HomeMy WebLinkAbout95-02247
Justice Charles A. Clement, Jr. and a judgment for possession was
also granted. A true and correct copy of said Judgment is attached
hereto, made part of and incorporated by reference as
Petitioners/Defendants Exhibit No.1.
7. On April 27, 1995, the Defendants appealed said Judgment.
A supersedeas on the judgment for possession was not entered by the
Prothonotary on the Notice of Appeal. A true and correct copy of
said Notice of Appeal is attached hereto, made part of and
incorporated by reference as Petitioners/Defendants Exhibit No.2.
8. The petitioners/Defendants dispute the amount of the
judgment entered and intend to pursue the matter or appeal.
9. The Defendants have resided at the leased premises at 210
Tenth street for ten (10) years and have three minor children, the
youngest of which is six months old.
lO. The Defendants are able to make their current rental
payments in a timely fashion and will be relocating in the next few
months to a manufactured home that they are building after their
real estate settlement scheduled for May l7, 1995.
11. The Respondent plaintiff will suffer no harm if the
supersedeas is granted and the judgment for possession is stayed
because a bond has been posted by the Petitioner/Defendants from
Fidelity and Deposit company of Maryland in the amount of the
judgment under appeal, and Defendants will make each month's rental
payment to the Prothonotary during the pendency of the appeal.
l2. Defendants will suffer irreparable harm if they are
removed from the leased premises on Saturday pursuant to the Writ
of Possession notices they have received in this eviction action.
l3. There will be no additional harm to plaintiff if this
Court were to grant a supersedeas and stay the possession Order and
since defendants have posted a bond with the Court and are
promising to make their monthly rental payments of $395.00 in a
timely fashion to the Court.
l4. Defendants intend to immediately relocate upon completion
of the construction of their home.
WHEREFORE, Defendants, Tracene and Douglas Usko, respectfully
request this Honorable Court to immediately issue an emergency
supersedeas Order staying the Order for Possession issued by
District Justice Clement and granting Defendants permission to
remain in the leased premises since a bond in the amount of $
3,575.00 has been posted with the Court and provided that
Defendants timely pay their monthly rental of $395.00 each month to
the Prothonotary by the first day of each month commencing June 1,
1995.
Joanne H. Clou
2201 N. Secon
Harrisburg, P
(717) 236-7870
I.D. No. 36461
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APPELLANT'S COPY
ACPC 11:!.1
vs.
IN TilE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. 95-2247
JOAN SERRAO,
Plaintiff
DOUGLAS and TRACENE USKO,
Defendants
CIVIL ACTION - LAW
PETITION TO RBMOVB SUPBRSBDBAS
TO THE HONORABLE, THE JUDGES OF TilE SAID COURT:
The Plaintiff, by her attorney Murrel R. Walters III
respectfully files this Petition to Remove Supersedeas and, in
support of this Petition, sets forth as follows:
l. peti tioner, Joan Serrao, is an adult individual who
resides at 3817 Lamp Post Lane, Camp Hill, Cumberland county,
pennsylvania.
2. Defendants, Douglas Usko and Tracene Usko, are adult
individuals who reside at 210 Tenth street, New Cumberland,
cumberland county, Pennsylvania.
3. Plaintiff owns 210 Tenth street, New Cumberland, and has
rented it to Defendants for approximately ten (10) years.
4. After a hearing by District Justice Clement, a judgment
was entered in favor of Plaintiff in the amount of $3,575.00 and
possession was granted,
5. On April 27, 1995, Defendants appealed that judgment to
Cumberland county Court.
6. By bond dated May 11, 1995, the Fidelity and Deposit
company of Maryland obligated itself to pay $3,575.00 on behalf of
Defendants if the appeal was dismissed. The original bond was
filed by at the time of filing of the supersedeas petition.
7. On May 12, 1995, a Petition for Emergency Supersedeas and
stay of Judgment for Possession was filed and an Order was signed
establishing a supersedeas.
8. A condition of that Order was that the Defendants pay the
sum of $395.00 per month on the first day of each month starting
June 1, 1995. The first payment was made, but no payment was made
for either July, August or September 1995.
