Mortgagee Lacks Standing to Appeal

Cozen O'Connor
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A panel of a Commonwealth Court held that a mortgagee is not an aggrieved party for purposes of standing to take an appeal of the assessment of real property. Mountain Manor Development Company LP v. Monroe County Board of Assessment Appeals, No. 1187 C.D. 2013 (Pa. Comm. May 22, 2014) (unreported). The court reviewed the mortgage document and concluded that it did not give the mortgagee power as an attorney-in-fact to take a real estate tax assessment appeal. The Consolidated County Assessment Law grants standing to an aggrieved person. 53 Pa. C.S. § 3844. The court concluded that a mortgagee is not an aggrieved person, because a mortgage is not in substance an owner and is not itself liable for real estate taxes. The court stated that it need not decide whether the mortgagee would have standing if it foreclosed and became a mortgagee-in-possession. 

 

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