In the May/June 2015 issue of Community Assets we featured a case that was recently decided in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, The Arches v. Robinson. The case was signicant because the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, aer a bench trial, awarded a Philadelphia condominium associaon 100% of its aorneys’ fees and costs ($26,206.68) in a collecon acon where the underlying debt of the unit owner was less than $1,200. At the me of publicaon, the case was maneuvering its way through the appeal process aer the defendant/unit wwner led an appeal to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. On December 29, 2015, the Commonwealth Court upheld the associaon’s verdict and denied the defendant/unit owner’s appeal. The following is a summary overview of the case, together with a synopsis of the appellate court’s ruling.


The Appellant, Lawrence Robinson (“Mr. Robinson”), owns a unit in The Arches Condominium Associaon (the “associaon”) located in Center City Philadelphia. Mr. Robinson failed to pay the correct amount of assessments each month for a period of several years, which resulted in a shorall of assessments due and owing to the associaon. Moreover, Mr. Robinson refused to pay special assessments for snow removal and garage repair. The total delinquency at the me the associaon iniated collecon proceedings in May, 2011, including aorneys’ fees, was less than $1,000.00.


Despite the associaon’s mely nocaon and iniaon of collecon proceedings of Mr. Robinson’s delinquency, Mr. Robinson failed and refused to respond to the associaon’s aempts to recfy the shorall. As such, the associaon was forced to le a Complaint in Philadelphia Municipal Court to collect his past due account balance. A three year bale ensued, during which me Mr. Robinson failed to respond to the associaon’s complaints, which resulted in several Default Judgments being entered against him, and necessitated addional work by the associaon’s aorneys. The associaon prevailed against Mr. Robinson at an arbitraon, which he then appealed.


Scott Reidenbach, Esq. 22 |


On May 15, 2014, aer a one day bench trial before the Honorable Alice Beck Dubow, the Court found in favor of the associaon, entering a verdict in the amount of $27,355.68 against Mr. Robinson. Of the verdict, $1,143.00 was apporoned toward delinquent assessments, fees, and late fees. The remaining $26,206.68 was awarded as the full amount of aorneys’ fees incurred by the associaon in pursuing Mr. Robinson’s delinquency. At trial, Mr. Robinson did not dispute that the unpaid assessments were owed, but challenged the amount and reasonableness of the aorneys’ fees. Kevin G.


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