9. The Defendants have continued to reside in the propllrtv
but have failed to make any further rental payments whatsoovor.
lO. Plaintiff is being harmed by her failure to obtain
possession of the premises located at 210 Tonth Strllet, New
cumberland and will continue to be harmed should sho fail to get
this supersedeas removed and obtain possession of the premise..
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays this Honorable Court to i..u. a
rule upon the Defendants to show cause, if any, why the Duper.ed.a.
should not be removed, judgment entered against Dofendant. in the
amount of $4,760.00, the money maintained by tho Prothonotary
turned over to Plaintiff, judgment entered against the .urety
Fidelity and Deposit company of Maryland in the amount of
$3,573.00, the surety directed to pay the entire amount
to Plaintiff and possession immediately gra~ted to I'lai~tiff.
, ,-'
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ResPi9~fU}lY ~Ub"~'~D~,
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Murrel R. Walters, III, Esquire
Attornoy for Plaintiff
54 East Main stroot
Mechanicsburg, PA 11055
(7l7) 697-4650
I,D. No. 24849
CHARLES A. CLEMENT,
1106 CARLISLE ROAD
CAMP HILL, PA
T_ (7171 761-4940 17011
JR.
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COMMON PLEAS NOTIFICATION
PLAINTIFF REQUEST FORM .
r- fW.IE I/'Id ADORE88
'SERRAO, JOAN I
3817 LAMP POST LANE
CAMP HILL, PA 17011
L ~
VS.
DEFENDANT: ....E "'" AOOI1EBIl
IUSKO, DOUGLAS/TRACENE I
210 TENTH STREET
NEW CUMBERLAND, PA 17070
L ~
Docket No,: LT-OOOO 100-95
Dale Flied: 3/06/95
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
COUNTY OF: CUMBERLAND
........ No
09-1-01
w.........
-
CHARLES A. CLEMENT, JR.
1106 CARLISLE ROAD
CAMP HILL, PA 170ll
PI.u. b. .dvllld th.t .n .pp..1 hll blln W.d In tho .bov. c.pUon.d c..., Kindly ullthl. torm to Indlc." th. ...ullo
In thl. C"', and return to the'"ulng authority (lilted abovel.
RESULT OF APPEAL
SUMMARY APPEAL
APPEAL STRICKEN. .ppool h.. b..n dlllnow.d,
APPEAL DISCONTINUED. .pp..1 h.. b..n dl.ontlnu.d by .pp.n.n\.
DISTRICT JUSTICE DECISION UPHELD. cou~ hll ,"ch.d ..m. d.cl.lon .. o,lgln.1 dl.trict lu.tic. doci.lon,
_ diltrlct IUIU'8 office I. to coUect remaining Iln.l/coltl.
APPEAL SUCCESSFUL. cou~ hoo r..ch.d d.cl.lon f.vor.bl. to d.t.nd.n\.
full r.tund to bolllu.d by dl.trlel lu,Uc, offlc.,
p.~I.1 r.lund to b.lllu.d by dl.trlel lu.tlc. offlc.,
REVISED DISTRIBUTION OF FINES AND COSTS
" dl.trlel lu.tlc. offic.l. to IlIu.. portl.1 r.fund, pl....lndlc.t. .ny n.... dl.trlbutlon In tho .mount(.)
of Iln" Ind co.t. AI . ,..utt of the court', dtcl,lon.
FINE
COUNTY CRT COST
STATE CRT COST
STATE csn
HEARING COST
EMS
CAT
JCP
DVC
evc
CCD
OTHER(pl.... op.clty)
CIVIL APPEAL
APPEAL STRICKEN. .pp..1 h.. b..n dl..llow.d,
APPEAL DISCONTINUED. .pp..1 h.. be.n dl.conUnu.d by .pp.n.nt,
DISTRICT JUSTICE DECISION UPHELD . cou~ h.. ro.ch.d tho ..mo docl.lon .0 tho dl.trlct lu,Uc'ludgmon\.
DISTRICT JUSTICE DECISION DISMISSED. cou~ h.. ,..ch.d . docl.lon th.t do.. not concur with th. dl.trlel lu,Uo, Judgm.nt.
WRIT OF CERTIORARI
WRIT STRICKEN. .pp..1 h.. b..n dl..now.d,
WRIT DISCONTINUED, wrrt h.o b.on dlocontlnu.d by .ppon.n\.
