Court Opinion

ID: 9962574
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-23 20:13:42.513725+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:19:09.340493
License: Public Domain

J-S04045-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

  KENNETH WEINSTEIN,                           :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
  ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF               :        PENNSYLVANIA
  RICHARD A. ARBACH, DECEASED,                 :
  AND KAREN BARATS, EXECUTRIX                  :
                                               :
                                               :
                v.                             :
                                               :
                                               :   No. 1222 EDA 2023
  WILLIAM J. STACEY, WILLIAM R.                :
  STACEY, AND THOMAS STACEY                    :
                                               :
                                               :
  APPEAL OF: THOMAS STACEY,                    :
  ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF               :
  WILLIAM J. STACEY, DECEASED                  :

             Appeal from the Judgment Entered June 22, 2023
    In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Civil Division at
                           No(s): 210201107

BEFORE: BOWES, J., STABILE, J., and LANE, J.

MEMORANDUM BY LANE, J.:                                 FILED APRIL 23, 2024

       The Estate of William J. Stacey, deceased (“Estate of William J. Stacey”),

appeals from the judgment entered in this quiet title action.1 We affirm on

the basis set forth in the comprehensive trial court opinion.
____________________________________________

1 The Estate of William J. Stacey purported to appeal from the April 21, 2023

order denying his motion for post-trial relief; however, an appeal properly lies
from the entry of judgment, not from the order denying post-trial motions.
See generally Johnston the Florist, Inc. v. TEDCO Constr. Corp., 657
A.2d 511 (Pa. Super. 1995) (en banc). Although the Estate’s notice of appeal
was filed prematurely in the instant matter, judgment was subsequently
entered on June 22, 2023. A final judgment entered during the pendency of
an appeal is sufficient to perfect appellate jurisdiction. See Drum v. Shaull
Equipment and Supply Co., 787 A.2d 1050 (Pa. Super. 2001); see also
Pa.R.A.P. 905(a)(5) (stating that a notice of appeal filed after a court’s
(Footnote Continued Next Page)
J-S04045-24

       The trial court provided a detailed summary of the relevant factual and

procedural history of this case, which we adopt as though fully set forth herein.

See Trial Court Opinion, 8/7/23, at 1-5. We note briefly that, in 1992, Richard

H. Arbach (“Richard H.”) and his son, Richard A. Arbach (“Richard A.”) who

each owned several properties, became the owners as tenants in common of

real property located at 2604 Collins Street in Philadelphia (“the property”).

William J. Stacey (“William”), who was employed by the Arbachs to perform

renovations on their various properties, resided at the property from 1993

until his death in 2020, and while living there made improvements thereto.

Richard A. died in 1997, and Richard H. died in 2002. In 2019, more than a

decade after the father and son had died, William recorded a fraudulent deed,

purportedly signed by Richard A. and Richard H., transferring title to the

property from them to himself.

       The Estate of Richard A. Arbach and the Estate of Richard H. Arbach

brought this quiet title action against the Estate of William J. Stacey to

determine ownership of the property.2 The Estate of William J. Stacey filed a

counterclaim raising the affirmative defense of adverse possession based on

William’s open and exclusive occupation of the property from 1993 until his
____________________________________________

determination but before the entry of an appealable order/judgment shall be
treated as if it was filed after the entry of the appealable order/judgment and
on the date of entry). Hence, no jurisdictional defects impede our review.

2 See Pa.R.C.P. 1061(b)(2), (3) (permitting an action in quiet title to,     inter
alia, determine the validity of any deed affecting any title or interest in land,
or to compel an adverse party to admit the invalidity of a deed affecting any
title or interest in land).

                                           -2-
J-S04045-24

death in 2020. In response, the Estate of Richard H. Arbach filed an answer

asserting, inter alia, the affirmative defense of unclean hands based on

William’s recording of the fraudulent deed.

      The matter proceeded to a non-jury trial at which the Estate of William

J. Stacey presented testimony that William purchased the property from

Richard A. for $1,000 in 1993 and thereafter made significant improvements

to the property, including repairs to the roof, kitchen, basement, windows,

heat, plumbing, and electric. The parties agreed that the deed recorded by

William in 2019 was fraudulent and should be stricken. At the conclusion of

trial, the court determined that Richard A. had sold his undivided one-half

interest in the property to William in 1993, and that William thereafter made

significant improvements to the property.      With respect to the remaining

undivided one-half interest in the property owned by Richard H., the trial court

determined that William was not entitled to claim ownership of that

percentage through adverse possession based on his unclean hands due to his

recording of the fraudulent deed.

