Toole, B. v. Hobbs, G. ( 2020 )

J-A08028-20
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
BETTYE TOOLE & LEVAL T. COLON : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
Appellants :
:
:
v. :
:
:
GEORGE HOBBS & GAIL COLON- : No. 2947 EDA 2019
HOBBS :
Appeal from the Order Entered September 10, 2019,
in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County,
Civil Division at No(s): 0204 July Term 2019.
BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., KUNSELMAN, J., and McCAFFERY, J.
MEMORANDUM BY KUNSELMAN, J.: FILED JUNE 08, 2020
Appellants, Bettye Toole and Leval T. Colon (“Tenants”), appeal from
the order denying their motion to reinstate their appeal from the decision of
the Philadelphia Municipal Court. Upon review, we affirm.
The underlying facts of this case are largely irrelevant, as the case turns
solely on procedural questions. Briefly, Tenants sued their landlords, George
Hobbs and Gail Colon-Hobbs (“Landlords”), seeking reimbursement of the rent
they paid from January 2019 through April 2019, because Landlords failed to
provide them with a lead-free or lead-safe certification, as required under the
Philadelphia Lead Paint Disclosure and Certification Law. 1 Tenants’ Brief at
____________________________________________
1 Chapter 6-800 of the Philadelphia Code requires such certification to be
provided to residential tenants with children under the age of 7.
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15. The municipal court entered judgment in favor of Landlords. Tenants
filed a timely notice of appeal in the court of common pleas on July 1, 2019.
The appeal was not entered on the docket until July 8, 2019, apparently due
to issues with the Philadelphia online filing system.2 That same day, the trial
court issued a standard case management order (“CMO”). Notably, Tenants
did not file a complaint within 20 days of filing their notice of appeal pursuant
to Rule 1001(f)(1)(i) of the Philadelphia Municipal Court Rules of Procedure
(“Local Rule”).
On August 2, 2019, upon praecipe of Landlords, the Office of Judicial
Records struck the notice of appeal in accordance with Local Rule 1001(h).
Tenants then filed a motion to reinstate the appeal on August 4, 2019, which
the trial court denied. Tenants timely appealed the denial order to this Court.
Both Tenants and the trial court have complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.
Tenants raise three questions in this appeal:
1. Did the trial court commit reversible error by not reinstating the
notice of appeal from the municipal court where [Tenants]
followed the directives of the [CMO] entered in this case as to the
deadline to file a complaint?
2. Did the trial court commit reversible error by not reinstating the
notice of appeal from the municipal court where no praecipe for
rule to file a complaint had been filed by [Landlords] as required
by the case controlling CMO?
3. Did the trial court commit reversible error by not reinstating the
notice of appeal from the municipal court where good cause
____________________________________________
2 Tenants note that the online filing system had previously been down for
about six weeks. Tenants’ Brief at 5, n.1.
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existed to reinstate the appeal and where a proposed complaint
was filed promptly?
Tenants’ Brief at 4 (unnecessary capitalization omitted).
In their first issue, Tenants claim they were following the mandates of
the CMO regarding the deadline to file their complaint. The CMO provides in
relevant part as follows:
5. PLAINTIFFS: If you were the Plaintiff in the Municipal
Court (the moving party), and you filed this appeal, or you
have been served a copy of this appeal, you must then file
a complaint in conformity with the Pennsylvania Rules of
Civil Procedure, along with a Notice to Defend and Proof of
Service.
Filing of the Municipal Court Statement of Claim is not in
conformity with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure.
The Complaint, Notice to Defend and Proof of Service must be filed
utilizing the Civil Electronic Filing System within twenty (20) days
after service of a Rule to File Complaint.
Failure to timely file your complaint may result in the appeal being
dismissed for lack of prosecution pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of
Civil Procedure 1037 (a). In addition, if you fail to file a complaint
by the time the case is called to trial, the Court can enter a non
suit on the motion of the defendant or a non pros on the Court’s
own motion pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 218.
CMO, at 1, (emphasis added).
Based on the language of the CMO, Tenants, as the plaintiffs in the
municipal court, maintain that they were aware they had to file a complaint,
but believed that they had twenty days from service of a rule to file complaint
to do so.
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The trial court and Landlords contend that Tenants failed to comply with
Philadelphia County Rule of Civil Procedure 1001(f)(1). That Rule provides, in
pertinent part:
f) Pleadings and Legal Papers.
(1) Appeals Filed Pursuant to Philadelphia Civil Rule 1001(a)(1).
i. If the appellant was the plaintiff or claimant in the action
before the Municipal Court, he shall file a complaint within
twenty (20) days after filing the Notice of Appeal.
ii. If the appellant was the defendant in the action before
the Municipal Court, he shall file with the Notice of Appeal a
praecipe requesting the Office of Judicial Records to enter a
rule as of course upon the appellee to file a complaint within
twenty (20) days after service of the rule or suffer entry of
a judgment of non pros.
***
Local Rule 1001(f).
