In Re: D.M. Lay v. County of Erie TCB v. D. Bolla, as of the Estate of L.C. Bolla

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
In Re: Darlene M. Lay :
:
v. :
:
County of Erie Tax Claim Bureau :
:
v. :
:
Daniel Bolla, as Executor of the :
Estate of Lawrence C. Bolla, : No. 652 C.D. 2021
Appellant :
:
:
In Re: :
:
Darlene M. Lay :
:
v. :
:
County of Erie Tax Claim Bureau :
:
v. :
:
Daniel Bolla, as Executor of the :
Estate of Lawrence C. Bolla :
:
Appeal of: County of Erie Tax : No. 653 C.D. 2021
Claim Bureau : Submitted: February 7, 2022
AMENDING ORDER
AND NOW, this 2nd day of March, 2022, the tenth sentence of the first
full paragraph of the eighth page of the slip memorandum opinion in the above-
matter, filed March 2, 2022, is amended to reflect the following correction (deleting
text inadvertently included in a quotation from the trial court’s Opinion of the Court
filed May 12, 2021):
This matter hinges, however, on the additional
requirement contained in Section 601(a)(3) of the RETSL
that the Bureau personally serve an “owner-occupant” of
a property subject to an upset sale with notice of that sale.
The RETSL defines “owner-occupant” as “the owner of a
property which has improvements constructed thereon and
for which the annual tax bill is mailed to an owner residing
at the same address as that of the property.” Section 102
of the RETSL, 72 P.S. § 5860.102. As the trial court
observed, the plain text of this definition “contains four
necessary elements: (1) an owner-occupant must be an
owner of the property; (2) the property must have
improvements constructed thereon; (3) the annual tax bill
for the that property must be mailed to an owner at the
property; and (4) such owner referenced in prong three
must reside at the property.” Trial Court Opinion at 29;
see also Commonwealth v. Giulian, 141 A.3d 1262, 1267
(Pa. 2016) (“A statute’s plain language generally provides
the best indication of legislative intent.”).
__________________________________
CHRISTINE FIZZANO CANNON, Judge