Yesterday, the South Hills 2013 assessment values were posted on the County’s website.  The Eastern suburbs were posted earlier.  With the majority of the County up, the big picture is starting to become clearer.

Check out your assessment at this link.

Take the new value and divide it by the old value.  If you come up with a number like 1.17 (with a bunch of digits)or less, you are in line with the median of the increase in prices paid for properties between the last assessment in 2002 and the last year for which stats were compiled, 2010.  That is the equivalent of a 17% increase.  When the new stats are announced by the State on July 1, it will probably raise the 2011 common level ratio to around 20%.

If your ratios above that, you will have to decide whether you should appeal.  The County says that it is giving preference to appeals of properties showing a 45% increase, since those will probably result in a tax increase. That is a rather safe bet.  However, since the majority of your tax is school and local, not county, the overall percentage of increase in your community ought to play a role.  But bear in mind that many of the larger increases will probably be reduced, resulting in a lower aggregate increase.

The appeal deadline is April 2.  Get an appeal form and if possible, file it in person in the County Office Building (corner of Forbes and Ross Street, on block East of Grant Street) on the third floor.  Be sure to take away a clocked-in copy and keep it, so that you can prove you appealed if yours is lost in the shuffle.

CLT

Perhaps Rick Santorum made a mis-statement when he used the word theology when criticizing the Obama Administration’s approach to social issues.  But, if so, it is a mistake that reveals a defective mindset.

Government is a secular institution.  Policies should be established based upon what is deemed to be the greater good for the people, based upon earthly standards.  Christian doctrine should not come into play. Nor should any other strictly religious doctrine. There are many activities that are not illegal, and shouldn’t be, that are clearly immoral.

Santorum says that some say that contraception is okay, but it is not, its wrong.  Assume he is right.  Does this establish a valid basis for government policy?  It shouldn’t.  That dialogue should be about what the government should do or not do for the benefit of society for strictly secular reasons. In this context, theology is a dangerous word.

CLT

New Jersey officially mourned the death of Whitney Houston yesterday, the day of her funeral, by directing that flags be flown at half mast.  Pennsylvania did the same for Joe Paterno.  Purists have pointed out that neither was qualified for what is essentially a military honor.

So what is anyone to do about it?  Nothing, really.

In the case of Paterno, who had been a great influence in the lives of many, there was more than a twinge of regret over his name being dragged so recently through the mud of the Sandusky scandal.  Yes, he was only a football coach, but he was a philanthropist and a leading figure in the community and the state for a half century.

Houston is a bit more problematic.  She was only a singer. But she seems to have been loved by members of her church and community in an extraordinary way.  Perhaps there was no real harm in it.

CLT

In November 2011, the National Gallery in London opened what they are billing as the greatest exhibition of the paintings of  Leonardo Da Vinci that has ever been, or, they say, probably ever will be.

Tonight, a preview shot live on the evening before the opening was broadcast in theaters around the world, including Pittsburgh, which we attended.  Oh, you missed it?  Well, you had better hurry if you want to see it in London.  The exhibition is quickly selling out.

So, in honor of the occasion, here are a few interesting facts about the great Renaissance Man to improve your education:

Q: What did Leonardo, Benjamin Franklin and Steve Jobs have in common?

A:  They were all vegetarians.

Q:  Which happened first?  Columbus landed on San Salvador or Leonardo finished the Last Supper?

A:  Columbus.

Q: Which happened first? Martin Luther posted the 95 theses or Leonardo died?

A:  The 95 Theses.

[FOOTNOTE TO READERS UNDER 40:  Martin Luther is not the same person as Dr. Martin Luther King.]

Q:  What is the name of the Leonardo painting that was once sold for 45 Pounds before it was authenticated as a Da Vinci quite recently?

A: Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World), pictured above. The photo does not do the mysterious masterpiece justice.

Q:  How did Leonardo develop his unparalleled understanding of human anatomy?

A:  He dissected corpses.

Q: What famous Leonardo once hung in Napoleon’s bedroom.

A: Mona Lisa

Q:  What two famous paintings with identical names and figures (although very different moods)  by Da Vinci are being exhibited at the National Gallery together for the first time?