DISTRICT JUSTICE DECISION SET ASIDE .th. c... will b. rohoo,d du.to 1".gul.rlty,l.ck oljurl.dlctlon, or Impropor v.nU',
WRlT DISMISSED. dlltrlcljultlco doclllon wal not found to bo flawed. lacking jurl,dictlon . or having Improper venUe.
STATEMENT OF OBJECTION (Pi.... glv.. g.norol.ummory of tho ",ullI)
OBJECTION DISCONTINUED. obJoctlon h.. b..n dl.continuod by tho .ppon.n\.
OBJECTION DENIED. objoctlon h.. b..n donlod by th. Cou~ 01 Common PI...
OBJECTION UPHELD, .ppon.nt'o obJoctlon h.. bo.n uph.ld by th. Cou~ ot Common Pl....
AOPC 729.94
FORM PRINTED:
5/05/95 10:03:40
PfiOOf IJF Sr:!1VICl' OF Norlr.r or l\i'I'LAL i\NIJ HIlLL 10 riLL cm.1I'li\INT
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JOAN SERRAO,
Plaintiff
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
VB.
NO. 95-2247
DOUGLAS and TRACENE USKO,
Defendants
CIVIL ACTION - LAW
PETITION TO SCHEDULE A HEARING
TO THE HONORABLE, THE JUDGES OF THE SAID COURT:
The plaintiff, by her attorney, Murrel R. Walters III,
Esquire, respectfully files this Petition to schedule a Hearing and
in support of this Petition sets forth as follows:
l, A petition was filed on September 8, 1995 requesting the
removal of supersedeas.
2. The Honorable George E. Hoffer signed a rule giving the
respondents 20 days in which to return that rule.
3. No written response has been filed but respondents have
made payments to the prothonotary which made them current through
the month of September.
4. Respondents have failed to pay the required $395.00 for
the month of October by the first of that month.
5. Petitioner/plaintiff has received no rent whatsoever from
the premises situate at 210 Tenth street, New Cumberland since
April of this year.
WHEREFORE, petitioner prays this Honorable Court to set a
hearing in order to determine whether the supersedeas should be
removed, judgment entered against the defendants in an amount equal
to the total unpaid monthly rent, the money maintained by the
Prothonotary turned over to petitioner, judgment entered against
t"''"'',
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1
2
3
4 THE COURT: Good afternoon. Mr. Walters,
5 what is on your mind?
6 MR. WALTERS: I am here today representing
7 the plaintiff, Joan Serrao. Mrs. Usko is here, and I
8 understand she does not have an attorney representing her at
9 this time. I would like to explain why I filed what I did.
10 THE COURT: Well, I don't know that you have
11 to explain anything. You have done whatever you have done.
12 HR. WALTERS: Okay.
13 THE COURT: Are you presenting testimony
l4 today or what are you doing?
l5 MR. WALTERS: Well, that is the question. We
16 are prepared to present testimony. The concern of my client
l7 is that, as a result of a district justice decision in
l8 April, Mrs. Usko and her husband filed an appeal and a
19 supersedeas. So that the house that my client owns, and in
20 which Mrs. Usko and her husband reside, the Uskos have
21 continued to reside there.
22 They have been paying money sporadically into
23 the prothonotary's office under the supersedeas. But my
24 client hasn't received anything whatsoever for a period well
25 in excess of six months.
Wednesday, November 9, 1995
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
2
~
~
1 We are trying to come to a resolution, force
2 a resolution of this matter as to payment of rent and also
3 as to possession. There has to be an end to this, and that
4 is what we are hoping to bring about by today's hearing.
5 I am prepared to present my client to give
6 testimony as to the status of everything. And my request is
7 as in my prayer in the petition, is ultimately an order
8 which would grant my client possession of the house, give
9 her whatever has been retained by the prothonotary, and
lO enter a judgment for the balance due and owing, enter a
11 judgment against the Uskos for the balance due and owing to
12 her.
13 There is a complication in that the
14 supersedeas involved a bond, and there is a bonding company
15 involved here. I am not quite sure how to best approach
l6 that. But the bonding company is guaranteed the payment of
l7 some 35 hundred dollars.
l8 THE COURT: Did you notify them of today's
19 hearing?
