[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Altoona 1-11-1995 by Ord. No.
5362. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Finance Director, by virtue of said position, is directly
involved with taxes and tax records and is hereby appointed as the
designated officer who is authorized to carry out all responsibilities
and duties as stated herein.
A.
No insurance company, association or exchange (hereinafter the "insuring
agent") doing business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall pay
a claim of a named insured for fire damage to a structure located
within the City of Altoona (hereinafter the "municipality") where
the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under all
policies exceeds $7,500, unless the insuring agent is furnished by
the Finance Director with a municipal certificate pursuant to Section
508(B) of Act 98 of 1992,[1] and unless there is compliance with the procedures set
forth in Section 508(C) and (D) of Act 98 of 1992 and the provisions
of this chapter.[2]
B.
Unpaid taxes and other charges.
(1)
The Finance Director shall, upon the written request of the named
insured specifying the tax description of the property, name and address
of the insuring agent, and the date agreed upon by the insuring agent
and the named insured as the date of the receipt of a loss report
of the claim, furnish the insuring agent either of the following within
14 working days of the request:
(a)
A certificate or, at the discretion of the municipality, a verbal
notification which shall be confirmed, in writing, by the issuer to
the effect that, as of the date specified in the request, there are
no delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties or user charges against
the property and that, as of the date of the Finance Director's
certificate or verbal notification, no municipality has certified
any amount as total costs incurred by the municipality for the removal,
repair or securing of a building or other structure on the property;
or
(b)
A certificate and bill showing the amount of delinquent taxes,
assessments, penalties and user charges against the property as of
the date specified in the request that have not been paid as of the
date of the certificate and also showing, as of the date of the Finance
Director's certificate, the amount of the total costs, if any,
certified to the Finance Director that have been incurred by the municipality
for the removal, repair or securing of a building or other structure
on the property. For the purposes of this subsection, the municipality
shall certify to the Finance Director the total amount, if any, of
such costs. A tax, assessment, penalty or user charge becomes delinquent
at the time and on the date a lien could otherwise have been filed
against the property by the municipality under applicable law.
(2)
Disposition of claims.
(a)
Upon the receipt of a certificate pursuant to Subsection B(1)(a) of this section, the insuring agent shall pay the claim of the named insured in accordance with the policy terms, unless the loss agreed to between the named insured and the insuring agent equals or exceeds 60% of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies covering the building or other structure. In the case of such a loss, the insuring agent, the insured property owner, and the municipality shall follow the procedures set forth in § 352-3A through F of this chapter.
(b)
Upon the receipt of a certificate and bill pursuant to Subsection B(1)(b) of this section, the insuring agent shall return the bill to the Finance Director and transfer to the Finance Director an amount from the insurance proceeds necessary to pay the taxes, assessments, penalties, charges and costs as shown on the bill. The municipality shall receive the amount and apply or credit it to payment of the items shown in the bill.
Where, pursuant to Section 508(b)(1)(i) of Act 98 of 1992,[1] the Finance Director issues a certificate indicating that
there are no delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties or user charges
against real property, the insuring agent shall pay the claim of the
named insured; provided, however, that if the loss is agreed upon
by the named insured and the insuring agent equals or exceeds 60%
of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies covering
the building restructure, the following procedures must be followed:
A.
The insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to
the designated officer of the municipality in the aggregate of $2,000
for each $15,000 and each fraction of that amount of a claim, this
section to be applied such that if the claim is $15,000 or less, the
amount transferred to the municipality shall be $2,000; or
B.
If at the time of a loss report the named insured has submitted a
contractor's signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing
or securing the building or other structure in an amount less than
the amount calculated under the foregoing transfer formula, the insuring
agent shall transfer to the municipality from the insurance proceeds
the amount specified in the estimate.
C.
The transfer of proceeds shall be on a pro rata basis by all insuring
agents insuring the building or other structure. Policy proceeds remaining
after the transfer to the municipality shall be disbursed in accordance
with the policy terms.
D.
