LexisNexis Practice Guide: Pennsylvania Real Estate Litigation

Michael F. Faherty is the founding Shareholder of Faherty Law Firm. He is the former president of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute and former Pennsylvania Member to the Owners’ Counsel of America, the leading national organization concerning eminent domain law. Mr. Faherty graduated with honors from Lebanon Valley College and earned a Master of Arts degree from The University of Akron. He graduated from Rutgers School of law—Newark in 1989. He now serves Faherty Law Firm as Of Counsel.

Blair H. Granger, Esquire, received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 and a J.D. from Villanova University School of Law in 1989. Mr. Granger is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and its Division of Real Property, Probate and Trusts, the American Bar Association, and its divisions of Real Property and Trust and Title Insurance Section. Mr. Granger has been and is a widely recognized expert on real estate issues. He is a frequent lecturer for attorneys and other real estate professionals, including the Pennsylvania Bar Association on real estate topics, with a significant focus on title disputes, failed real estate transactions and construction defect litigation. Mr. Granger's clients include several of the largest title insurance companies in the United States, for who he has had handled hundreds of claims for insured owners and lenders and has litigated numerous complex title claims. He has represented numerous plaintiffs and defendants in litigation matters involving disputes in both residential and commercial real estate, construction litigation and had handled numerous appellate cases in state and federal court on real estate matters.

Chapter 9, Mortgage Foreclosure: Stephen M. Hladik is a principal in Hladik, Onorato & Federman, LLP. Formerly a Deputy Attorney General in charge of the Harrisburg office of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protection, Steve brings a broad range of experience to his mortgage foreclosure, bankruptcy, tax sale and UDAAP legal practice. Steve gained significant expertise in lending law enforcement in the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection, handling UDAP, FDCPA, RESPA and TILA cases. Prior to joining Hladik, Onorato & Federman, LLP, Steve was the Pennsylvania managing attorney for one of the nation's largest creditor's rights firms, practicing mortgage foreclosure and bankruptcy law. Steve routinely teaches Continuing Legal Education courses on mortgage law, bankruptcy law, title law, real estate tax sale law, FDCPA and CFPB regulations, and related lending law compliance issues. Steve also serves the mortgage servicing industry as the Vice Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Legal League 100 and having previously chaired the Government Affairs Committee of the Legal League 100. Steve also actively participates on various committees of the ALFN.

Steve is admitted to practice before the Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New Mexico, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Puerto Rico. He is a member of the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Federal and American Bar Associations. Steve also served two terms as the Co-Chair of the Business, Banking and Corporate Counsel Committee of the Montgomery County Bar Association.

Tara B. Horvath of Faherty Law Firm in Hershey, Pennsylvania, graduated with honors from Moravian College and Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She graduated with honors from Widener University Commonwealth Law School in 2012. Ms. Horvath is the Managing Shareholder of Faherty Law Firm. She also serves as the current Pennsylvania Member to the Owners' Counsel of America.

The author of Chapter 6, Construction Litigation, Andrew D. Klein, of Land Air Water Legal Solutions LLC (LAW), a Chambers-rated law firm in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, is a trial attorney with over 20 years of experience litigating environmental, construction, land use, real estate, and other civil and criminal cases. Andy has tried hundreds of cases to verdict in state and federal courts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and other jurisdictions. In addition to representing clients in litigation matters, he provides transactional, contracting, and compliance advice to clients on all facets of environmental and construction law, and on a broad range of industrial, commercial, and residential projects. Prior to joining LAW, Andy clerked for the Honorable Vincent A. Cirillo, Jr. on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, served as an Assistant District Attorney for the City of Philadelphia for nearly four years, and worked as a member of the commercial litigation group at Drinker Biddle &Reath LLP for 15 years. He taught as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and he served for many years as an investigator for the Philadelphia Bar Association's Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention. As a volunteer child advocate with the Support Center for Child Advocates in Philadelphia, Andy represented a group of abused and neglected siblings for more than a decade. He is a frequent lecturer to the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Bars on various topics, including construction and land use, litigation practice and procedure, and commercial contracts. Andy had a regular column in the Legal Intelligencer on construction law and was a practitioner-contributor to the Tenth Edition of Black's Law Dictionary. He graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (B.A., 1987), and from the Delaware Law School in Wilmington, Delaware (J.D., 1993), magna cum laude, where he served as a Note and Comment Editor on Law Review. Andy is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, as well as before the United States Supreme Court.

The author of Chapter 4, Commercial Real Estate Litigation, Paula J. McDermott is a Principal in Post & Schell, P.C.'s Business Law & Litigation Department, concentrating her practice in complex commercial litigation and complex real estate transactions, and land use and zoning law, among others. She counsels and represents clients in matters that include subdivision and land development disputes, commercial leasing and litigation, zoning issues, land use civil rights litigation, highway occupancy permit issues, fair housing issues and eminent domain litigation. Ms. McDermott is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law (J.D.), holds a Master's degree from Pennsylvania State University, and graduated with honors from Grinnell College (B.A.).