A:  Virgin of the Rocks. One has hung in the National Gallery in London while the other belongs to the Louve in, of course, Davenport Iowa.

CLT

In the case of Beneficial Consumer Discount Co. v. Vukmam, 2012 Pa. Super 18, the Superior Court held that a sheriff sale must be vacated due to a defective form of notice promulgated by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) under Act 91 0f 1983.  The underlying statute gave mortgagors the choice to have a face-to-face meeting with either the mortgagee or a consumer credit counselor in order to attempt to resolve the delinquency.  This created a jurisdictional problem, since the notice failed to inform the mortgagor of the choice of meeting with the mortgagee. The facts and holding in the Vukmam (probably actually “Vukman”) case are discussed at length in the immediately preceding post, No. 808.

However, the story of Act 91 does not end here.  The primary mission of PHFA,was to administer the emergency loan program that was created through Act 91 in response to the widespread foreclosures during the recession of the early 1980′s.  On July 21, 2011, after drastic state budget cuts put PHFA out of the lending business, the Agency and the Department of Banking announced in a bulletin that foreclosing lenders would no longer be required to send Act 91 notices after August 27, 2011.  However, the bulletin noted, formal notices under Act 6 of 1974 would be required.

Section 409C of the Act provides that the Act is inapplicable to any mortgages that become delinquent when the fund is out of money. The State Treasurer must inform the PHFA quarterly of the amount in the fund.  If the funding becomes insufficient, PHFA must publish an announcement of that fact and lenders would thereafter become free from the notice requirements. Thus, borrowers becoming delinquent after August 27, 2011 should receive an Act 6 Notice, if applicable, but not an Act 91 Notice.

Act 6 had, over the years, been almost forgotten.  Act 6 was similar to Act 91 in some respects, but each had aspects not covered by the other. Act 6 required certain disclosures to be given to owners of residential properties at least 30 days prior to the filing of a complaint.  The definition of residential properties was broader in Act 6 — the property only had to be used for residential purposes, but not be owner-occupied. That could include rental properties with multiple units. Thus, landlords renting to residential tenants were entitled to Act 6 Notices.

Because Act 6 was not repealed by the adoption of Act 91, many lenders initially sent both notices or the Act 6 only when Act 91 did not apply.  Eventually, however, case law validated the practice of sending an Act 91 notice to cover both statutes.  Then, a joint Act 6-Act 91 notice was created by PHFA.  Moreover, the jurisdictional limitation of Act 6 to loans of $50,000 or less made it less of a factor with every passing year.

In 2008, the jurisdictional limit of Act 6 was vastly increased to reflect inflation over the years. The current jurisdictional limit for Act 6 is $221,540.  Amazingly,  the buying power of $50,000 in 1983, requires $221,500 today. Today, a borrower who takes out a $500,000 home mortgage is not covered by Act 6.  Click this link to see the  suggested form of an Act 6 Notice as set forth in the regulations.

That does not mean, however, that properties outside the jurisdiction of Act 6 can be foreclosed without any notice.  Most mortgage forms used in Pennsylvania contain a provision regarding notice of acceleration prior to foreclosure.  Thus, in most cases, giving some kind of notice may be a contractual requirement, if not a statutory one.

Going forward, the task of mediation of delinquencies prior to foreclosure seems to have fallen upon the courts.  ”Diversionary” programs have been established in a number of counties through the courts of Common Pleas.  Allegheny, Butler, Fayette and Washington Counties are among this group. The Philadelphia program has reported substantial success in facilitating default cure agreements and the Allegheny County program, after getting off to a slow start, seems to be showing results.  However, the vast majority of the 67 counties do not have such mediation programs.

It wasn’t that long ago that home mortgage lending was a strictly local phenomenon.  It was primarily done by local banks and thrifts and, to a lesser extent, credit unions. The rise of mortgage brokers and the mass securitization of home loans changed that.  Increasingly, it was no longer possible to walk into the loan department of the neighborhood savings and loan association and work out a payment arrangement.  Although the national lenders had customer service by phone, the person on the other end had no authority and was frequently reading from a script.  When securities trustees became owners of a vast number of home mortgages, an additional barrier was created.  They were not lenders and had no interest in accommodating anyone.  The accounts were administered by loan servicers, who were given very limited authority.

