252 A.3d 1154
Pa. Super. Ct.2021Background
- Plaintiff-appellant Amanda Torres rented a mobile-home lot at Oak Knoll Estates; defendant-appellee PCS Chadaga sued for possession and unpaid rent, alleging repeated delinquencies and lease covenant breaches (maintenance, dog fouling, harassment).
- Magisterial district court ruled for PCS; Torres appealed to Dauphin County Common Pleas, depositing monthly escrow per local rule while litigation proceeded.
- After compulsory arbitration (award ~$5,001 and possession) Torres appealed; escrow releases were periodically ordered to PCS.
- Bench trial was held June 10, 2020; court found longstanding nonpayment (roughly $3,800 rent) plus attorney fees, entered judgment for $6,222.80 (including fees), and on July 16, 2020 granted possession to PCS.
- Torres filed a post-judgment appeal arguing the Governor’s COVID-19 eviction moratorium barred eviction; at trial counsel orally moved to stay under the Governor’s order but the trial court denied the motion, citing a Supreme Court administrative order permitting landlord/tenant actions to proceed.
- The Superior Court affirmed: it found Torres waived the moratorium argument by failing to make a specific, timely objection below; alternatively, the moratorium did not apply because it covers nonpayment/holdover only, not covenant breaches (maintenance/dog) which predated the pandemic.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Torres) | Defendant's Argument (PCS Chadaga) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether trial court erred in granting possession while Governor Wolf's eviction moratorium was in effect | Governor's Executive Orders (COVID eviction moratorium) barred evictions through Aug. 31, 2020, so the dispossession order was improper | Trial court proceeded under Supreme Court/administrative orders allowing landlord/tenant actions to continue; moratorium did not halt these proceedings | Waived for appeal (Torres failed to make a specific, timely objection at trial). Even on merits, moratorium did not cover covenant breaches, so no relief |
| Whether the moratorium applies to breaches other than nonpayment (e.g., maintenance, pet violations) | Moratorium should prevent eviction regardless of alleged covenant type during emergency | Governor’s Orders explicitly suspended actions only for nonpayment/holdover; they excluded evictions for other covenant breaches | Moratorium applies only to nonpayment/holdover; eviction for maintenance/dog violations not covered and may proceed |
Key Cases Cited
- Commonwealth v. May, 887 A.2d 750 (Pa. 2005) (absence of a specific and contemporaneous objection waives the issue on appeal)
- Commonwealth v. Arroyo, 723 A.2d 162 (Pa. 1999) (issues not properly raised at trial are waived on appeal)
- Commonwealth v. Cline, 177 A.3d 922 (Pa. Super. 2017) (claims not raised in the trial court, including new theories, are waived on appeal)