You’ve finally found it. Backyard, nice neighborhood, perfect to raise a family. You place a bid, close on the property, and everything seems on track for moving day. The only problem? The seller refuses to leave the house.

This is the situation that two of our clients found themselves in just a few months ago. It’s not a fun situation to find yourself in, but it’s one that we can handle here at Very Law. Our clients, of course, had the right to take possession of the home that they’d bought and paid for. First to mind may be an Eviction to remove the unwanted ‘guest’. An eviction, however, only handles the legal side of possession. It can’t actually be used to physically remove the individual from the home.

We worked with our clients to fight for an Ejectment, allowing us to empower the local Sheriff’s office to remove the interloper if they decided to continue occupying the building. We filed the Complaint in Ejectment on May 12 with the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and won an order within the week, forcing the seller to leave the home. Our claims were simple. The seller no longer owned the property. The seller was staying in the house without permission from our clients, the rightful owners. Since the seller wouldn’t leave the house, the seller was trespassing on our clients’ property. Justice can take time, so we filed an Emergency Motion to eject the seller on May 13, noting that without a house to move into, our clients would incur further costs and may even face homelessness. That simply wasn’t right, and it wasn’t something we would allow. The Judge agreed, ordering the seller to vacate our clients' house by June 4 and granted an Order allowing the Allegheny Sheriff’s department to remove the seller by force if necessary.

We were surprised by an eleventh-hour motion to stay the Ejectment by the seller’s attorney, filed on the morning of June 3, and set to argue the morning of the 4th. We presented the same arguments that we’d made in the initial proceedings and won again, enforcing the order. After a bit more heel-dragging, the seller finally got the ‘hint’ that they were no longer welcome and left by midday on June 4. The seller later appealed to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, but found even less traction than they’d found in the lower courts.

After just a few filings, hearings, and little bit of patience, our clients were finally able to move into their home, with headaches in the past and a happy future ahead.

Are you encountering problems with your soon-to-be-home? Contact Very Law to set up a consultation so we can help you on your way to domestic bliss.