PRINTER'S NO. 364
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
352
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY SCHLEGEL CULVER, PICKETT, ENGLISH, DUNBAR,
MILLARD, WARD, GOODMAN, ROZZI, ORTITAY, DONATUCCI, SOLOMON
AND TAYLOR, FEBRUARY 6, 2017
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017
AN ACT
Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in limitation of time,
providing for ten year limitation, for mesne profits and for
reimbursement and further providing for twenty-one year
limitation.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
Statutes is amended by adding sections to read:
§ 5527.1. Ten year limitation.
(a) Adverse possession.--Title to real property may be
acquired after no less than 10 years of actual, continuous,
exclusive, visible, notorious, distinct and hostile possession
of the real property.
(b) Contiguous lots.--
(1) Where an additional lot abuts and is contiguous to
real property and has been regularly used as part of and
incident to the real property, a possessor who seeks to
acquire title to real property under this section may also
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include the contiguous lot in the action to quiet title under
subsection (c).
(2) In order to acquire title to the contiguous lot, the
possessor must show that:
(i) The area of the contiguous lot as described by
the metes and bounds does not exceed a total area of
one-half acre when combined with the real property.
(ii) The possessor has made actual, continuous,
exclusive, visible, notorious, distinct and hostile
possession of the contiguous lot for a period of not less
than 10 years.
(c) Quiet title action required.--
(1) A possessor who seeks to acquire title to real
property under this section must, after meeting the
requirements of subsections (a) and (b), commence a quiet
title action and provide notice as required in this section.
(2) Notice of the action shall include information
relating to the respondent's opportunity to cure as specified
in subsection (d) and shall be provided to the record owners,
their heirs, successors and assigns .
(3) Notice shall be provided in a form approved by rule
of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which form shall include
the metes and bounds description, deed reference, street
address, postal zip code, uniform parcel identifier or tax
parcel number and the notices of the one-year period to cure
as stated in subsection (d).
(d) One-year notice.--
(1) The record owners or their heirs, successors and
assigns shall have one year in which to respond by commencing
an action in ejectment against the possessor, which action
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disputes the claim of adverse possession.
(2) (i) If an action in ejectment is so filed and
served in accordance with the requirements of this
section and the verdict and judgment in the ejectment
action are rendered in favor of the record owners, or
their heirs, successors and assigns, then both the 10-
year statute of limitations set forth in this section and
the 21-year statute of limitations set forth in section
5530 (relating to twenty-one year limitation) are tolled,
and the court shall render a judgment in favor of the
record owners, or their heirs, successors and assigns,
disposing of the quiet title action.
(ii) The period for running the statute of
limitations for any subsequent claim seeking title by
adverse possession under this section or section 5530
shall commence at a date not earlier than the date of the
judgment granting the relief requested in the ejectment
action.
(3) If no action in ejectment is so filed and served
within the one-year period, then judgment may be entered by
the court granting title to the real property by adverse
possession under this section and the Pennsylvania Rules of
Civil Procedure.
(4) A judgment granting title by adverse possession
under this section shall not, in and of itself:
(i) discharge, terminate or give rise to a
presumption of satisfaction or release of any interest in
the property that runs with title to the property,
including, but not limited to, easements, profits,
covenants, mortgages, liens, judgments and leases;
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(ii) otherwise extend or limit the period of time in
which claims relating to the property may be asserted
against a possessor granted title by a judgment of
adverse possession ; or
(iii) supersede any applicable provision of law,
including, but not limited to, the act of July 31, 1968
(P.L.805, No.247), known as the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code, or a zoning code of a city
of the first class or city of the second class as the
case may be, and any subdivision or land use ordinance,
to the extent applicable, then in effect in the
jurisdiction where the subject property is located.
Nothing contained in this section shall limit the
otherwise applicable jurisdiction of any zoning officer,
zoning hearing board, zoning board of adjustment or
governing body with respect to the subject property.
(e) Limitations.--This section shall not apply to real
property that is part of a common interest ownership community
established under 68 Pa.C.S. Pt. II Subpts. B (relating to
condominiums), C (relating to cooperatives) and D (relating to
planned communities).
(f) Nonapplicability.--This section shall not apply to real
property that is:
(1) part of a common interest ownership community
established under 68 Pa.C.S. Pt. II Subpt. B, C or D; or
(2) owned by the United States, the Commonwealth, a
local government, or any agency, authority or other unit of
the United States, the Commonwealth or local government,
including, but not limited to, a redevelopment authority,
municipal authority and school district or joint agency or
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authority of the United States, the Commonwealth or local
government unit.
(g) Nonexclusive remedy.--The relief available under this
section is intended to be cumulative and not exclusive of any
other rights or remedies that may be available under law or
equity, including, but not limited to, the determination of
title to a decedent's interest in real estate under 20 Pa.C.S. §
3546 (relating to determination of title to decedent's interest
in real estate).
(h) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Real property." Real estate not exceeding one-half acre in
area that is:
(1) Improved by a single-family dwelling that is and has
been occupied by a possessor seeking title under this section
for the full 10 years.
(2) Identified as a separate lot in a recorded
conveyance, recorded subdivision plan or recorded official
map or plan of a municipality.
"Single-family dwelling." A residence designed for occupancy
by one household, whether detached from or attached to other
structures.
§ 5527.2 . Mesne profits.
(a) General rule.--Record owners, their heirs, successors
and assigns shall have the right to seek any mesne profits in an
action in ejectment filed in response to the notice served under
section 5527.1 (relating to ten year limitation) or waive the
right to such recovery.
(b) Limitation on recovery.--Recovery shall be limited to
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the mesne profits applicable to the six-year period ending with
the commencement of the action in ejectment under section
5527(b) (relating to six year limitation).
§ 5527.3 . Reimbursement.
The defendant in the ejectment action under section 5527.1
(relating to ten year limitation) shall have the right to
recover such costs for maintenance, improvements, repairs,
renovations, taxes or other such expenses to benefit the real
property as the defendant can prove by a preponderance of the
evidence that were or should have been the responsibility of the
record owners, their heirs, successors and assigns.
Section 2. Section 5530(a)(1) of Title 42 is amended to
read:
§ 5530. Twenty-one year limitation.
(a) General rule.--The following actions and proceedings
must be commenced within 21 years:
(1) [An] Except as provided in section 5527.1 (relating
to ten year limitation), an action for the possession of real
property.
* * *
Section 3. This act shall take effect in one year.
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