20 MR. WALTERS: No, I have not.
2l THE COURT: Well, you are aSking me to take
22 some action against them and they don't have a chance to
23 defend if you don't notify them.
24 Well, while you decide what you are doing, I
25 will ask you your name, ma'am.
3
f""'\
,-..,
1 MRS. USKO: Tracene Usko, U-s-k-o.
2 THE COURT: And you are the wife of Douglas?
3 MRS. USKO: Yes. He couldn't be here today.
4 He is out of town.
5 THE COURT: What is your position on this,
6 ma'am? You have received these papers, I guess.
7 MRS. USKO: Yes.
8 THE COURT: And you have read them?
9 MRS. USKO: Yes.
lO THE COURT: Basically Mrs. Serrao wants her
II house back and wants to get the prothonotary to turn over a
12 little bit of the money that they have down there which was
13 paid in. I understood that to be one check in reading these
l4 documents, but perhaps you have paid something since.
l5 MRS. USKO: No, we have paid -- he said
16 sporadically. It has been consistently every month. We are
17 are paid through November also to the prothonotary.
18 THE COURT: I don't know how we can be so far
19 off on this. Mr. Walters?
20 MR. WALTERS: I stopped in to the
21 prothonotary and received a printout of the money that was
22 paid in here. What happened is -- I think the record speaks
23 for itself as to what happened. When I filed this in
24 October, neither the October payment or obviously the
25 November payment had not been made.
4
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1 By sporadic, what I am saying is that at one
2 time no payment -- the original payment was made for June,
3 as per the original superseQeas order.
4 THE COURT: June 1995?
5 MR. WALTERS: Yes.
6 THE COURT: It required a payment of?
7 MR. WALTERS: $395.00.
8 THE COURT: Every month thereafter.
9 MR. WALTERS: It was supposed to be the first
10 day of each month thereafter.
11 THE COURT: Have you received a payment each
12 month since?
l3 MR. WALTERS: We haven't received any.
14 THE COURT: Has the prothonotary received a
15 payment each month since?
16 MR. WALTERS: They received the first payment
l7 of $395.00 on May 24 of this year. They received $395.00 on
l8 september 14 of 1995. They received $657.98 on September l8
19 of 1995.
20 THE COURT: So that covers June, July,
21 August.
22 MR. WALTERS: Yes, with the addition of
23 $132.02, which they received on the 19th of September. Then
24 they received $395.00 on October 13.
25 THE COURT: September.
5
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1
2
3
4
5
6 there.
7
8 Walters?
9
MR. WALTERS: And $395.00 on November 6th.
THE COURT: That is the October payment.
MRS. USKO: No, that is November.
THE COURT: Well, ma'am
MR. WALTERS: You tell him all the totals in
THE COURT: How many payments is that, Mr.
MR. WALTERS: Your Honor, if I could approach
10 the bench, I could pass this to you. It might be a little
11 easier.
l2 THE COURT: No, show it to her. I want her
13 to see it. So how many payments is that?
l4 MR. WALTERS: Well, the number of payments
15 was six altogether with those odd group of numbers. The
16 total that the prothonotary says they have received, and
17 this includes
18 MRS. USKO:
19 MR. WALTERS:
20 total was $2415.25.
21 MRS. USKO:
Which is current --
-- $45.20 in costs, but the
Which is current through
22 November.
23 MR. WALTERS: And I will not dispute the fact
24 that what is in there now equals six months of payments,
25 which would be the --
6
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1 THE COURT: June, July, August, Septembsr,
2 October, November.
3 MR. WALTERS: Right. So as of today they are
4 all paid. We are not disputing that they are paid.
5 THE COURT: That is what I am asking you.
6 MR. WALTERS: oh.
7 THE COURT: Well, why can't that money be
8 released to your landlord, ma'am?
9 MRS. USKO: only because up until this point,
10 we were appealing that amount.
11 THE COURT: What amount?
12 MRS. USKO: The 3575 that she is claiming we
l3 were in arrears.
14
15 that, ma'am.
16 MRS. USKO: You don't?
17 THE COURT: No, ma' am. As I understood it
18 MRS. USKO: Okay. So that is not an issue
19 today, is that what you are saying?
