processes as measured against
              the requisites delineated by the legislature which may be
              challenged by an owner or a lien creditor.[8]

Yardley, 646 A.2d at 755 (footnote omitted; bold and italic emphasis added).

              Since the legislature in the [RETSL] limited the objections
              or exceptions which may be filed by an owner, the courts
              are limited in their review to the same limitation, i.e., the
              courts only have the power or authority to consider
              objections or exceptions limited to the “regularity or
              legality of the proceedings of the bureau in respect to
              such sale.”

Yardley, 646 A.2d at 756 (emphasis added).

       8
         Including but not limited to the requirements set forth in Section 602 of the RETSL. See
Section 602 of the RETSL, 72 P.S. § 5860.602 (Notice of sale).
                                               5
              Wecan’s 2022 Exceptions challenge Purchaser’s eligibility to purchase
the property at the Upset Sale given Purchaser’s alleged deception so as to conceal
outstanding tax liabilities. Section 619(c)(2) of the RETSL, upon which Wecan’s
2022 Exceptions rely, see Reproduced Record at 4a, permits a municipality, within
15 days of a tax sale, to petition a court to prohibit a deed transfer to individuals
identified therein. See 72 P.S. § 5860.619(c)(2). However, Section 619(c)(2) of the
RETSL does not require the Bureau to determine at a public sale if the purchaser is
a straw purchaser or owes outstanding taxes. Consequently, Wecan cannot raise a
challenge thereto. Accordingly, because the 2022 Exceptions do not raise questions
regarding the “regularity or legality of the proceedings of the [B]ureau in respect to
such sale[,]” the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to rule on the 2022
Exceptions. Yardley, 646 A.2d at 756; see also 72 P.S. § 5860.607(d).
              For all of the above reasons, the trial court’s order dismissing the 2022
Exceptions with prejudice is affirmed.9

                                          _________________________________
                                          ANNE E. COVEY, Judge

       9
         “An appellate court may affirm on other grounds where grounds for affirmance exist.”
Martel v. Allegheny Cnty., 216 A.3d 1165, 1168, n.2 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2019).

                                             6
            IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Wecan Transport, Inc.,                  :
                  Appellant             :
                                        :
            v.                          :
                                        :
York County Tax Claim                   :
Bureau and Konstantinos                 :   No. 292 C.D. 2022
G. Sgagias                              :

                                   ORDER

            AND NOW, this 8th day of February, 2023, the York County Common
Pleas Court’s March 1, 2022 order is affirmed.

                                     _________________________________
                                     ANNE E. COVEY, Judge