Are Petitions Which Are Refiled After Making Due Corrections Deemed to Be Filed on the Date They Were Presented to the Prothonotary ?

In Appeal of J.C. Penney Co., Inc., 89 Pa. Commw. 537, 492 A.2d 1189 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1985), the appellants timely filed petitions seeking review of changes in assessments. However, the prothonotary returned the petitions without filing them because they each lacked an attorney identification statement and a piece of tape over staples, as required by local rules of court. After curing these defects, the appellants eventually filed the petitions beyond the statutory appeal period. The trial court quashed the appeals as untimely, but our court reversed. Relying on Rule 126, we held that the omissions in question were truly de minimis, and, therefore, the petitions must be deemed to be properly filed on the date they were presented to the prothonotary.