20 THE COURT: I don't know whether it is or
2l not. I don't know what you folks are doing.
22 MR. WALTERS: If I could assist you, the
23 $3575.00 was the amount of the district justice judgment in
24 favor of my client. That was the basis of the supersedeas
25 that Mrs. Usko had an attorney file.
THE COURT: Well, I don't know anything about
7
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1 THE COURT: And that was entered on 3/28/95.
2 MR. WALTERS: That is correct.
3 THE COURT: The Uskos took an appeal?
4 MR. WALTERS: Correct.
5 THE COURT: From the judgment of possession?
6 MR. WALTERS: Right.
7 THE COURT: And also from judgment in the
8 amount of $3575.00?
9 MR. WALTERS: Right.
10 THE COURT: As I understand the practice,
11 after an appeal has been filed, it is the plaintiff's job,
12 the moving party, Mrs. Serrao's, to file a formal complaint
13 in court. Have you done that?
14 MR. WALTERS: We have been prevented from
15 doing that under the supersedeas, which says that this is
16 to -- that we are not permitted to ask for possession until
17 this matter is decided. We are asking for it to be decided
18 today.
19 THE COURT: Well, possession is one thing,
20 but for the judgment of 35 hundred dollars, which they are
21 quarreling about, that is another thing.
22 Frankly, I don' t know where you are. And you
23 are getting me in a legal quagmire here. The defendant is
24 unrepresented and she has no lawyer to tell me their version
25 of the law. I am not going to do the law research for
8
,'""""
1 either one of you people. That is your job.
2 MRS. USKO: May I say something, Your Honor?
3 THE COURT: Ma' am, are you going to move out
4 of this house in the near future?
5 MRS. USI<O: Yes.
6 THE COURT: When?
7 MRS. USKO: That is one of my requests that I
8 would like to ask. We have three small children at home.
9 My ultimate thing I would like to request of the Court is if
lO we could let them in school for the remainder of this year.
11 If that is not acceptable or something, what
12 we are going to have to do is separate in to different
l3 family members homes. We can't obviously get a good
14 reference from her because she is saying that we owe this
15 much in arrears. So we are sort of stuck.
16 And, you know, if, in fact -- we at this
17 point were not going to dispute the amount because, to be
18 perfectly honest with you, we can't afford to risk any more
19 attorney's fees fighting this. Because I am afraid if we
20 lose, we may not have sufficient proof. I have some proof,
2l but I am not sure if it is sufficient proof.
22 If we would not dispute the amount, I mean
23 and just not agree to it, but not dispute the amount, and
24 say that we owe her that money, even though we don't feel we
25 do --
9
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1 THE COURT: You are talking out of both sides
2 of your mouth here, ma'am. You can't do that to me. You
3 are half doing something, but you are not doing something.
4 I can't operate that way. I operate where you take a
5 position, and that is it.
6 MRS. USKO: Well, I don't feel we have proof
7 enough to fight this is what I am saying.
8 THE COURT: You have to make that decision,
9 ma'am.
lO MRS. USKO: I have.
11 THE COURT: And you can be your own lawyer
12 too. You are obviously doing that right now. so let me get
l3 it back on track. Lawyer Clough represented you when you
14 filed this emergency order May l2.
15 MRS. USKO: That is correct.
l6 THE COURT: She said in that petition, which
17 you signed and your husband signed, that you would be
l8 relocating in the next few months after May 1995 to a
19 manufactured home you were building, after your real estate
20 settlement scheduled for May l7, 1995. That is -- that is
21 her representation of your position.
22 MRS. USKO: Yes.
23 THE COURT: Now, you had said in the petition
24 that you were relocating a few months after May 1995, and it
25 is more than a few months rlght now. But what is your
lO
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1 intention, ma'am?
2 MRS. USKO: We still have the same intention,
3 Your Honor. But that -- the finance company we were working
4 with, that mortgage company, turned around and told us we
5 had to have twenty percent down.
6 THE COURT: So your real estate deal didn't
7 go through?
8
9 time.
10 THE COURT:
II estate on which to build a
12 MRS. US1<O:
13 THE COURT:
14 MRS. USKO:
15 in Dillsburg.