The diversionary programs have re-established the lines of communication, at least in part. The judge is a member of the community and shares the common belief that its members must be treated fairly.   Diversionary programs have also provided a  buffer of time and an agenda of events that create an opportunity for the delinquent borrower to come to grips with the realty of the situation and do something constructive about it.  By working with the consumer credit counselor on a budget, the borrower is given the opportunity to propose a workable recovery plan.  The diversion program is not as effective as a face-to-face workout with the neighborhood thrift, but those days are (sadly) unlikely to return. Although the diversion system is quite imperfect, in more times than we might expect, it actually works.

CLT

On January 30, 2012, the Superior Court held that the Act 91 Notice promulgated  by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency does not contain an important statutory provision and that, as a result, the courts lack jurisdiction over residential mortgage foreclosures filed by lenders giving the defective notice.

This holding was announced on January 30, 2012 in Beneficial Consumer Discount Company v. Vukmam, 2012 Pa. Super 18 (2012). The case is docketed at 347 WDA 2011.

[The Allegheny County Common Pleas proceedings indicate that the Appellee's correct name is actually Vukman. However, we will use the Superior Court's spelling, at least for now.]

The Vukmam holding  was followed in the unpublished decision on the same date at JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA v. Thrower, No. 347 WDA 2011.

In Vukmam, a mortgage foreclosure was filed in October 2006.  The parties reach a settlement agreement that was approved in May 2009 by the court in the Allegheny County Common Pleas. Under the settlement, the parties agreed to a judgment amount.  Vukmam was to pay a specified amount monthly and Beneficial would not execute on the judgment so long as the payments were made.

In April 2010, after filing an affidavit of default, Beneficial issued a writ of execution and conducted a sheriff sale in August 2010, at which Beneficial purchased the property.

On August 31, 2010, Appellee filed a “Motion to Set Aside Judgment and Sheriff’s Sale.”  She contended that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because Appellant had failed to comply  with the notice requirements of the Homeowner’s Emergency Mortgage Act, 35 P.S. Sections 1680.401c et seq., popularly known as Act 91.  The Superior Court summarized Appellee’s argument thusly:

“More specifically, Appellee maintained that the Act 91 notice received from Appellant failed to inform her that she had 30 days to have a face-to-face meeting with Appellant.  After holding a hearing, the trial court agreed with Appellee that the Act 91 notice was deficient.  The court issued an order setting aside the Sheriff Sale and the judgment; the order also dismissed Appellant’s complaint without prejudice.”

And set forth the principals of law:

“The test for whether a court has subject matter jurisdiction inquires into the competency of the court to determine controversies of the general class to which the case presented belongs.”  In re Administrative Order No. 1-MD-2003, 936 A.2d 1, 5 (Pa. 2007)

“It is the law in this Commonwealth that a judgment may be attacked for lack of jurisdiction at any time, as any such judgment or decree rendered by a court that lacks subject matter jurisdiction is null and void.” Bell v. Kater, 943 A.2d 293, 298 (Pa. Super. 2008)

Appellant argued that Appellee had waived her rights due to an untimely presentation of her case, filing it after the ten-day statutory period for asserting errors in the sheriff’s sale.  The Superior Court noted that a procedurally-based jurisdictional challenge may be waived, but subject matter jurisdiction is never waived.

However, this issue had been decided in Philadelphia Housing Authority v. Barbour, 592 A.2d 47, 48 (Pa. Super. 1991) In that case, the Superior Court held that  failure to comply with notice requirements in mortgage foreclosure cases “will deprive a court of jurisdiction to act.”

The Court also cited Marra v. Stocker, 615 A.2d 326 (Pa. 1991), where the refusal to set aside a sheriff sale due to failure to give the required notice was reversed.

“We are bound by these decisions,” the Superior Court stated, noting that, under case law, it is powerless to overrule a prior decision of the Superior Court.

The crux of the problem is that Section 403 of Act 91 states that the borrower is entitled to have a face-to-face meeting with either the mortgagee who sent the notice or with a consumer credit counseling agency.  The suggested notice, promulgated by PHFA, omits mention of the option of meeting with the mortgagee.

