Philadelphia v. Steward

Citations

• 31 Pa. Super. 72
• 1906 Pa. Super. LEXIS 156

Syllabus

<p>Municipal liens — Scire facias — Defective sidewalk — Sewer—Act of July 26, 1897, P. L. 420.</p> <p>The Act of July 26, 1897, P. L. 420, is to be strictly construed as applying only to the particular class of claims specifically described therein. As to all kinds of municipal claims not clearly embraced within its provisions the presumption is that the legislature intended to leave in force the former law which required that the scire facias be duly prosecuted to judgment as in the case of mechanics’ and judgment liens.</p> <p>A municipal lien for the cost of repairing a defective sidewalk is not within the provisions of the act of July 26, 1897.</p> <p>. While a municipal claim need not set out the provisions of the ordinance or ordinances under which the work was done, yet the lien, being of purely statutory creation, the claim must aver upon its face all the facts necessary to sustain its validity, and unless it does so, it may be summarily stricken off on motion. To state a claim so ambiguously as to leave it in doubt whether it is for repairing a defective sidewalk, or for making a sewer connection, is not a compliance with the true intent and spirit of the rule.</p>