One of my residents has appealed from a judgment I won at the Magisterial District Judge (MDJ) Court. I was told by a clerk at the courthouse that since the landlord is my LLC, I have to hire a lawyer to handle the appeal for me. Why is that? I was able to handle the MDJ hearing without a lawyer.
Pennsylvania law does not allow a non-lawyer to represent another person in court. The exception to this is the MDJ court. The rules that govern the MDJ courts allow a non-lawyer to represent another person in a hearing.
While you could represent yourself in court, you cannot represent your LLC, which is the landlord, in court. Legal entities must be represented in court by a lawyer, not by their owners.
A resident who has appealed from an MDJ judgment has not paid any rent to me. She says that she does not have to pay me while the appeal is pending. Is she correct?
Your resident is correct. While the appeal is pending, she is entitled to pay rent into court escrow. “Rent”, for purposes of the appeal, is the amount determined by the MDJ to be the monthly rent. Payments are due every thirty days after the date the appeal is filed.
I am involved in an appeal from a district justice judgment. We had a hearing a few weeks ago, and the arbitrators awarded me possession. I was just told that the resident had appealed again. What does this mean, and how long until the eviction comes to fruition
The eviction process can be a lengthy one. A resident has 10 ten days from the date of the MDJ judgment to file an appeal to the County Court of Common Pleas. Once the appeal is filed, the parties must file documents with the court that set forth their claims and defenses. Once this is complete, the next hearing (in most counties) is conducted by a board of arbitrators—three lawyers appointed by the court.
A party who loses at an arbitration hearing has 30 days from the date the arbitrators’ award is filed to file an appeal. The hearing in this second appeal is held before a judge or jury.
In most cases, an arbitration hearing can be scheduled within several months after the appeal is filed. The hearing in the second appeal can take much longer to get scheduled. In the second appeal, the parties are subject to the court’s calendar. It is not unusual for this process to take as many as 12 months or more.
Is there any way to evict a resident while his appeal from the MDJ judgment is pending?
Once an appeal has been properly filed, a stay of the eviction (called a supersedeas) takes effect. As long as the tenant continues to pay his rent into court escrow, he cannot be evicted. If he fails to make a rent payment into court escrow, however, you can terminate the supersedeas and have the Magisterial District Judge issue an Order for Possession and evict him.