      Accordingly, on June 22, 2023, the trial court entered judgment in favor

of both Estates, finding that the Estate of William J. Stacey and the Estate of

Richard H. Arbach each owned an undivided one-half interest in the property

as tenants in common.     Thereafter, the Estate of William J. Stacey filed a

timely post-trial motion, which the trial court denied. The Estate of William J.

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J-S04045-24

Stacey then filed a timely notice of appeal, and both the Estate and the trial

court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b).3

       The Estate of William J. Stacey raises the following issue for our review:

          Did the trial court commit an error of law/abuse of discretion
          in holding that [the Estate of William J. Stacey]’s title in the
          entire property by adverse possession was barred by the
          equitable doctrine of unclean hands, where the undisputed
          evidence established an ouster of the co-tenant, and also
          established that title to the co-tenant’s undivided one-half
          interest in the property had fully vested in [the Estate of
          William J. Stacey] by way of adverse possession before the
          act/conduct the trial court found constituted unclean hands and
          therefore [the Estate of Richard H. Arbach] suffered no
          prejudice or harm?

Estate of William J. Stacey’s Brief at 2.

       In reviewing an equitable decision entered in an action to quiet title, an

appellate court’s review is limited to determining whether the findings of fact

are supported by competent evidence, whether an error of law has been

committed, and whether there has been a manifest abuse of discretion. See

Regions Mortgage, Inc. v. Muthler, 889 A.2d 39, 41 (Pa. 2005); see also

Calisto v. Rodgers, 271 A.3d 877, 881 (Pa. Super. 2022) (en banc)

(explaining that, although of statutory origins, a suit to quiet title is actually

an equitable proceeding).

       As this Court has explained:

       We will reverse only where the trial court was palpably erroneous,
       misapplied the law, or committed a manifest abuse of discretion.
       Where there are any apparently reasonable grounds for the trial
____________________________________________

3 The Estate of Richard H. Arbach is not a party to this appeal.

                                           -4-
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      court’s decision, we must affirm it. Moreover, the function of this
      Court on an appeal from an adjudication in equity is not to
      substitute our view for that of the lower tribunal; [we are] to
      determine whether a judicial mind, on due consideration of all the
      evidence, as a whole, could reasonably have reached the
      conclusion of that tribunal . . . when reviewing the results of a
      non-jury trial, we are bound by the trial court’s findings of fact,
      unless those findings are not based on competent evidence.

Nebesho v. Brown, 846 A.2d 721, 725-26 (Pa. Super. 2004) (citations and

some punctuation omitted).

      Adverse possession is an extraordinary doctrine which permits one to

achieve ownership of another’s property by operation of law. See Rec. Land

Corp. v. Hartzfeld, 947 A.2d 771, 774 (Pa. Super. 2008). Claimants seeking

to assert title by adverse possession must establish actual, continuous,

exclusive, visible, notorious, distinct and hostile possession of the land for

twenty-one years. See Gruca v. Clearbrook Cmty. Servs. Ass'n, 286 A.3d

1273, 1278 (Pa. Super. 2022).

      The doctrine of unclean hands closes the doors of a court of equity to

one tainted with iniquity or bad faith relative to the matter in which he seeks

relief. See Lucey v. W.C.A.B. (Vy-Cal Plastics PMA Grp.), 32 A.2d 1201,

1204-05 (Pa. 1999) (explaining that while equity does not demand that its

suitors shall have led blameless lives as to other matters, it does require that

they shall have acted fairly and without fraud or deceit as to the controversy

in issue). Application of the doctrine of unclean hands is within the trial court’s

discretion. See Stauffer v. Stauffer, 351 A.2d 236, 245 (Pa. 1976).

                                       -5-
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      After our independent review of the record, the Estate of William J.

Stacey’s brief, the applicable law, and the well-reasoned and thorough opinion

of the Honorable Carmella Jacquinto, we conclude the Estate of William J.

Stacey’s issue merits no relief. The trial court comprehensively explained its

determination that William’s recording of the fraudulent deed to the property

rendered him ineligible to obtain full legal title to that property through

adverse possession. See Trial Court Opinion, 8/7/23, at 5-13 (finding that

the uncontroverted evidence presented at trial established that [the Estate of

William J. Stacey] is barred from receiving title to the [entire] [p]roperty via

adverse possession due to the doctrine of unclean hands). As we discern no

error of law or abuse of discretion by the trial court, we affirm on the basis of

the trial court’s opinion, which we adopt in its entirety as dispositive of the

Estate of William J. Stacey’s appeal. See id. at 1-13.

      In the event of further proceedings, the parties shall attach a copy of

the trial court’s August 7, 2023 opinion to all future filings.

      Judgment affirmed.

Date: 4/23/2024

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Circulated 03/28/2024 01:24 PM