Dec 18, 2012 3 min read

Washington County President Judge Debbie O’Dell Seneca has issued an injunction against county Recorder of Deeds Debbie Bardella as requested by three trustees of a McMurray online realty company.

However, Bardella said the injunction does not change how she runs her office or procedures regarding the transfer or recording of deeds.

“Actually, we won,” said Bardella Tuesday. “They agreed to my requirements.”

Jan Ondra, George Ondra and Billy Jo Sanders, trustees for LotsofRealty.com, filed suit Nov. 7, claiming Bardella, who also serves as director of the county tax revenue department and tax claim bureau, is delaying the transfer of deeds by imposing additional requirements that are not required under state law through her position as recorder of deeds. The complaint specifically mentions properties purchased by the group at a tax sale in July.

According to the suit, Bardella has refused to file deeds granted to a trust that do not name an individual, execute a trust agreement or contain a concise property description.

The men also contended it is a conflict of interest for Bardella to hold all three positions and, as tax bureau director, she is required to sell property without regard to whether an individual trustee is named on a deed. However, for the purpose of the injunction request, the plaintiffs’ attorney, Herbert Terrell, confined the issue to the additional recorder of deeds requirements during a hearing last month before O’Dell Seneca.

At the hearing, Terrell presented the judge with two deeds held by his clients that were recently recorded in Westmoreland and Fayette counties without listing an individual trustee. He cited a 2012 Commonwealth Court case to support the argument Bardella’s requirements run contrary to statutory law.

Attorneys Tom Vreeland and Blane Black argued Bardella’s practices are compliant not only with state law, but also local ordinances created by the county commissioners, and that what is done in other counties does not affect how they are done in Washington County.

“It’s our interpretation of the law that we can require this information,” Black said. “A trust does not own property and cannot hold title to it. A trustee holds title for the trust.”

According to Black, if an individual trustee is not required to be named on a deed, then an unscrupulous person could get rid of a problem property by transferring it to someone else without their knowledge. Additionally, the tax assessment office can levy a lien only against a trustee, not a trust.

Vreeland said the issue is not knowing who is responsible for the trusts. He argued proper acknowledgement should be presented for the deed to be recorded.

In her order, O’Dell Seneca said Bardella cannot refuse to accept deeds so long as they met two parameters: the deeds with trusts listed on them will be properly acknowledged by the trustee for the respective trust, and the deed will be in compliance with the Parcel Identification Number System.

“That’s all I ever asked,” Bardella said.

This is not the first run-in between Bardella and the trustees of LotsofRealty.com.

Last year, LotsofRealty.com had listed property at North Main and West Chestnut streets in downtown Washington for sale at auction on eBay. The property was listed as being owned by the Main Street Trust with the main trustee being Kim J. Gobert of Moscow, Russia.

The property received bids, but the sale allegedly fell through when it was discovered there were more than $1.2 million in federal and state tax liens against the property. According to Bardella, the buyer would be liable for the liens.