2012 Reassessment: Hearings Begin, But Where Are the Comps?

No. 790

This morning hearings began for the 2012 reassessment. I asked everyone I could when the comps (sales of comparable properties) were going to be posted on the website. Nobody knew.

Why do I care? Well, it would be nice to know the comps upon which the outrageous valuation of my client’s property was based. And I’d like to know them in advance, not while the hearing is going full swing with no time to think about them. I’d also like to look at the comps of the comps and maybe their comps, too.

If anybody knows the answer to my question or knows how to get comps for a property under appeal, drop me a comment below or send me message in the contact box.

CLT

Landlord-Tenant: How to Deal With Utility Lockouts.

Image from massrc.com

No. 789

If you are a tenant who is having a dispute with your landlord, here is some information you may need to know.

A landlord cannot force you out by refusing to pay the utilities. In Pennsylvania, we have a statute which requires a utility to give you the opportunity to pay one month’s utilities to keep the service. Contact the utility directly and send them a copy of the statute below. If you don’t get immediate satisfaction, call the Public Utility Commission (PUC). You can also deduct it from the rent. Here’s the text of the law, found in 66 Purdon’s Pennsylvania Statutes:

§ 1527. Right of tenants to continued service.

        (a) Application for continued service.--At any time before
     or after service is terminated by a public utility on account of
     nonpayment of charges by the landlord ratepayer, the affected
     tenants may apply to the utility to have service continued or
     resumed.
        (b) Payment of charges by tenants.--A public utility shall
     not terminate service or shall promptly resume service
     previously terminated if it receives from the tenants an amount
     equal to the bill for the affected account of the landlord
     ratepayer for the billing month preceding the notice to the
     tenants. Thereafter, the utility shall notify each tenant of the
     total amount of the bill for the second and each succeeding
     billing month and, if the tenants fail to make payment of any
     bill within 30 days of the delivery of the notice to the
     tenants, the utility may commence termination of service, except
     that no termination may occur until 30 days after each tenant
     has been furnished notice of the proposed termination as
     prescribed in section 1528 (relating to delivery and contents of
     subsequent termination notice to tenants). The tenant or tenants
     shall make payment to the utility on account of nonpayment of
     charges by the landlord ratepayer by check or money order drawn
     by the tenant to the order of the utility or by cash. In all
     cases, the tenant shall provide, upon request, reasonable
     identification to the utility. For the purposes of this section,
     "reasonable identification" shall include, but not be limited
     to, a driver's license, photo identification, medical assistance
     or food stamp identification or any similar document issued by
     any public agency which contains the name and address of the
     tenant.
        (c) Disposition of payment by utility.--Upon receiving any
     payment, the utility shall notify the landlord ratepayer who is
     liable for the utility service of the amount or amounts paid by
     any tenant and the amount or amounts credited to the landlord's
     bill for each tenant pursuant to this section. Tenants
     requesting continued utility service under this section, except
     those individually subscribing for service under subsection (d),
     shall not be considered utility customers but shall be
     considered to be acting on behalf of the landlord ratepayer, who
     shall remain liable to the utility for service provided after
     notice to tenants. In the event that the tenants fail to satisfy
     the requirements of subsection (b) with regard to the first
     billing month period preceding notice to the tenant, the utility
     shall refund any moneys received from a tenant to that tenant.
     Any payments made by the tenants shall be applied first against
     the bill for the billing month preceding notice to the tenants
     and then against bills for service rendered subsequent to the
     bill. Upon termination of service to the tenants for failure to
     pay the utility bill for service in full for any subsequent
     month or upon voluntary discontinuance of service at the request
     of the tenants, the utility shall immediately refund to the
     tenants any amounts paid to the utility for the billing period
     for which payment in full was not remitted.
        (d) Agreement for individual service.--Any tenant of a
     residential building or mobile home park who has been notified
     of a proposed discontinuance of utility service pursuant to
     section 1523 (relating to notices before service to landlord
     discontinued) shall have the right to agree to subscribe for
     future service individually if this can be accomplished without
     a major revision of distribution facilities or additional right-
     of-way acquisitions.
     (July 2, 1993, P.L.379, No.54, eff. 60 days)

        1993 Amendment.  Act 54 amended subsecs. (a), (b) and (c).
        Cross References.  Section 1527 is referred to in sections
     1523, 1525, 1528, 1531 of this title.

Category: Landlord and Tenant law and litigation
Tags: lockout

Is Rick Santorum Running for Vice President?

No. 788

He’d deny it of course. But Mitt Romney, who is best positioned to ultimately win a majority of delegates to the national convention, will be hard put not to do business next summer with the social conservatives who are rallying around Santorum this weekend. Of course, they’ll insist on a promise that Santorum will have an important role in shaping policy in the Romney Administration. And they’ll get it.

You can bet your sweater vest on that one.

CLT

Category: Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Reassessment 2012: Does Rich Fitzgerald Really Believe His Own Message?

No. 787

Photo by Gary Lehman

According to today’s Post Gazette, Rich Fitzgerald says that he will let the current reassessment go through once there is a uniform statewide reassessment program. He says it is unfair for Allegheny County to have assessments based upon current sales data, while the other counties use historic data that, in some cases, is based upon sales 40 or 50 years ago.

Does he really believe that a statewide reassessment, based upon current sales, would solve his urgent political problem? How could he? The uproar has not been created because homeowners are angry about the disparity between Allegheny County assessment values and those in other counties. It exists because City property owners who received significant increases in assessments are afraid that they will probably translate into substantial tax increases.

If the same thing was happening in Butler or Washington or Westmoreland Counties, it would’t change anything. As a matter of fact, something similar is happening in Washington County due to litigation inspired by the Allegheny County experience. It is probably only a matter of time before the trend spreads to other counties.

