221 Pa. Super. 391 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1972
Opinion by
The appellant had filed 13 petitions to fix the fair market value of properties, acquired as a result of the foreclosure of 13 mortgages, pursuant to the Deficiency Judgment Act of July 16, 1941, P. L. 400, §1 et seq., 12 P.S. §2621.1 et seq. After routinely fixing a date for hearings on the petitions, the court sua sponte issued a rule to show cause why the order for the hearings should not be vacated.
The court’s reason for the issuance of the rule was its doubt about the validity of the corporate existence of the petitioner. After a hearing on the rule, the court made it absolute on the ground that each one of the petitions contained a false allegation that the values set forth therein had been determined as a result of appraisals.
The point that a deficiency judgment cannot be obtained in a foreclosure proceeding does not mean that the defendants in such proceedings will not have the
A fair interpretation of the Deficiency Judgment Act, particularly in the light of its obvious purpose, is that its protection is applicable to proceedings to collect the balance due with respect to a judgment, even though the property was sold in an in rent, proceeding. A direct holding to that effect appears in Hoffman Lumber Co. v. Mitchell, 170 Pa. Superior Ct. 326, 85 A. 2d 664 (1952) (allocatur refused) with respect to an assumpsit action brought after a sheriff sale on a mechanic’s lien judgment.
The order of the court below in denying hearings on the petition is affirmed.
The court’s concern resulted from wliat might well be an inadequacy of the law in that defendants who do not answer the petitions become bound by the value as set forth in the petitions. 12 P.S. §2621.6. However, a court should not bar a hearing on a petition because it believes that a false statement has been made in the petition. Furthermore, the Deficiency Judgment Act requires
See, Beaver Co. B. & L. v. Winowich, 323 Pa. 483, 490, 187 A. 481, 484 (1936); cf. Pennsylvania Co. for Insurance on Lives & Granting Annuities v. Watt, 151 F. 2d 697 (5th Cir. 1945).
See, U.S. v. Shimer, 367 U.S. 374, 377 (1961).