Background
IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA In re: Objections and Exceptions to : CASES CONSOLIDATED Upset Sale : : Parties: Milagros Abreu and : Lehigh County Tax Claim Bureau : : Regarding Property 742 N. 9th : St Allentown, Tax Parcel No. : 02-549783482468-0000001 : : No. 1427 C.D. 2024 Appeal of: Yosef Saleb : In re: Objections and Exceptions : to Upset Sale : : Parties: Milagros Abreu and : Lehigh County Tax Claim Bureau : : Regarding Property 742 N. 9th : St Allentown, Tax Parcel No. : 02-549783482468-0000001 : : Appeal of: Yosef Saleb : No. 1428 C.D. 2024 : Submitted: May 14, 2026 BEFORE: HONORABLE ANNE E. TSAI, Judge HONORABLE MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, Senior Judge OPINION NOT REPORTED MEMORANDUM OPINION BY SENIOR JUDGE LEAVITT FILED: July 21, 2026 Yosef Saleb (Successful Bidder), the successful bidder at an upset tax sale, has appealed an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County (trial court) denying his request to intervene in the proceeding to vacate that upset tax sale. Successful Bidder filed his intervention application after the upset sale already had been set aside, which made his application untimely. This required the application’s denial unless extraordinary circumstances were shown to explain the delay. Concluding that Successful Bidder’s motion did not allege extraordinary circumstances, the trial court denied his intervention request.
owever, this order provided that no distribution was to be made on any properties for which objections had been filed until the objections were fully adjudicated, specifically listing the Property and the objections filed thereto at Docket No. 2017-TX-0060. 2 On March 12, 2018, at the 2017 Docket, Successful Bidder filed an emergency motion to intervene for the purpose of setting aside the trial court’s order of March 2, 2018. R.R. 10-25.3 By order of March 26, 2018, the trial court granted Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 2173 requires that the reproduced record be numbered in Arabic figures followed by a small “a.” Pa.R.A.P. 2173. The reproduced record does not comply with Rule 2173 because it uses only Arabic figures. This opinion follows the numbering as it appears in the reproduced record. 3 In the motion, Successful Bidder alleged, in part: 5. [Owner] failed to file a Rule to Show Cause with her Objections and Petition to Set Aside, which runs afoul of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure 239.2 and Local Rules of Lehigh County No. 206.4(c). 6. With respect to objections and petitions concerning other properties sold at the same Upset Tax Sale, including those filed at Docket No. 2017-TX-56, 2017- TX-57, 2017-TX-58, 2017-TX-59, 2016-TX-61, each and every one included a Rule to Show Cause, which prompted the [trial c]ourt to schedule a hearing date and time.
The Court’s Holding
conclusion, Owner’s objections to the upset tax sale were not required to be filed as a petition governed by the Local Rules; therefore, Owner was 10 not required to attach a proposed rule to show cause to her objections. Successful Bidder’s motion did not allege extraordinary circumstances which are the prerequisite to a court’s consideration of an untimely motion to intervene. This Court concludes that the trial court did not err or abuse its discretion. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s order. ____________________________________________ MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, President Judge Emerita 11 IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA In re: Objections and Exceptions to : CASES CONSOLIDATED Upset Sale : : Parties: Milagros Abreu and : Lehigh County Tax Claim Bureau : : Regarding Property 742 N. 9th : St Allentown, Tax Parcel No. : 02-549783482468-0000001 : : Appeal of: Yosef Saleb : No. 1427 C.D. 2024 In re: Objections and Exceptions : to Upset Sale : : Parties: Milagros Abreu and : Lehigh County Tax Claim Bureau : : Regarding Property 742 N. 9th : St Allentown, Tax Parcel No. : 02-549783482468-0000001 : : Appeal of: Yosef Saleb : No. 1428 C.D. 2024 ORDER AND NOW, this 21st day of July, 2026, the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County, in the above-captioned matter, dated September 17, 2024, is AFFIRMED. ____________________________________________ MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, President Judge Emerita
The decision applies Pennsylvania law to the issues preserved in this appeal and explains the governing standard in the court’s own terms. The disposition controls the parties’ next steps and supplies guidance for litigants confronting the same procedural or substantive question.
Key Takeaways
- conclusion, Owner’s objections to the upset tax sale were not required to be filed as a petition governed by the Local Rules; therefore, Owner was 10 not required to attach a proposed rule to show cause to her objections.
- Successful Bidder’s motion did not allege extraordinary circumstances which are the prerequisite to a court’s consideration of an untimely motion to intervene.
- This Court concludes that the trial court did not err or abuse its discretion.
Why It Matters
Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s order. ____________________________________________ MARY HANNAH… Pennsylvania practitioners should read the ruling with particular attention to the court’s treatment of preservation, the applicable standard, and the remedy. Those points will shape how comparable claims are framed in trial courts and reviewed on appeal.