E. Cox, a 97-year-old African American woman, and her son W. Cox, a 71-year-old African American man, lived on Baring Street in the Powelton Village Section of Philadelphia. Their family had owned the home where they lived for nearly seven decades. On December 24, 2022, the home caught on fire. Thankfully, the family was able to make it out safely, but there was significant damage to the home. Following the tragic fire, the family moved out of the home while the fire damage was remediated.

In March 2023, the Philadelphia Historical Commission designated the Property as “Historic” in the release of its Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. On April 13, 2023, Scioli Turco filed an Act 135 petition to become conservators of the home. P. Parker, the granddaughter of W. Cox, and heir to the property, contacted Scioli Turco when she received notice of the petition. She explained that the property was not abandoned, but deemed uninhabitable because of a devastating fire that occurred on December 24, 2022.

She explained that the property was not abandoned, but deemed uninhabitable because of a devastating fire that occurred on December 24, 2022.

Scioli Turco responded that records indicated the home was abandoned for over a year and had had been occupied by squatters. On April 20, Ms. Parker wrote to the attorney representing Scioli Turco and explained that the house was currently in remediation. On April 21, attorney for Scioli Turco responded that the home had numerous L&I violations and that Ms. Parker should provide proof of the anticipated scope of work and schedule for remediation. Ms. Parker then responded with evidence of the remediation that was underway and contacted the Powelton Village Neighborhood Association to make them aware of the petition. The neighborhood association again verified that the home was not abandoned and that the family was in the process of remediating the home.

On April 26, 2023, Scioli Turco agreed to withdraw the petition. In describing the experience of defending her family against the petition in the aftermath of the fire, Ms. Parker observed: “What’s most alarming is that we have to justify that the home was not vacant prior to the fire but [Scioli Turco] can simply state in their petition that a public search was completed without evidence. And we have to spend resources to combat predators.”

S. Randall is a 53-year-old African-American man who works as a social worker. In 2015, he inherited his mother’s home located on South 23 ^rd Street in Philadelphia. The home had been in the family for three generations. Mr. Randall and his wife planned to renovate the home and move in full-time to raise their family.

Mr. Randall’s first encounter with Scioli Turco was when a representative of the organization contacted him to ask if his home was for sale. He responded “no.” On August 27, 2018, Scioli Turco filed an Act 135 petition against Mr. Randall. Mr. Randall fought the petition and initially the court granted him conditional relief to make renovations on his own. However, despite completing significant work within a court-mandated six-month schedule, the court ultimately revoked conditional relief and appointed Scioli Turco as the conservator. The court entered a final disposition in their case on December 7, 2022, after Scioli Turco facilitated a sale of the home for $400,000.

Despite completing significant work within a court-mandated six-month schedule, the court ultimately revoked conditional relief and appointed Scioli Turco as the conservator.

In December, the court awarded the petitioner the following fees to be paid from the sale proceeds: $253,721.69 reimbursements to Scioli Turco for out-of-pocket expenses incurred during the conservatorship; $93,149.55 as reimbursement to Scioli Turco for legal fees; and up to $80,000 – or whatever sale proceeds remained – to Scioli Turco to satisfy the conservator fee. Scioli Turco agreed to waive the remaining balance of the $80,000 conservator fee. Mr. Randall received no monetary compensation from the sale despite spending thousands of dollars on repairs, permits, contractors, and legal fees.