A Hazleton man is suing the City of Pottsville and the Schuylkill County Tax Claim Bureau over a tax sale house that was torn down weeks after he bought it.
The lawsuit alleges Josue Baez was told at the sale that a demolition notice on the house was being canceled. The City is asking a judge to throw the case out.
Baez, through Pottsville attorney Thomas J. Pellish, filed the lawsuit Sept. 10 in Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas. He is seeking $20,000.
Baez bought 529 N. Third St. for $13,100 at the bureau’s July 23 judicial sale, according to the deed, which was recorded Aug. 4. The lawsuit says he paid another $1,400 in recording costs.
At the sale, Baez was told the property was being sold free and clear of all liens, the lawsuit says. He was also told the City was canceling a demolition notice on the property, according to the complaint. The complaint says Baez never received notice of a demolition and none was posted on the property.
Relying on that, Baez went to the City for a building permit to start renovating, the lawsuit says. Baez alleges the City denied the permit and told him the property was still scheduled for demolition and no permit would be issued.
The house was razed on Sept. 9, around the time the lawsuit was filed, as part of a project to shore up a failing retaining wall along Harrison St, aside Baez’ property. The City’s objections describe the case as involving property “which was allegedly demolished following said purchase.”
The lawsuit blames the Tax Claim Bureau, alleging Baez has run up added expenses “as a result of the misinformation from the Tax Claim Bureau.”
It also alleges that both the City and the bureau benefited financially from the sale because both received the back taxes owed on the property.
According to the lawsuit, Baez’s costs for the purchase, recording fees, cleaning out the property, and legal fees top $20,000.
The City’s attorney, Michael J. Salek, of Siana Law in Chester Springs, filed preliminary objections Oct. 12. He argues the complaint is too vague for the city to mount a defense.
The filing says the complaint doesn’t identify a law entitling Baez to the money he wants, a law the defendants are accused of breaking, or anything the City did that contributed to his losses.
“The City cannot adequately respond to the Complaint without the aforestated averments,” Salek writes.
The City is asking the court to sustain its objections and dismiss the complaint.
Preliminary objections are a defendant’s first chance to challenge a lawsuit, before answering the allegations. If a judge sustains objections over a lack of specifics, the plaintiff is often allowed to file an amended complaint.
The house was a 2½-story row home built around 1900, according to County assessment records.
According to the deed, the house was sold as the property of Kathy Ann Warhola. The deed shows it went through the County’s 2015 upset sale before this year’s judicial sale. Unlike an upset sale, a judicial sale clears a property of liens and mortgages.
The filings reviewed by Coal Region Canary earlier this week do not include a response from the Tax Claim Bureau or a ruling on the city’s objections.
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Jessica
November 1, 2026 at 11:15 pm
Thank you Coal Region Canary for this story!