16 THE COURT: Oh.
l7 MRS. USKO: But now we can't build the house
l8 on it because we can't get a good reference. So we are
19 going to have to rent probably. Sell the piece of ground
20 and rent somewhere.
MRS. USKO:
No, it did not.
Not the first
So you have no piece of real
Yes, we do.
a manufactured home.
We do. We have an acre of ground
21 THE COURT: So your plan to build this
22 manufactured home no longer exists because you can't get
23 financing.
24
25
MRS. USKO:
THE COURT:
Right.
Okay.
We can't.
Now, you tell me that you
11
1 want to stay in the place you are at, or your intention is
2 to move, what is that?
3 MRS. USKO: Our intention is to move. I just
4 don't know how long it is going to take us to find another
5 place, you know. And if they call her for a reference,
6 obviously she is not going to give us a good reference.
7 THE COURT: How long do you intend to stay in
8 the place?
9 MRS. USKO: I -- if we could find something
10 in the next couple weeks, we would move out then. The only
II reason I am saying
l2 THE COURT:
13 is your intention?
l4 MRS. USKO:
15 THE COURT:
16 two years?
l7 MRS. USKO:
18 months at the most.
19 THE COURT: until school is over?
20 MRS. USKO: Yes. That is the only reason I
2l am saying that, until school is over.
22 THE COURT: All right. Now, so far, this is
23 more in the nature of a pretrial conference than a real
24 legal hearing where we are taking testimony. But perhaps
25 the two of you can resolve this in some fashion.
,...,
r\
If you don't find something, what
To move out as soon 8S possible.
Well, does that mean a year or
No, at the most, at the most, six
12
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1 Do I understand your original claim, Mr.
2 Walters, for some 35 hundred dollars was for monthly rent
3 for a period of time that you claim wasn't paid?
4 MR. WALTERS: That is correct. That was
5 through the April district justice hearing, that was a
6 correct number through that time.
7 THE COURT: All right. Ma' am ..-
8 MRS. USKO: Yes, sir.
9 THE COURT: -- you are saying that figure is
10 or is not correct?
11 MRS. USKO: Is not.
12 THE COURT: Not correct.
13 MRS. USKO: Is not.
14 THE COURT: All right. And you have
15 documentation by way of canceled checks and so forth that
16 you are ready to show Mr. Walters.
17 MRS. USKO: I have money order receipts. We
18 weren't using a checking account at that time.
19 THE COURT: All right. Documentation?
20 MRS. USKO: Yes.
2l THE COURT: All right. In looking at the
22 petition for emergency supersedeas, I had no idea what this
23 is or the underlying legal foundation for it. It is in the
24 nature of routine rules that we get every day and sign. So
25 that if one side or the other enters an appeal from anything
l3
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1 I do in this case, frankly, I am at a loss as to the law in
2 this case. I have been furnished no law and no rules by
3 anybody, including Mrs. Clough. And this is not something
4 that I handle every day.
5 May I suggest that we take a recess while you
6 and your client, Mr. Walters, review the documentation that
7 this lady has and make a determination about whether she has
8 any merit to her claim or not. But at least that would
9 present exchange on that.
lO May I also suggest, since she seems to have
II been paying the monthly rentals, albeit some of them late
12 perhaps, that you reach some sort of agreement about
13 releasing the money from the prothonotary so that she can
14 get her money and discuss the possibility of whether the
15 Uskos can stay until the end of the school year by paying
16 her monthly checks.
17 I am very, very hesitant about taking any
18 action whatsoever against the surety company since they have
19 been given no opportunity to defend against what you
20 obviously want as a foreclosure of the 35 hundred dollars
2l against them today. And I think that we are going to get a
22 serious fight about that, because reading this bond, I am
23 not sure that it says what you think it says.
24 Do you understand what I would like you to
25 try to do, or at least talk about more?
l4
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1 MR. WALTERS: Yes, Your Honor, I do.
2 THE COURT: Do you, ma'am?
3 MRS. USKO: Yes, sir, yes.
4 THE COURT: We are in recess.
5 (Whereupon, a recess was taken.)
6 THE COURT: Let the record reflect we are
7 reconvening the Serrao and Usko case.