The author of the Foreword to the Guide as well as Chapter 3, Title Litigation, David J. Scaggs is a shareholder in The Granger Firm in Paoli, Pennsylvania. He received a B.S. in business administration from Temple University and a J.D. from Widener University School of Law. He is a member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Bars and is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, the District of New Jersey and the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In 2011, he was nominated as a Council member to the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section. He is also the chairman of the Westtown Township Zoning Hearing Board in Chester County. Mr. Scaggs has lectured for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute on various real estate matters, including title insurance, residential and commercial closings and seller's disclosure matters. He concentrates his practice in the area of real estate transactions and litigation, representing a large spectrum of clients, including title insurance companies, lenders, real estate brokers and developers in litigation matters. Mr. Scaggs also regularly handles construction defect litigation, commercial and residential purchases and disputes, leasing, zoning issues, homeowner association matters and seller's disclosure matters.

Dennis A. Scardilli, Esq., MAI of the Law Office of Dennis A. Scardilli LLC, Absecon, NJ. (1949–2021). Mr. Scardilli was one of the few people in the U.S. who was a practicing attorney, an MAI (Member of the Appraisal Institute), and an Appraisal Qualifications Board Certified Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice Instructor. He practiced as a real estate appraiser for almost 25 years and in later years confined his professional practice to law. The practice of law was Dennis Scardilli’s fourth career involving real estate. He learned the real estate business as a salesperson, appraiser, builder/developer and property manager in his father’s real estate office. He served as a planner or real estate appraiser in federal, state, county, and, municipal government. He worked in local, regional and national law or consulting firms. His legal experience included defense of Atlantic City's casino-hotel real estate tax assessments, environmental, foreclosure, mortgage modification, real estate contract, and repurchase demand matters. He regularly represented real estate appraisers before State appraiser regulatory boards. His office was near Atlantic City, N.J. but his practice included cases throughout New Jersey, in Pennsylvania and in other states, as permitted under local court rule. He was admitted to practice law in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He was the revision author of the California Real Estate Treatise Chapter 502 on Preliminary Case Evaluation and Preparation for the Property Owner. (LexisNexis Matthew Bender, 2019). He was also the author of Chapter 2H, Real Property Valuation Law for Real Estate Financing—Beyond Traditional Appraisals, of REAL ESTATE FINANCING (LexisNexis Matthew Bender), revision author for Nichols on Eminent Domain®, Ch. G4, The Appraisal Process in Eminent Domain (Matthew Bender, 3d ed.) and author of the "Valuation Law" chapter of LexisNexis® Practice Guide: Pennsylvania Real Estate Litigation (LexisNexis Matthew Bender).

The author of Chapter 9, Mortgage Foreclosure, Brian H. Smith is an attorney with JSDC Law Offices, with offices in Hershey, Mechanicsburg, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Smith focuses his practice in all aspects of creditors' rights, including residential and commercial mortgage foreclosure, title insurance defense, ejectment, replevin, representation of creditors in bankruptcy court, landlord/tenant, and collections, as well as general commercial litigation. He is a frequent lecturer on mortgage foreclosure, ejectment, and title insurance issues for various national, state, and local continuing legal education providers, as well as for realtor and real estate investor groups throughout Pennsylvania. Mr. Smith is a Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude graduate of Dickinson College (1988), and received his law degree from Widener University School of Law (1992). He is admitted to practice in all Pennsylvania state courts and in the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Pennsylvania, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Brett M. Woodburn is the founder and managing member of Woodburn Law, a small firm that focuses much of its work on real estate related matters and professional licensing for real estate agents and brokers, among other licensed professionals. Brett focuses his practice on real estate law, and has been practicing various aspects of real estate law since 1999. He was associate general counsel to the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors® until 2017, and is currently counsel to the Realtors® Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh, the Pocono Mountain Association of Realtors®, the Allegheny Highlands Association of Realtors®, and the Cambria-Somerset Association of Realtors®. Since 1999, he has been representing, teaching, counselling, and defending real estate brokers and agents in all matters of real estate law, including failure to disclose cases, allegations of Fair Housing violations, and licensing prosecutions brought by the State Real Estate Commission. From 1997–1999, Brett served as a law clerk to the Honorable John M. Cleland of the 47th judicial district. He is a past president of the Dauphin County Bar Association, and past chair of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Mr. Woodburn graduated from Allegheny College, and received his juris doctor form the Claude W. Pettit College of Law at Ohio Northern University.