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| PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 1582 | PRINTER'S NO. 3690 |
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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY WHEATLEY, BISHOP, DeLUCA, GEIST, JOHNSON, McGEEHAN, PAYTON, PRESTON, SIPTROTH, K. SMITH, J. TAYLOR, WAGNER, YOUNGBLOOD AND MURT, APRIL 22, 2009 |
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| AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON URBAN AFFAIRS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, MAY 3, 2010 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the |
2 | Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for the |
3 | period of limitation in the doctrine of relating to claims of | <-- |
4 | adverse possession under certain circumstances; and making | <-- |
5 | related repeals providing for uniform notice, FOR mesne | <-- |
6 | profits and for reimbursement. |
7 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
8 | hereby enacts as follows: |
9 | Section 1. Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated |
10 | Statutes is amended by adding a section sections to read: | <-- |
11 | § 5527.1. Ten-year limitation. |
12 | Notwithstanding the provisions of section 5530(a)(1) | <-- |
13 | (relating to twenty-one year limitation), an action for the |
14 | possession of real property on which there is an occupied single |
15 | family dwelling on a lot of one acre or less where the |
16 | unimproved land is incidental to the residence must be commenced |
17 | within ten years. If the person in actual possession of the real |
18 | property possesses the property under claim and color of title |
19 | made in good faith and shall have been in continuous possession |
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1 | for three successive years, the action must be commenced within |
2 | three years. If the person in actual possession of the real |
3 | property shall have been in continuous possession for seven |
4 | successive years and shall have paid all taxes legally assessed |
5 | on the real property during that time, the action must be |
6 | commenced within seven years. |
7 | (a) Adverse possession.--Title to real property may be | <-- |
8 | acquired after no less than ten years of actual, continuous, |
9 | exclusive, visible, notorious, distinct and hostile possession |
10 | of the real property. |
11 | (b) Contiguous lots.-- |
12 | (1) Where an additional lot abuts and is contiguous to |
13 | real property and has been regularly used as part of an |
14 | incident to the real property, a possessor who seeks to |
15 | acquire title to real property pursuant to this section may |
16 | also include the contiguous lot in the action to quiet title |
17 | under subsection (c). |
18 | (2) In order to acquire title to the contiguous lot, the |
19 | possessor must show that: |
20 | (i) The area of the contiguous lot as described by |
21 | the metes and bounds does not exceed a total area of one |
22 | acre when combined with the real property. |
23 | (ii) The possessor has made actual, continuous, |
24 | exclusive, visible, notorious, distinct and hostile |
25 | possession of the contiguous lot for a period of not less |
26 | than ten years. |
27 | (c) Quiet title action required.-- |
28 | (1) A possessor who seeks to acquire title to real |
29 | property pursuant to this section must, after meeting the |
30 | requirements of subsections (a) and (b), commence a quiet |
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1 | title action and provide notice as required in this section. |
2 | (2) Notice of the action shall include information |
3 | relating to the respondent's opportunity to cure as specified |
4 | in subsection (d) and shall be provided to the record owners, |
5 | their heirs, successors and assigns in the manner described |
6 | in this section, section 5527.2 (relating to uniform notice) |
7 | and the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. |
8 | (d) One-year notice.-- |
9 | (1) The record owners or their heirs, successors and |
10 | assigns shall have one year in which to respond by commencing |
11 | an action in ejectment against the possessor, which action |
12 | disputes the claim of adverse possession. |
13 | (2) If an action in ejectment is so filed and served |
14 | within the one-year period and judgment is awarded to the |
15 | plaintiff in the ejectment action, the statute of limitations |
16 | is tolled. |
17 | (3) If no action in ejectment is so filed and served |
18 | within the one-year period, then judgment may be entered by |
19 | the court granting title to the real property by adverse |
20 | possession pursuant to this section and the Pennsylvania |
21 | Rules of Civil Procedure. |
22 | (e) Nonapplicability.--This section shall not apply to real |
23 | property that is part of a common interest ownership community |
24 | established under 68 Pa.C.S. Pt. II Subpts. B (relating to |
25 | condominiums), C (relating to cooperatives) and D (relating to |
26 | planned communities). |
27 | (f) Definition.--As used in this section, "real property" |
28 | means real estate not exceeding one acre in area that is: |
29 | (1) Improved by a single-family residential dwelling |
30 | that is and has been occupied by a person seeking title under |
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1 | this section for the full ten years. |
2 | (2) Identified as a separate lot in a recorded |
3 | conveyance, recorded subdivision plan or recorded official |
4 | map or plan of a municipality. |
5 | § 5527.2 Uniform notice. |
6 | Notice shall be provided in a form approved by rule of the |
7 | Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which form shall include the metes |
8 | and bounds description, deed reference, street address, postal |
9 | zip code, uniform parcel identifier or tax parcel number and the |
10 | notice of the one-year period to cure as stated in section |
11 | 5527.1(d) (relating to ten-year limitation). |
12 | § 5527.3 Mesne profits. |
13 | Record owners, their heirs, successors and assigns shall have |
14 | the right seek any mesne profits in an action in ejectment filed |
15 | in response to the notice served under section 5527.1 (relating |
16 | to ten-year limitation) or waive the right to such recovery. |
17 | Recovery shall be limited to the mesne profits applicable to the |
18 | six-year period ending with the commencement of the action in |
19 | ejectment pursuant to section 5527(b) (relating to six year |
20 | limitation). |
21 | § 5527.4 Reimbursement. |
22 | The defendant in the ejectment action shall have the right to |
23 | recover such costs for maintenance, improvements, repairs, |
24 | renovations, taxes or other such expenses to benefit the real |
25 | property as the defendant can prove by a preponderance of the |
26 | evidence that were or should have been the responsibility of the |
27 | record owners, their heirs, successors and assigns. |
28 | Section 2. Section 5530(a)(1) of Title 42 is amended to |
29 | read: |
30 | § 5530. Twenty-one year limitation. |
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1 | (a) General rule.--The following actions and proceedings |
2 | must be commenced within 21 years: |
3 | (1) [An] Except as provided in section 5527.1 (relating |
4 | to ten-year limitation), an action for the possession of real |
5 | property. |
6 | * * * |
7 | Section 3. (a) The act of May 31, 1901 (P.L.352, No.217), | <-- |
8 | entitled "An act to provide for the recording, in certain |
9 | instances, of titles to real estate acquired by twenty-one |
10 | years' adverse possession," is repealed insofar as it is |
11 | inconsistent with this act. |
12 | (b) All other acts and parts of acts are repealed insofar as |
13 | they are inconsistent with this act. |
14 | Section 4. This act shall not affect the title to real |
15 | property which is the subject of an action commenced prior to |
16 | the effective date of this section. |
17 | Section 5 3. This act shall take effect in one year. | <-- |
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