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Pennsylvania Covid-19 Update Landlord/Tenant Court
By March 20, 2020 Posted in Landlord/Tenant Law Share
In response to Covid-19, on March 18, 2020, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Western District has issued an Order directing that all Pennsylvania courts are closed to the public from March 20, 2020 through at least April 3, 2020. With regard to landlord/tenant court matters, it was directed that during the period encompassed by the Order or the judicial emergency, whichever is longer, “no officer, official, or other person employed by the Pennsylvania Judiciary at any level shall effectuate an eviction, ejectment, or other displacement from a residence based upon the failure to make a rent, loan, or other similar payment. Nothing herein is intended to preclude requests for orders of possession resulting from judgments entered in landlord-tenant actions to be filed by mail. However, any execution on an order of possession is stayed to a date on or after April 3, 2020, subject to further orders.” Further, all time calculations for purposes of time computation relevant to court cases or other judicial business, as well as time deadlines, are also suspended through April 3, 2020.
Some magistrate district courts are taking this a step further. The Lehigh County Magistrate District has closed its doors to the public until April 6, 2020, and each judicial office may conduct business electronically. It is possible that no hearings will be scheduled until Late April to Early May. Lehigh County has informed our office that there will be no evictions until at least April 14, 2020. However, Lehigh County is still accepting mailings, but each office may be handling the matters differently, as this situation is fluid and changing on the daily basis. Pursuant to the order dated March 19, 2020 by the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County, Magisterial District Judge civil hearings scheduled through and including April 14, 2020, are continued to a new date to be determined by the Magisterial District Judge.
Similarly, as of March 19, 2020, Magisterial District Courts in Monroe County will be closed from the close of business Wednesday March 18, 2020 until the close of business on Friday, April 3, 2020. All hearings will be conducted by the on-call MDJ on a rotating weekly basis using advanced communications technology.
We will continue to keep you updated on any other landlord/tenant news. Please feel free to contact our firm with any questions.
The information in this Client Alert is provided solely for information purposes. It should not be construed as legal advice on any specific matter and is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship. The information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based upon particular circumstances. Each legal matter is unique, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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