Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Pennsylvania

Hi,

I am an landlord in Philadelphia, Pa. I am in the process of an eviction. Last week I had a hearing regarding the eviction of my commercial tenants on the first floor of a property that I own, in which there is also a vacant two story apartment above the store. They didn't attend the hearing, and then promptly filed a petition to open default judgment a few days later. Their petition was granted. My question is, is there any action I can take against this? My understanding is that I have to wait for a hearing; however, I do not think that they gave good enough defense to have the judgment opened. Their reason for not attending the hearing was that they did not know about it, even though there were dockets showing letters that were mailed to them from the court and from my lawyer regarding the hearing date. The reason of defense that they are giving is that they were in the process of adverse possession, even though they have only occupied the space in question for 2.5 years. I'm not even sure what constitutes adverse possession, but their argument to the court is that I told them not to pay any rent and that I had abandoned the property, none of which is true. Their supporting evidence was a property tax bill that they opened, addressed to me, stating that my taxes were overdue and dated last year. Currently my taxes are up to date, and I have been having financial difficulty specifically because they have refused to pay me rent. I just feel devastated that these ridiculous reasons were enough to open the judgment, and now I will most likely have to wait, while they occupy the space for free, until another hearing is listed. I am pretty confident that when I go to court the judge will rule in my favor; however, the considerable financial burden of having to wait for yet another court date and then for the appeal process just seems so unjust. These people are taking advantage of me, and almost admittedly so by stating "adverse possession" in their defense! Is there a higher court I can appeal to? Can I write a letter to the judge, showing that my taxes are up to date, and requesting that "adverse possession" is a ridiculous defense for a non-paying tenant? These people have also committed serious damage to the property, made violent threats against me and my family, and refuse to allow me entry to the property, even into the vacant apartment upstairs, which they have no right to and broke into. I have police reports for all of these events, but have not pressed formal charges for the damages yet. The police are unable to do anything but write up reports for these incidents, as they consider it a landlord tenant issue. There is also the issue that they are opening my mail, and submitting it as evidence to support their case! I have requested all mail addressed to me be forwarded by the post office, but I'm not confident that that is full-proof. Is there anything else I can do? I was so relieved when they didn't show up, and now it looks as though I will have to wait even longer than before until this eviction becomes final. I feel helpless.

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