8 MR. WALTERS: Your Honor, I am happy to
9 announce we have an agreement that we have been working on
10 and I have been talking to Mrs. Usko for a time. I think we
II have an agreement that we would like to have entered as an
12 order.
13 THE COURT: I am so happy that you are both
l4 happy. Tell me what the recommended order is.
l5 MR. WALTERS: Okay. I will read this, and
16 Mrs. Usko can obviously correct me if anything deviates from
l7 what her understanding is.
18 This relates to the possession of 210 Tenth
19 Street in New cumberland, Cumberland County. Relative to
20 possession of that property:
21 1. If the defendants obtain a commitment
22 letter from Consumer First Mortgage Company for the purpose
23 of financing a modular home, which they intend to construct
24 on real property owned by them in York County, on or about
25 November 27, 1995, and if the defendants pay rent for
15
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1 December of $395.00 directly to plaintiff, on or before
"
2 December
on or before November 27, 1995, and if the
3 defendants pay rent for January in the amount of $395.00
4 directly to plaintiff on or before January 1, 1996, then
5 defendants shall remain in possession until January 3l,
6 1996, when they shall promptly vacate the premises.
7
2. If the commitment letter is not received,
8 but December rent is timely paid, then defendants shall have
9 possession until December 31, 1995, when they shall
10 immediately vacate.
11
3. If the commitment letter is not received,
l2 and if December rent is not timely paid, then defendants
13 shall stay in possession until December 2, 1995, when they
14 shall promptly vacate.
15 4. If January rent is not paid by January 1,
16 1996, then defendants shall have possession until January 6,
l7 1996, when they shall promptly vacate.
l8
5. In any of the above-listed situations,
19 plaintiff shall be entitled to immediate possession without
20 further notice to defendants or without further order of
21 court.
22
6. The supersedeas order which is in effect
23 on this matter shall be vacated. The prothonotary ordered
24 to pay all rent previously escrowed directly to plaintiff.
25
7. A judgment in the amount of $3,575.00
16
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r,
1 shall be entered against the defendants with payments of
2 $lOO.OO per month payable on the first of each month
3 beginning January l, 1996.
I think that is our order, Your Honor, or our
4
5 agreement.
6
7
8
9
10
11 you, ma'am?
l2
l3
THE COURT: Mrs. Usko, did you hear all that?
MRS. USKO: yes, yes, sir.
THE COURT: Did you understand it all?
MRS. USKO: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Were these terms negotiated by
MRS. USKO: Yes.
THE COURT: And is this what you agree to on
14 behalf of you and your husband?
15 MRS. USKO: Yes, sir.
16 THE COURT: Did you have the opportunity to
17 consult him while your negotiations were going on?
18 MRS. USKO: Did I?
19 THE COURT: Yes.
20 MRS. USKO: No, I did not.
21 THE COURT: Do you desire to call him to see
22 if he consents to what you are doing?
23 MRS. USKO: No. No, Your Honor.
24 THE COURT: Is that because you are the boss
25 in the family or what?
l7
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1 MRS. USKO: No. It is because I know this is
2 what he would want.
3 THE COURT: I see. So you want me to accept
4 the agreement that Mr. Walters has just mentioned?
5 MRS. USKO: Yes, Your Honor.
6 THE COURT: And that is what you intend to
7 honor?
8 MRS. USKO: Yes, Your Honor.
9 THE COURT: All right. And you are speaking
10 on behalf of your client, I'm sure?
11 MR. WALTERS: Yes, Your Honor, I am.
12 THE COURT: Okay. I don't quite know how to
13 edit your order, Mr. Walters. Other than to do it just like
14 our Master does it. And that would be as follows:
15 (Whereupon, the fOllowing Order was entered.)
16 AND NOW, November 9, 1995, 3:20 p.m., Joan
17 Serrao, having appeared in open court together with personal
18 counsel, Murrel R. Walters, III, Esquire, and Tracene Usko
19 having appeared on behalf of her husband, Douglas, and
20 having appeared pro se, and the parties having reached a
21 resolution to the controversy between them, and having
22 requested the Court to accept their resolution, the Court
23 does accept the agreement of the parties entered in open
24 court today and direct that it be entered as an Order of
25 Court.
18
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.-,
1 By the Court,
2 Isl Georae E. Hoffer. J.
3 THE COURT: That is my order of court. And
4 you can type up a colloquy of what you have heard here,
5 Marie, and send each party a copy of their colloquy today.
6 As for your individual items, Mr. Walters, I
7 think that you will need orders of court for various things.
