The following are recent Pennsylvania court cases of note to real estate law practitioners.

Tax Sale Purchasers

In In re Lehigh County Tax Claim Bureau Sale of September 19, 2018, 169 C.D. 2020 (2021), the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court concluded that a purchaser of real property at an upset tax sale was not an indispensable party to a subsequent action brought by the legal owner of the property to set aside the sale. Robert Berkheiser was the owner of a single-family residence (the property) situated in Heidelberg Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Berkheiser became delinquent in his real estate tax obligations for the property, and the property was exposed to upset tax sale by the Lehigh County Tax Claim Bureau (the bureau) where it was purchased by Marek Tchorzewski and Anthony Malinowski (tax sale purchasers). Following the sale, Berkheiser filed objections in the Lehigh County Common Pleas Court seeking to set aside the sale on the basis of his not being provided requisite notice of the sale as prescribed by the Pennsylvania tax sale law. Berkheiser did not name the tax sale purchasers as parties to his objections, nor did he provide them with notice thereof.