Aleyda Maldonado Norberto v. Schuylkill County Tax Claim Bureau and Marek Tchorzewski

Summary

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court reversed and remanded an order upholding the upset tax sale of Aleyda Maldonado Norberto’s property. The court held that the Schuylkill County Tax Claim Bureau failed to conduct the additional notification efforts required after the certified sale notice was returned unclaimed, and that the taxpayer’s appearance on the morning of the sale did not establish timely actual notice. The court also held that the Bureau’s policy of refusing delinquent-tax payments after 4:30 p.m. on the Friday before the sale violated the Real Estate Tax Sale Law because payment remained permissible until the actual sale.

Holdings

1. The Bureau was required to conduct reasonable additional efforts to discover the taxpayer's whereabouts under Section 607.1 of the Real Estate Tax Sale Law. Sending a ten-day letter to the same address, without further searches or a notation documenting the efforts and results, did not strictly comply with the statute.
2. Listing the taxpayer's surname first and given names last, without a comma, did not invalidate the tax sale because the name was essentially the same, adequately identified the taxpayer, and caused no prejudice.
3. The Bureau's policy refusing payment after 4:30 p.m. on the Friday before the sale was directly contrary to Sections 603 and 601 of the RETSL. A taxpayer may pay delinquent taxes up to the time the successful bidder pays the full purchase price, which constitutes the actual sale.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Bureau complied with the Real Estate Tax Sale Law's additional notice requirements after the certified Notice of Sale was returned unclaimed.
2. Whether placing the taxpayer's surname before her given names on the Notice of Sale and ten-day letter invalidated the tax sale.
3. Whether the Bureau's policy refusing payment of delinquent taxes after 4:30 p.m. on the Friday preceding the sale violated the Real Estate Tax Sale Law, which permits payment before the actual sale.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded