[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Lancaster: Art.
I, Article 1511 of the Codified Ordinances; amended in its entirey 3-14-1995
as Ord. No. 1-1995. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
The Treasurer of the City of Lancaster or such official's designee (hereinafter
the "Municipal Officer") is hereby appointed as the designated officer who
is authorized to carry out all responsibilities and duties of the municipality
stated herein.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Any loss occurring after the effective date of this article and covered
under a policy of fire insurance, including any endorsement or riders to said
policy of fire insurance.
No insurance company, association or exchange (hereinafter the "insurer")
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 Lancaster,
County of Lancaster, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (hereinafter the "municipality"),
where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under all
policies exceeds $7,500, unless the insurer and the named insured comply with
the provisions of Section 508(b)[1] and the provisions of this article.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638(b).
A.Â
The Municipal Officer shall, upon the written request
of the named insured specifying the tax description of the property, name
and address of the insurer and the date agreed upon by the insurer and the
named insured as the date of a receipt of a loss report of the claim, furnish
the insurer either of the following within 14 working days of the request:
(1)Â
A certificate or, at the discretion of the municipality,
a verbal notification which shall be confirmed in writing by the insurer 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 Municipal Officer's certificate or verbal notification,
the municipality has not 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
(2)Â
A certificate and bill showing the amount of the municipal
liens, delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties and use 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 Municipal
Officer's certificate, the amount of the total cost, if any, certified to
the Municipal Officer 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 clause, the municipality shall provide to the Municipal
Officer the total amount, if any, of such costs, if available or the amount
of costs known to the municipality at the time of the Municipal Officer's
certificate.
B.Â
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.
A.Â
Upon the receipt of a certificate pursuant to § 173-A(1)
of this article, the insurer shall pay the claim of the named insured in accordance
with the policy terms.
B.Â
Upon the receipt of a certificate and bill pursuant to
§ 173-A(2) of this article, the insurer shall return the bill to
the Municipal Officer and transfer to the Municipal Officer an amount from
the insurance proceeds necessary to pay the taxes, assessments, penalties,
charges and costs as shown on the bill or the full amount of the insurance
proceeds, whichever is the lesser amount. The municipality shall receive the
amount and apply or credit it to payment of the items shown in the bill.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to limit the ability of the
municipality to recover any deficiency in taxes, assessments, penalties, charges
and costs as detailed herein following payment from the insurer and crediting
of such payment to the bill by the municipality.
The transfer of proceeds of insurance pursuant to § 173-6 of this article to the Municipal Officer shall be on a pro rata basis by all insurers with applicable policies of insurance providing protection for fire loss.
No insurer doing business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall
pay a claim of a named insured for a fire damage to a structure located within
the municipality where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure
under all policies exceeds $7,500, unless the insurer is furnished by the
Municipal Officer with a municipal certificate pursuant to Section 508(b)[1] and § 173-4 of this article and unless there is compliance with Sections 508(c) and (d).[2]
After full compliance with the requirements of Section 508(b)(1)(i)[1] and §§ 173-4 through 173-8 of this article, the insurer shall pay the claim of the named insured; provided, however, that if the loss as agreed upon by the named insured and the insurer equals 60% of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies covering the building structure, the following procedures shall be followed:
A.Â
The insurer shall transfer from the insurance proceeds
to the Municipal Officer the aggregate of $2,000 for each $15,000 of a claim
and for each fraction of that amount of a claim, provided that this section
is to be applied such that if the claim is $15,000 or less, the amount transferred
to the municipality shall be $2,000, and that if at the time of a loss report
the named insured has submitted a contract or 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
insurer shall transfer to the municipality from the insurance proceeds the
amount based upon the estimate.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638(b)(1)(i).
After the transfer of proceeds to the Municipal Officer pursuant to § 173-9 of this article, the named insured may submit a contractor's signed estimate of the cost of removing, repairing or securing the building or other structure, and the Municipal 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.
Upon receipt of proceeds of insurance under § 173-9 of this article, the municipality shall do the following:
A.Â
The Municipal Officer shall place the proceeds in a separate
fund to be used solely as security against the total costs 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.
B.Â
It is the obligation of the insurer 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 Municipal Officer shall contact the named insured,
certify that the proceeds have been received by the municipality and notify
the named insured that the procedures established under this section shall
be followed.
C.Â
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 Municipal Officer and if the municipality has not incurred any costs
for repairs, removal or securing, the funds 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.
D.Â
To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held
by the municipality pursuant to this section of this article and retained
by it, such interest shall belong to the municipality. To the extent that
the 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.
A.Â
Nothing in §§ 173-8 through 173-11 of this article shall be construed to limit the ability of the municipality to recover any deficiency remaining after application of the proceeds escrowed by the municipality against costs incurred by the municipality in removing, repairing or securing the building or structure.
B.Â
Furthermore, nothing in §§ 173-8 through 173-11 of this article 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.
The City Council of the municipality may, by resolution, adopt additional
procedures and regulations to implement Section 508[1] and this article and may, by resolution, fix reasonable fees to
be charged for municipal activities or services provided pursuant to Section
508 and this article, including but not limited to issuance of certificates
and bills.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638.
Any owner of property, any named insured or any insurer who violates
this article shall be subject to a penalty of up to $1,000 per violation.
A certified copy of this article shall be filed with the Department
of Community Affairs of Pennsylvania on or before its effective date.