Section 342. Failure of Judgment Creditor to Enter Satisfaction; Supplementary Action

A. If the judgment creditor does not enter satisfaction within the 90 day period after service of the request as specified in Rule 341C, the judgment debtor may commence a supplementary action for damages by filing a civil complaint in the office of the magisterial district judge in which the request for entry of satisfaction was filed.

B. (1) Except as provided in subparagraph B(2), upon the filing of a complaint as provided in subdivision A, the action shall proceed as a civil action in accordance with the rules of the 300 Series.

(2) No claim under Rule 315 will be permitted in a supplementary action filed pursuant to this Rule.

Official Note

A judgment debtor may seek damages pursuant to Section 8104(b) of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 8104(b). The action commenced under subdivision A of this Rule is a supplementary proceeding in the matter in which the judgment was entered. As such, it must be filed in the office of the magisterial district judge in which the request for entry of satisfaction was filed. Also, it must be indexed to the same docket number as, and made a part of the record of, the underlying action. See Rule 306 and Note. Because the supplementary action is merely a continuation of the underlying action, there are no filing costs for it, however there may be costs for service of the action. The requester shall be required to pay for all costs associated with initiating entry of satisfaction.

Subdivision B provides that, once a supplementary action is filed under subdivision A, the proceedings in the action, including the form of the complaint, setting the hearing date, service, and hearing, should proceed as if a regular civil action, except that no cross-complaints under Rule 315 will be permitted. See Rules 304 through 381. While it is not the intent of this rule to limit defenses that may be raised in a supplementary action, only those issues arising from the Rule 342 supplementary action are to be considered at the hearing. Therefore, subparagraph B(2) makes clear that no cross-complaints are permitted to be filed.

When rendering judgment in an action filed pursuant to this rule, the magisterial district judge may determine if the judgment debtor is entitled to damages under Section 8104(b) of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 8104(b), and whether satisfaction should be entered on the underlying judgment.

A party may appeal from a judgment in an action filed pursuant to this rule, but issues on appeal are limited to those raised in the action filed under this rule. See Rule 1007.

The provisions of this Rule 342 adopted April 5, 2002, effective January 1, 2003, 32 Pa.B. 2199; amended September 8, 2008, effective October 1, 2008, 38 Pa.B. 5164. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (319888) and (309535).