FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
PHILADELPHIA MUNICIPAL COURT
President Judge Administrative Order

No. 55 of 2020

In re: Service of Writs and Alias Writs of Possession
by the Philadelphia Municipal Court’s Landlord-Tenant Officer

ORDER

AND NOW, this 9th day of September, 2020, pursuant to Pa.R.J.A. No. 1952(B)(2) and in light of the September 1, 2020 Order of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is hereby ORDERED AND DECREED THAT:

(1) The Philadelphia Municipal Court’s Landlord-Tenant Officer is directed to not serve any alias writs of possession in residential cases until September 23, 2020. An alias writ of possession is served at the time of the eviction/lockout.

(2) The Philadelphia Municipal Court’s Landlord-Tenant Officer is permitted to serve sixty writs of possession in residential cases between September 8 and 12, 2020, and ninety writs of possession in residential cases between September 14 and 19, 2020. Beginning on September 21, 2020, there shall be no limit as to the number of writs of possession in residential cases that the Landlord-Tenant Officer may serve. Along with a writ of possession, the Landlord-Tenant Officer, shall serve a notice describing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s September 1, 2020 Order and a blank Declaration. A writ of possession is served prior to an eviction/lockout and provides notice than an eviction/lockout may follow. In residential cases in which a writ of possession is served, no eviction/lockout will occur any earlier than September 23, 2020.

(3) In calculating the six-month period set forth in Rule 126(e) (“[a]n alias writ of possession may not be issued after six months from the date of the judgment for possession without leave of court”) and the 180-day period for serving alias writs of possession (the practice of the Philadelphia Municipal Court is to serve the alias writ of possession within 180 days from the entry of a judgment for possession), the time from March 16, 2020 through and including November 2, 2020 shall be excluded from the computation of those time periods.

(4) This Order supersedes conflicting provisions contained in any prior Administrative Order.

BY THE COURT:

/s/ Patrick F. Dugan
Patrick F. Dugan, President Judge
Philadelphia Municipal Court