B The release of the money, I could give you that now. But as
9 far as these judgments and everything, they are not going to
10 flow from this cOlloquy that you that you have reached an
11 agreement on. So it is your job to put all that stuff
12 together and take care of it.
13 HR. WALTERS: Would you entertain me
14 preparing such orders and then presenting them to you? Is
15 that what you are suggesting?
16 THE COURT: Well, I don't know that you
17 really need orders. I am not practicing law right now. I
18 don't know what you are going to need. But I don't know
19 that a judgment just happens to get entered because I said
20 something here today.
21
22
23 be taken.
24 HR. WALTERS: Well, I would suggest that you
25 could by court order enter a judgment.
MR. WALTERS:
THE COURT:
Well, Your Honor --
Steps, procedural steps have to
19
f~
r-
1 THE COURT: I don't -- you do what you want
2 to do, and if it looks right, I will sign it.
3 MR. WALTERS: Okay. Thank you.
4 THE COURT: If it doesn't, you are on your
5 own. And you prepare an order directing the prothonotary to
6 release the money to you also.
7 MR. WALTERS: Okay.
8 THE COURT: Anything else?
9 MR. WALTERS: No, sir.
10 MRS. USKO: No.
11 THE COURT: Well, ma'am, you are evidently
12 going to get busy trying to get financing, and you mayor
13 may not get it.
14 MRS. USKO: It is almost there.
15 THE COURT:
16 MRS. USKO:
17 THE COURT: It is.
18 MRS. USKO:
19 THE COURT:
20 MRS. USKO:
21 THE COURT:
22 MRS. USKO:
23 THE COURT:
24 MRS. USKO:
25 THE COURT:
Huh?
It is almost there.
This close. (Indicating)
Oh, well, that is good news.
Yeah.
That is very good news.
I should know in a couple days.
Huh?
A couple days.
All right. Well, I always tend
20
~
;i'''~
1 to take a view of what is the worst thing that can happen.
2 And that would be that you are not going to get the
3 financing, in which case you have got to really get moving
4 to find a place, if you are going to honor what you just
5 said to me.
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22 xxx
23
24
25
MRS. USKO: I understand that.
THE COURT: Okay. Court's adjourned.
MRS. USKO: Thank you.
MR. WALTERS: Thank you, Your Honor.
(Whereupon, the proceeding was concluded.)
21
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1
2
CERTIFICATION
3
4
I hereby certify that the proceedings are
5 contained fully and accurately in the notes taken by me on
6 the above cause and that this is a correct transcript of
7 same.
8
9
10
11
Marie T. Farley,
Official Court Reporte
12
13
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14
15
16
The foregoing record of the proceedings on
17 the hearing of the within matter is
18 directed to be filed.
19
20 ~
21 (1- f (
Date
22
23
24
25
hereby approved an~
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vs.
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. 95-2247
JOAN SERRAO,
plaintiff
DOUGLAS and TRACENE USKO,
Defendants
CIVIL ACTION - I~W
PETITION
AND NOW, comes Murrel R. Walters, III, Esquire, attorney for
plaintiff Joan Serrao, and sets forth as follows:
1. On November 9, 1995, the parties appeared before the
Honorable George E. Hoffer where they entered into an agreement
which was confirmed by order of court.
2. plaintiff requires that an order of court be entered which
specifically vacates the supersedeas, authorizes the Prothonotary
to release funds, and enters judgment against the defendants
Douglas Usko and Tracene Usko pursuant to the agreement and order.
WHEREFORE, petitioner respectfully requests this Honorable
Court to enter an order vacating the supersedeas, authorizing the
prothonotary of Cumberland County to release all funds maintained
by it under the supersedeas order of May 12, 1995, and enter a
judgment against defendants Douglas Usko and Tracene Usko and in
favor of Joan Serrao in the amount of $3,575.00.
R"0, lilZ!i(
Murrel R. Walters, III, Esquire
54 East Main Street
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
Attorney for Plaintiff
(717) 697-4650
I.D. No. 24849