Both the CMO and Local Rule 1001(f) make clear the process to be
followed by an appellant. Here, because the Tenants, as appellants, were the
plaintiffs in the municipal court, they were required to file their complaint
within twenty days of filing their notice of appeal. Only if the Tenants in the
municipal court were appellees on appeal, (i.e., if Landlords, as defendants,
appealed from the municipal court decision), then Tenants, as plaintiffs, would
have had twenty days from the date on which defendants served them with a
rule to file complaint. However, that scenario did not occur. Thus, as Tenants
did not timely file their complaint within twenty days of filing their notice of
appeal, they violated the clear language of Local Rule 1001(f)(i).
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Tenants may only obtain relief from their oversight in limited
circumstances. Local Rule 1001(h), similar to the Pennsylvania state rules for
appeals from district justice orders, Rule 1006, provides that the “court of
common pleas may reinstate the appeal upon good cause shown.” Local
Rule 1001(h); see also Pa.R.C.P.D.J. 1006 (emphasis added). In a similar
case involving an appeal from a magistrate’s order in Monroe County, we
noted, “[g]ood cause” is not defined in the rules governing district justice
proceedings. Anderson v. Centennial Homes, Inc., 594 A.2d 737, 739 (Pa.
Super. 1991). Black’s Law Dictionary defines good cause as a
[s]ubstantial reason, one that affords a legal excuse. Legally
sufficient ground or reason. Phrase “good cause” depends upon
circumstances of individual case, and finding of its existence lies
largely in discretion of officer or court to which decision is
committed. . . . “Good cause” is a relative and highly abstract
term, and its meaning must be determined not only by verbal
context of statute in which term is employed but also by context
of action and procedures involved in type of case presented....
Id. (citing Black’s Law Dictionary 623 (5th ed. 1979) (emphasis original
citations omitted)).
In Anderson, we noted that “while the term good cause may be difficult
to define, it is clear that [the party seeking to reinstate the appeal] must
proffer some legally sufficient reason for the trial court” to do so. Anderson,
594 A.2d at 739. Significantly, we emphasized that the determination of
whether good cause has been demonstrated is entrusted to the trial court’s
sound discretion. Id. As such, we review the trial court’s decision in this
regard under an abuse of discretion standard. See also 25 Standard
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Pennsylvania Practice 2d § 130:166 (1984) (“An appeal from a decision of a
district justice which has been stricken should be reinstated only under
exceptional circumstances”).
Here, the trial court refused to reinstate the appeal from the decision of
the municipal court because it believed that Tenants did not show good cause.
Trial Court Opinion, 11/7/19, at 3. Instead, the trial court concluded that
Tenants “provided an incorrect interpretation of [Local] Rule 1001(f)(1)(i)”
and a “misguided” interpretation of the CMO. Id. Because Tenants did not
offer any justifiable reason for the error, we cannot conclude that the trial
court abused its discretion in denying their application to reinstate the appeal
from the municipal court. Thus, Tenants first issue warrants no relief.
In their second issue, Tenants claim the trial court committed reversible
error by not reinstating the notice of appeal from the municipal court where
no praecipe for a rule to file complaint had been filed by Landlords, as required
by the CMO.
Notably, neither the CMO nor the Local Rules require Landlords, as
defendants in the municipal court below and as appellees in the court of
common pleas, to file a rule upon Tenants, who were the moving party in both
courts. Under Tenants’ interpretation of the rules and the CMO, they could
simply wait for months for Landlords to act before they were required to file a
complaint. That is not the procedure outlined in the Local Rules governing
appeals from the municipal court. Instead, as the moving party in both courts,
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Tenants were obligated to proceed with their cases in a timely manner.
Specifically, Tenants had twenty days to file a complaint from the time they
filed their notice of appeal. Quite simply, Landlords had no obligation to file a
Rule upon Tenants to file their complaint. The trial court recognized that any
mistake or misinterpretation of the CMO and the Local Rules was on the
Tenants as plaintiffs. The trial court committed no reversible error here. Thus,
their second claim warrants no relief.
Finally, Tenants claim the trial court committed reversible error by not
reinstating the notice of appeal from the municipal court where good cause
existed to reinstate the appeal and where a proposed complaint was filed
promptly. In their argument on this issue, Tenants rely on Rule 126 of the
Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure to argue that their failure to comply with
Local Rule 1001(f)(1(i) should be overlooked.
However, as the Landlords observe in their brief, and our independent
review confirms, Tenants did not preserve this issue in their Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b)
concise statement. Landlords’ Brief at 6-9. Our law provides that, “[a]ny
issues not raised in a [Pa.R.A.P.] 1925(b) statement shall be deemed waived.”
US Bank v. Hua, 193 A.3d 994, 996-97 (Pa. Super. 2018). Because Tenants
failed to raise any issue regarding Pa.R.C.P. 126 in their Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b)
statement, they waived our review of this issue on appeal.
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Since none of Tenants’ issues warrant relief, we affirm the order of the
trial court denying Tenants’ motion to reinstate their appeal to the court of
common pleas.
Order affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 6/8/20
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