After the transfer, the named insured may submit a contractor's signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing or securing the building or other structure, and the designated officer shall return the amount of the funds transferred to the municipality in excess of the estimate to the named insured, if the municipality has not commenced to remove, repair or secure the building or other structure. This subsection only applies to municipalities that have adopted an ordinance authorizing the procedure described in Subsections A through F of this section, and applies only to fire losses that occur after the adoption of this chapter. The chapter shall designate the officer authorized to carry out the duties of this section.
E.
Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the municipality shall
do the following:
(1)
The designated officer shall place the proceeds in the separate fund
to be used solely as security against the total cost of removing,
repairing or securing the building or structure which are incurred
by the municipality. Such costs shall include, without limitation,
any engineering, legal or administrative costs incurred by the municipality
in connection with such removal, repair or securing of the building
or any proceedings related thereto; and
(2)
It is the obligation of the insuring agent when transferring the
proceeds to provide the municipality with the name and address of
the named insured. Upon receipt of the transferred funds and the name
and address of the named insured, the designated officer shall contact
the named insured, certify that the proceeds have been received by
the municipality, and notify the named insured that the procedures
under this subsection shall be followed; and
(3)
When repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure
have been completed in accordance with all applicable regulations
and orders of the municipality, and the required proof of such completion
received by the designated officer, and if the municipality has not
incurred any costs for repairs, removal or securing, the fund shall
be returned to the named insured. If the municipality has incurred
costs for repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure,
the costs shall be paid from the fund and, if excess funds remain,
the municipality shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured;
and
(4)
To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held by the municipality
pursuant to this section and not returned to the named insured, such
interest shall belong to the municipality. To the extent that proceeds
are returned to the named insured, interest earned on such proceeds
shall be distributed to the named insured at the time that the proceeds
are returned.
F.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of
the municipality to recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing in
this subsection shall be construed to prohibit the municipality and
the named insured from entering into an agreement that permits the
transfer of funds to the named insured if some other reasonable disposition
of the damaged property has been negotiated.
G.
Proof of payment by the insuring agent of proceeds under a policy in accordance with Subsections A through D of this section is conclusive evidence of the discharge of its obligation to the insured under the policy to the extent of the payment and of compliance by the insuring agent with Subsections A through D of this section.
H.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to make an insuring agent
liable for any amount in excess of proceeds payable under its insurance
policy or for any other act performed pursuant to this section or
to make the municipality or public official an insured under a policy
of insurance or to create an obligation to pay delinquent property
taxes or unpaid removal liens or expenses other than as provided in
this section.
I.
An insuring agent making payments of policy proceeds under this section
for delinquent taxes or structure removal liens or removal expenses
incurred by the municipality shall have a full benefit of such payment,
including all rights of subrogation and of assignment.
K.
When an ordinance is first passed or adopted by the municipality under § 352-2 of this chapter or Subsections A through F of this section, or both, an exact copy of the ordinance shall be filed with the Department of Community and Economic Development together with the name, position and phone number of the municipal official responsible for compliance with this section. Each municipality enacting an ordinance under this section shall supply the information required by this subsection to the Department of Community and Economic Development as part of the implementation of its ordinance. The Department of Community and Economic Development shall periodically produce a register listing those municipalities filing the ordinance. This register shall be made available to insurance companies at minimum cost. An insurance company, association or exchange shall not be required to comply with any municipal ordinance if the municipality fails to provide a copy of the ordinance to the Department of Community and Economic Development.
L.
FINANCE DIRECTOR
MUNICIPALITY
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
An appointed Finance Director or other appropriate municipal
officer authorized to collect real property taxes.
Any city, borough, town, township or home rule municipality.
M.
This section shall be liberally construed to accomplish its purpose
to deter the commission of arson and related crimes, to discourage
the abandonment of property and to prevent urban blight and deterioration.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638(b)(1)(i).
The City of Altoona may, by resolution, adopt procedures and
regulations to implement Act 98 of 1992, Act 93 of 1994,[1] and this chapter, and may, by resolution, fix reasonable
fees to be charged for municipal activities or services provided pursuant
to Act 98 of 1992, Act 93 of 1994, and this chapter, including, but
not limited to, issuance of certificates and bills, performance of
inspections and opening separate fund accounts.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. §§ 636.1 and 638.
Any owner of property, any named insured or any insuring agent
who violates this chapter shall be subject to a penalty of up to $1,000
per violation.