I cannot believe that Fitzgerald, who was smart enough to get through Carnegie Mellon, build a successful business and a big-time political career, doesn’t get it. I saw a fox running along Saw Mill Run the other night and it bore a strong family resemblance to Mr. Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald’s foxy strategy is the same as the one successfully employed by his predecessor. He wants to postpone by any means possible, fair or foul, the inevitable implementation of a reassessment until he is out of office. Betting against the legislature’s adopting statewide legislation — which is what he is really doing — is a perfectly safe wager. The legislators from outside Allegheny County are as likely to vote for a statewide reassessment as they are to voluntarily commit any other form of political suicide. And so, the fox thinks, he is safe.

CLT

Category: 2012, Property Assessments, Reassessment 2012

Free Thinker.

No. 786

Those of you who are billed hourly by lawyers, have you ever seen a time entry for “thinking?” I’ve never sent such a time entry or seen anything like it and I’ll bet you’ve never paid a dime for thinking time either.

Of course, I spend a goodly amount of time thinking about cases, strategies, etc. as I am sure all lawyers do. Much of this kind of thinking occurs while performing physical activities like taking a walk, driving, cleaning the house. Some of it occurs while lying in bed before falling asleep, i.e. sleeping on it; or just after waking up. When I have a new idea, I often write it in my electronic journal. Frequently, more ideas come and I continue writing. Many an idea has wound up in a blog post. But the shelf life of a new idea is usually quite short. If not committed to paper (or electric paper) within a short time, it slips away.

Serious thinking requires one vital ingredient — the absence of distraction. You must have quiet. Thus, if you always turn on a radio or television to (I’ve been told) keep you company, you are depriving yourself of the opportunity to think. Instead of getting lost in your own thoughts, your mind is filled up with someone else’s thoughts. There is nothing wrong with listening to others. What is wrong is abolishing any opportunity for quiet, reflective thought of your own.

Think about it.

CLT

Category: Blawging, Personal Productivity, Practice of Law
Tags: thinking

Reassessment 2012: Show Me the Comps!

No. 785

Graphic courtesy of Third Chair:Pittsburgh

All is quiet, for the moment. Informal hearings have been cancelled. The County has certified the 2002 values. But that will probably not stand. Judge Wettick has ordered a number of senior staff of the County Assessment Office to comply with his prior orders, setting the stage for a contempt citation that includes a larger group than County Executive Fitzgerald. And so we wait.

Judge Wettick will probably postpone implementation of the new values until 2013 (there is little time left for the City Treasurer to compile bills with new numbers send them out) and will probably order the formal hearings on them to commence. But he hasn’t done it yet, so we wait.

When this happens, how long will the it be until comparable sales be posted on the website? This is important to those who will face early appeal hearings. How can the County expect anyone to present a case when without knowing what comps were used to value our property and others nearby?

CLT

Category: Pittsburgh, Property Assessments, Reassessment 2012
Tags: comparable sales > County Executive Fitzgerald > Judge Wettick

The Message Box is Back.

No. 784

We had to shut down the message box for a while for updating. It is now open for business. If you want to send me a private message, look for it on the right sidebar. No one but me can read such a message.

You can also make public comments at the end of each post. But, please be aware that everyone can read comments.

CLT

Category: Blawging, Links

Reassessment 2012: Land Value is Meaningless.

No. 783

I have been hearing from clients with properties in the City that their building values seem reasonable (or even went down) but the land values have soared, making the total much higher. Be aware that the total value is the only number that counts. Nobody buys land and buildings separately. Assuming that there have been some sales of building lots and other vacant land in the City for hefty numbers, that would not translate into higher land values for developed properties. A vacant lot and a developed lot are simply not comparable. Ignore the land value, focus on the total value and appeal it.

CLT

Category: Property Assessments, Reassessment 2012

Winter Encampment.

No. 782

Now are the times that try men’s souls, the Summer Soldier and the Sunshine Patriot.

In the warm days of Autumn, Occupy Pittsburgh set up camp along Grant Street, amid the temples of capitalism.

But now it is winter with a vengeance. Living outside in a tent, even when winterized, must be brutal.

The Occupiers deserve credit for suffering in the cold for their principles. It is 11 degrees this morning and they are still there. But now that it is serious winter, why are they still suffering like this? Are they accomplishing anything for their cause?

If their objective is publicity, and it is, they don’t seem to be getting much now. The public has heard what they have to say and has moved on. True, there will be a court hearing on their eviction, with attendant news coverage. But the outcome at that proceeding is inevitable. Judge Ward will treat them with respect and even compassion, as she does all litigants, but everybody knows that the Occupiers have no right to set up an encampment in Downtown Pittsburgh, regardless of weather (excuse me, whether) the park is dedicated for public use. So, it is inevitable that they will be ordered out.And it is inevitable that if they do not leave voluntarily, they will be legally removed by force.

If I were one of them — and I would never be one of them — I would accept the ruling of the court, pack up my tent and declare victory. Yes, there is heat jail cells, but what do you prove at this point by going there?

CLT

Category: Pittsburgh

2012

No. 781

Having entered into a new year, it seems, so far, to be a lot like the old one. We started it off with another hardly perceptible earthquake, just like last year. And another big windstorm, just like many recent years. The Steelers are in the playoffs. Just like last year.

Everybody knows that there will be plenty of presidential primaries and lots of assessment appeals. Beyond that, don’t spoil it by predicting too many specific events. You’ll be wrong about most of them. Heck, last year you probably would have predicted that a certain Alaskan would be the Republican nominee.

CLT

Category: 2012, Pittsburgh

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Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus.

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