A sharp increase in landlord-tenant cases reshaped the local court docket last week.

Upper Merion Area Spotlight reviewed new filings in Magisterial District Courts 38-1-09 and 38-1-25 from Aug. 17 through Aug. 23, using the same Monday-through-Sunday filing-date methodology as the previous report.

In all, 82 cases were filed during the week, up slightly from 76 the week before.

But the overall total tells only part of the story.

Just four landlord-tenant cases were filed during the previous reporting period. Last week, that number jumped to 37 — more than nine times as many. The previous report showed landlord-tenant filings accounting for just 5.3% of all cases.

This week, they accounted for 45.1% of the entire docket.

These figures represent court filings, not necessarily separate incidents or unrelated parties. Filing a case also does not mean the plaintiff or Commonwealth ultimately prevailed.

The 37 landlord-tenant cases were not spread evenly among dozens of landlords.

Instead, the majority came from several large apartment properties.

Kingswood Apartments accounted for 25 filings, all filed Aug. 17 or Aug. 18.

One Kingswood case filed Aug. 17, for example, sought $7,389.88 and recovery of the property, with a hearing scheduled for Aug. 27. The docket showed no award of possession when reviewed.

Another four cases were filed by Abrams Run Apartments on Aug. 20.

Four more were filed by the ownership entity for 251 DeKalb on Aug. 17. One of those cases sought $5,811 and had a recovery-of-real-property hearing scheduled for Sept. 1. Again, the docket did not show possession having been granted when reviewed.

Additional landlord-tenant filings involved SKYE 750, Fairfield and other property owners.

The cases also illustrate why the weekly report is meant to track filings, rather than portray every filing as an eventual eviction.

One Abrams Run case filed Aug. 20 had already been withdrawn by Aug. 24, and its scheduled hearing was canceled.

That case still belongs in this week’s filing count because it was filed during the reporting period, but its later withdrawal is an important reminder that a landlord-tenant complaint is the beginning of a court action, not the final outcome.

Traffic cases moved in the opposite direction.

There were 25 traffic filings, down from 45 the previous week.

That dropped traffic from nearly 60% of all filings in the first report to about 30% this week.

As with the previous report, traffic docket numbers should not automatically be interpreted as separate traffic stops. A single police incident can produce multiple citations and therefore multiple docket numbers.

Spotlight will continue to account for shared incident numbers when reviewing traffic cases.

Criminal filings were relatively steady: nine this week compared with 10 the week before.

The most serious criminal complaint reviewed was filed Aug. 18 by Upper Merion Township Police and stemmed from an alleged Aug. 17 incident.

The docket lists two aggravated-assault charges — including first-degree and second-degree felonies — along with possession of an instrument of crime, possession of a weapon, simple assault, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, harassment and criminal mischief. The case was listed as active and awaiting a preliminary hearing when reviewed.

Another criminal complaint filed Aug. 19 included allegations of DUI, endangering the welfare of children, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, careless driving and several other Vehicle Code violations. The docket lists the alleged incident date as Aug. 10.

Other criminal filings during the week included allegations involving retail theft, receiving stolen property, theft by deception, DUI, false identification to law enforcement, obstruction and conspiracy.

All criminal charges described in this report are allegations. A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt, and charges can be withdrawn, dismissed, amended or otherwise change as a case proceeds.

The courts also recorded 10 non-traffic filings, up from six the week before.

Non-traffic cases generally involve summary-level offenses outside of the Vehicle Code.

These cases will continue to be tracked separately from both criminal cases and traffic citations so readers can see how each portion of the local court docket changes over time.

Perhaps the second-biggest week-to-week swing occurred in ordinary civil cases.

There were 11 civil filings in the previous reporting period.

Last week there was just one.

Like the sudden increase in landlord-tenant cases, one week is nowhere near enough data to call this a trend.

That is precisely why Spotlight is beginning to preserve the weekly numbers.

Over time, we should be able to distinguish a genuinely changing pattern from the normal week-to-week volatility of a local court docket.

Two weeks is a very small sample.

But the contrast between them demonstrates why looking beyond the total number of court cases can be useful.

During the first reporting period, the courts recorded 76 filings and traffic cases dominated the docket.

This week, the total increased only slightly to 82 — but the composition changed dramatically.

Traffic cases fell by 20.

Civil cases fell by 10.

Criminal cases barely changed.

And landlord-tenant filings increased by 33.

So two weeks with similar overall totals represented very different kinds of activity inside the local court system.

That is something Spotligh will continue to track.

The emphasis of these reports will remain on the cases, trends and court activity rather than publishing lists of defendants, tenants or other individuals involved.

Court information in this report is based on publicly available Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System docket records reviewed by Upper Merion Area Spotlight. Recent entries may not immediately appear on docket sheets, and case information can change as proceedings continue.

Enjoying the Spotlight? Don't stop here.

The best local stories come from the community. Have something that deserves the Spotlight? Email us at [email protected]

Thank you for reading,

Corey