Heiss v. Banister

Citations

• 176 Pa. 337
• 35 A. 203
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 1080

Syllabus

<p>Opening judgment — Petition — Corroborating proof — Ground rent — Presumption of extinguishment thereof.</p> <p>Where the petition of the terre tenant to open a judgment for arrears of ground rent sets forth that for tweny-five years preceding the filing of the petition no payment, claim or demand had been made for any ground rent, nor any declaration or acknowledgment of the existence of such ground rent had been made during that period by the owners of the premises, and that the terre tenant had no notice of the suit until the advertisement of the sheriff’s sale of the property, when she at once presented her petition; and where the depositions taken supported the allegations in the petition, the judgment should be opened and the terre tenant admitted to her defense; particularly where it is clear that plaintiff had a judgment for twice as much as she would be entitled to even if the terre tenant • failed to establish her defense.</p> <p>Opening judgment — Effect of filing no answer to petition.</p> <p>Independent of the testimony tafeen by depositions in support of the rule, the court would have been justified in opening the judgment where there is no answer filed denying the facts alleged in the petition.</p>