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IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Dressel Associates, Inc.  :  
:  
v.  :  No. 2084 C.D. 2000  
:  Argued: May 7, 2001  
Beaver Valley Builders Supply, Inc.,  :  
and the United States of America  :  
:  
v.  :  
:  
Bell Acres Borough,  :  
Appellant  :  

BEFORE: HONORABLE JOSEPH T. DOYLE, President Judge
HONORABLE JAMES R. KELLEY, Judge
HONORABLE JIM FLAHERTY, Senior Judge
OPINION BY SENIOR JUDGE FLAHERTY FILED: June 14, 2001
The Borough of Bell Acres (Borough) appeals from the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County (trial court) which granted the petition of Dressel Associates (Dressel) to strike the municipal lien claim of the Borough as not having priority. We affirm.
In 1987, Beaver Valley Builders Supply, Inc. (Beaver Valley) mortgaged its property located in the Borough with Equibank, N.A. Equibank later became Integra Bank, and on July 29, 1994, Integra Bank assigned the mortgage to Dressel. Dressel filed a complaint against Beaver Valley to foreclose on the mortgage on May 9, 1995. Beaver Valley failed to respond and judgment was entered against them for $4,112,324.24 plus costs and interest. Dressel sought to execute the judgment and a Sheriff's Sale of the property was scheduled for September 5, 1995.1
The municipal claim arose on February 18, 1988, when the Borough filed a complaint in equity against Beaver Valley seeking compliance with the zoning ordinance and a variance which Beaver Valley had obtained. By order dated November 27, 1991, the trial court ordered Beaver Valley to remove all of the items from the property that were not in compliance with the zoning ordinance and the variance and enjoined Beaver Valley from bringing onto or storing any additional items that were not in compliance with the zoning ordinance or the variance onto the property.
On May 21, 1996, the trial court granted the Borough's petition for fees and costs incurred to enforce the injunction. The trial court entered an order for the payment of money in the amount of $19,091.03 plus interest at the judgment rate from the date of the order. The Borough promptly recorded and indexed the order with the Allegheny County Prothonotary's Office as against Beaver Valley Builders.
On December 1, 1999, Dressel filed a petition to strike the municipal claim of the Borough. The trial court order denied the petition and Dressel appealed the decision to our Court. Upon review of its opinion, the trial court recognized an error and requested that our Court remand the case back to the trial court for corrections. We remanded to the trial court who thereafter issued an
1
The Sheriff's sale was postponed indefinitely pending the resolution of this municipal claim by the Borough.
order granting Dressel's petition to strike the municipal lien of the Borough. The
Borough now appeals to our Court.2
The Borough contends that the trial court erred in determining that the
Borough did not have a first-priority lien on the real property in question pursuant
to Section 1 of the Municipal Claims and Tax Liens Act (Act), Act of May 16,
1923, P.L. 207, as amended, 53 P.S.

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Pennsylvania Law