THE COURTS

PART I. GENERAL

[ 231 PA. CODE CHS. 1300 AND 3000 ]

Amendment of Rule 1307 Governing Compulsory Arbitration and Rule 3023 Governing Judgments; Amendment of Notes to Rules 3021(a)(1), 3022(a) and 3026.2(a); No. 487; Civil Procedural Rules; Doc No. 5

[37 Pa.B. 6201]
[Saturday, November 24, 2007]

Order

Per Curiam:

   And Now, this 2nd day of November, 2007, the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure are amended as follows:

   1.  Rules 1307 and 3023 are amended to read as follows, and

   2.  Notes to Rules 3021(a)(1), 3022(a) and 3026.2(a) are amended to read as follows.

   This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. 103(b) and shall be effective January 1, 2008.

Annex A

TITLE 231. RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE

PART I. GENERAL

CHAPTER 1300. ARBITRATION

Subchapter A. COMPULSORY ARBITRATION

Rule 1307. Award. Docketing. Notice. [Lien.] Judgment. Molding the Award.

   (a)  The prothonotary shall

   (1)  enter the award of record

   [(A)]  upon the proper docket, [and

   (B)  when the award is for the payment of money, in the judgment index.

   Official Note: Rule 3021 governs the requirements for the entry in the judgment index.]

   (2)  immediately send by ordinary mail a copy of the award, with notice of the date and time of its entry on the docket and the amount of arbitrators' compensation to be paid upon appeal, to each party's attorney of record, or to the party if the party has no attorney of record[;], and

   (3)  note in the docket the date of mailing the notice.

   (b)  [The award for the payment of money when entered in the judgment index shall be a lien on real property located within the county, title to which is recorded in the name of the person against whom the award was entered. The lien shall continue during the pendency of an appeal or until extinguished according to law.] Rescinded.

   (c)  If no appeal is taken within thirty days after the entry of the award on the docket, the prothonotary on praecipe shall enter judgment on the award.

   Official Note: Rule 3021(a)(3) requires the prothonotary to immediately enter in the judgment index a judgment entered on praecipe of a party.

*      *      *      *      *

CHAPTER 3000. JUDGMENTS

Subchapter A. TRANSFER OF JUDGMENTS TO OTHER COUNTIES

Rule 3021. Verdict. Order. Judgment. Entry in Judgment Index.

   (a)  The prothonotary shall immediately enter in the judgment index

   (1)  a verdict or order for a specific sum of money with the notation ''verdict'' or ''order.'' The entry shall state the amount of the verdict or order;

   Official Notice: See also [Rule 1307(a) governing the entry by the prothonotary of an award in compulsory arbitration and] Rule 3027(a) governing the entry by the prothonotary of a writ of revival.

Rule 3022. Verdict or Order. Lien. Duration.

   (a)  A verdict or order for a specific sum of money when entered in the judgment index shall create a lien on real property located within the county, title to which at the time of entry is recorded in the name of the person against whom the verdict or order was rendered. The lien shall continue for five years unless the verdict is sooner reduced to judgment or the court sooner awards a new trial or enters a judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

   Official Note: An order is defined by Section 102 of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 102, to include, inter alia, a decision, a decree and an adjudication.

*      *      *      *      *

   [An award of arbitrators in compulsory arbitration is a lien as provided by Rule 1307(b).]

*      *      *      *      *

Rule 3023. Judgment. Lien. Duration

*      *      *      *      *

   (b)  A judgment upon a verdict[,] or an order [or an award in compulsory arbitration], when entered in the judgment index, shall

   (1)  continue the lien upon real property located in the county which is subject to the lien of the verdict[,] or order [or award] upon which the judgment is entered, and

   Official Note: The lien of a verdict or order dates from the time the verdict or order is entered in the judgment index. See Rule 3022(a).

   [The lien of an award in compulsory arbitration dates from entry of the award in the judgment index. See Rule 1307(b).]

*      *      *      *      *

Rule 3026.2. Parties. Terre-Tenants.

   (a)  As used in Rule 3025 et seq., a terre-tenant is a person other than the original defendant in whom title to real property subject to a lien provided by the Rules of Civil Procedure has vested.

   Official Note: The rules governing the action of mortgage foreclosure use the term ''real owner'' in a similar sense. See Rule 1144(a)(3).

   See the following rules of civil procedure providing for liens upon real property: [Rule 1307(b) (lien of an award in compulsory arbitration),] Rule 3022 (lien of a verdict or order), Rule 3023 (lien of a judgment), Rule 3027 (lien of a writ of revival or an agreement to revive), Rule 3131.1 (lien of a judgment of revival) and Rule 3104 (lien of a writ of execution).

*      *      *      *      *

Explanatory Comment

   The lien of an award of arbitrators in compulsory arbitration in Pennsylvania is statutory in origin, derived from the Act of June 16, 1836, P. L. 715, § 24. The Act of 1836 was repealed by the Judiciary Act Repealer Act in 1978 and the new provision of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 7361, does not include the provision relating to the award as a lien. Rule 1307(b) promulgated in 1981 continued the prior practice. As the Civil Procedural Rules Committee stated in Paragraph 17 of its 1981 Explanatory Comment to the new rules governing compulsory arbitration, ''The award when entered by the prothonotary on the docket has the effect of a verdict as a lien on real estate. The lien continues pending appeal. This continues the practice under the Act of 1836.''

   The rescission of Rule 1307(b) changes this practice. The award when entered on the docket no longer has the effect of a verdict on real estate and therefore there is no lien to continue pending an appeal for a trial de novo. Rather, there are two scenarios. First, if the defendant pursuant to Rule 1307(c) does not appeal the award of arbitrators within the time required, the plaintiff may enter judgment on the award and that judgment shall be entered in the judgment index as provided by Rule 3021(a)(3) and constitute a lien upon the real estate of the defendant as provided by Rule 3023(a) governing the lien of a judgment. Second, if the defendant does appeal an award for the payment of money, the lien will attach following the verdict of the jury or decision of the court upon the trial de novo as provided by Rule 3022 governing the lien of a verdict or order.

   There are three bases for the rescission. First, a lien should be the consequence of a verdict of a jury or a decision of the court. The award of arbitrators is neither of these. Second, the imposition of a lien presents difficulties to the court and to the defendant when on appeal the award is not sustained but the lien is not removed. If the defendant wishes to sell the real estate following a verdict or decision on the trial de novo in his or her favor, he or she must take action to have the lien removed if the court or the plaintiff has not done so. Finally, the statutes and rules of other states which have adopted compulsory or judicial arbitration do not provide for the award of the arbitrators to be a lien on real property. Thus, the rule conforms to the practice in other jurisdictions.

By the Civil Procedural
Rules Committee

R. STANTON WETTICK, Jr.,   
Chair

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 07-2114. Filed for public inspection November 21, 2007, 9:00 a.m.]

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