In particular, Section 403(b) (1) states, in pertinent part:

“This notice shall also advise the mortgagor . . . that such mortgagor has 30 days to have a face-to-face meeting with the mortgagee who sent the notice or a consumer credit counseling agency to attempt to resolve the delinquency or default by restructuring the loan payment schedule or otherwise.”

TO BE CONTINUED

For the answer (which is quite interesting) click onto the blog Tax Girl.

When I was in basic training, the military decided to replace service numbers with Social Security numbers.I already knew that number, of course, because it had been my student ID number in college.

And so it went until the era of identity theft.

Bonus Question:  Where can an identity thief find a treasure trove of identities to steal, complete with authentic SSN’s; AND (this is great!) where the victims won’t complain?

Give up?  Oh, you knew!

Just look up the record of any estate filed with the Department of Court Records in Allegheny County or the Register of Wills elsewhere in PA.  Yes, they still require you to fill in the decedent’s SSN on official documents.  And not the last four, either.  The whole number. [Don't tell identity thieves.]

When will the United States run out of 9 digit SSN’s?  By my count, assuming they don’t start reusing them, any day now.

CLT

No, we are not talking about that lying rodent from Punxy.  We’re talking about our Governor, who is so inaccessible that he must be spending a lot of time walking on the Appalachian Trail.

So where does he show up?  That’s right.This is not a picture of the Governor, though.  At least I don’t think so.

Thanks, Virginia, for the great photo which appeared your blog That’s Church.

CLT

Excuse my impertinence.  I refuse to get all stirred up predicting who is going to win on Sunday night.  I noticed during dinner that ESPN was overanalyzing the situation, as normal.  Could the Giants get to Brady?  Was Brady intimidated by something or other? I forget what.  Then they ask everybody down to cab drivers and  Carmelite Nuns to predict the score.

Truth is, either team could win and who wins will probably have more to do with luck than who came to play. Sports analysts are good at dreaming up convincing reasons why somebody won and somebody else lost, but you never hear them tell you the truth, that there is a whole lot of luck involved when both teams are at the top of their games (pronounced, “on winning streaks”).

It can be good entertainment, even great entertainment.  But don’t take it all too seriously. The way a playoff series is arranged, one team will end with a winning streak of four or five games.  It happens every year.  No big deal.

CLT

Newt Gingrich has been taking some heat over suggesting that the United States plan to establish a permanent settlement on the Moon.  You would think he had suggested colonizing a couple of countries in the Middle East.

What is so crazy about planning a lunar colony?  It makes a lot more sense, in terms of pure logic, than the first race to the moon, begun 50 years ago.  That was a wild-eyed adventure if there ever was one.  Nobody had any idea how all of the scientific problems that lay in the way would ever be solved.  All we had was faith and that unique American optimism that sometimes borders on insanity. In the end, it took us less than a decade.

Compared to the scientific complexity of putting a man on the Moon, the Manhattan Project was a piece of cake.  But of course, these two great scientific achievements had one powerful thing in common.  A dangerous enemy who was trying to gain military supremacy.

Yes, if we had a credible enemy who was trying to establish a military base on the Moon, you can bet that the United States would be energized. But who can be sure that there isn’t such an enemy with such a plan? Like China.

Do you think the Chinese would tell us if they were working on a Moon mission?  They could do it, you know. Our best Universities, including CMU, graduate hundreds of native Chinese PhD’s in every high-tech field needed for such an endeavor.  Thanks to our immigration policies, almost all of them must return home.

But the Chinese probably don’t even need so many highly-trained scientists to do the job.  They also have highly-trained spies. Unlike 1961, most of the required technology is already in existence.  Much of it is installed on the international space station. So what are we waiting for?  Another Sputnik moment?

In one respect, the Moon will be the perfect colony.  There will be no natives to displace or exploit.  There will be no fragile environment to degrade. There will be just us, the intrepid American explorers.

Lets do it! Don’t worry about making it pay for itself. We’ll probably start discovering new things about the universe on the very first day.  And ten years out, we’ll all be telling ourselves how smart we were and how rich we’ve become.