[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Pottsville Ord.
No. 457 as 12-10-1991. Amendments noted where applicable.]
In order to prevent undue hardships and losses imposed on such purchasers
by owners who have failed to reveal the illegal use or condition of the property
being conveyed or who have made misrepresentation in that regard, the City
Council of the City of Pottsville finds that it is in the best interest of
the citizens of the City of Pottsville to declare that all sellers of property,
as defined herein, shall be required to advise the purchaser of the legal
use and condition of such property and to deliver to the purchaser prior to
the execution of the agreement of sale for such property a use registration
certificate, obtained from the Code Enforcement Officer, showing the legal
use and district classification for such property and the existence of any
existing structure, building, safety, plumbing, electrical or fire violations.
As used in this chapter, certain words or terms are defined as follows:
Any agreement or written instrument which provides that title to
any property shall thereafter be transferred from one owner to another owner
and includes, inter alia, written leases which contain options to purchase
the leased property and leases which provide that the lessee of the property
shall acquire title thereto after the payment of a stipulated number of regular
rent payments or after a stipulated period of time.
Any jurisdictional area or zone as set forth in Chapter 220, Zoning.
The Code Enforcement Officer or his designee of the City of Pottsville
Code Enforcement Office.
Any person, corporation, copartnership, association or fiduciary
having legal or equitable title or any interest in any real property. Whenever
used in any clause prescribing or imposing a penalty, the term "owner," as
applied to copartnership and association, means the partner or members thereof
and, as applied to corporations, the officers thereof.
Any residential building or structure which shall be limited to multifamily
dwellings of three (3) or more units.
Includes regulations promulgated by the federal government and the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A.
Prior to entering into any agreement of sale or exchange
of any property or prior to the transfer of property when no agreement of
sale is utilized, the owner shall obtain from the Code Enforcement Officer
or the Code Enforcement Office the use registration certificate as set forth
in this chapter, subject, however, to the following provisions:
(2)
Where such properties are sold at a foreclosure sale
or pursuant to the Real Estate Tax Sale Act of 1947 P.L. 1368, as amended,[2] or other judicial sale pursuant to federal or state statutes, the certificate set forth in § 172-4 shall not be required.
[2]
Editor's Note: See 72 P.S. § 5860.101 et seq.
B.
The certificate shall be valid for a period not to exceed
six (6) months from date of issue.
C.
However, upon request of owner, prior to the expiration of the six-month period referred to in Subsection B, the City of Pottsville Code Enforcement Officer may issue endorsements to the certificate, extending its validity for up to two (2) additional three-month periods, showing any changes to the information shown on the original certificate. There shall be no fee for the issuance of the endorsements. Each endorsement, however, shall extend the validity of the certificate for only three (3) months.
Upon application of the owner and the payment to the Code Enforcement
Office of a fee of fifty dollars ($50.), the Code Enforcement Officer or his
designee, within fifteen (15) days, shall review the pertinent records and
inspect the premises in question. Upon completion of the review and inspection,
the Code Enforcement Officer shall execute and deliver a use registration
certification to the owner which shall contain the following information:
A.
The street address or other appropriate description of
subject property in question, together with an extract of the applicable ordinances
showing the use permitted within that district.
B.
A statement of the variances and use permits, if any,
granted to that property, together with the conditions and restrictions of
such permits.
C.
A statement as to whether any construction, electrical,
plumbing or building permits have been issued for work not yet completed on
those premises.
D.
A statement as to whether there appears to be any nonconformity
or illegality in the structures on the property or the uses being made thereof.
This statement shall also indicate whether the property has been approved
or designated as a nonconforming use.
E.
A detailed list of all violations of the existing structure,
building, plumbing, electrical, safety or fire ordinances and regulations.
A.
Every owner shall insert in every agreement for the sale
of property a provision showing the district classification of such property
and stating whether the present use of the property is in compliance with
or in violation of district laws and ordinances, and every owner shall insert
in every agreement for the sale of property a provision disclosing whether
there exists any notice of an uncorrected violation of the existing structure,
building, plumbing, electrical, safety or fire ordinances and regulations.
B.
If any owner fails to include any provision required
by this chapter in an agreement for the sale of property, then in any action,
at law or in equity, instituted by a purchaser against the owner, it shall
be conclusively presumed that the owner at the time of the signing of such
agreement represented and warranted to the purchaser that such property was
being used in compliance with the then-existing laws and ordinances and that
there were no uncorrected violations of the existing structure, building,
plumbing, electrical, safety or fire ordinances or regulations.
Notwithstanding any other law or ordinance, the provisions of this chapter
may not be waived or disclaimed by any oral or written agreement executed
by any owner or purchaser.
A.
In the City of Pottsville, no owner shall sell their property or any interest therein unless the owner first delivers to the purchaser at or prior to the execution of any agreement of sale or prior to the transfer of title, should no agreement of sale be utilized, the use registration certificate described in § 172-4.
B.
The purchaser or transferee shall execute a receipt for
the certificate, as furnished by the City of Pottsville Code Enforcement Office,
and such receipt shall be delivered by the owner to the City of Pottsville
Code Enforcement Office as evidence of compliance with the provisions of this
chapter.
The use registration certificate shall be compiled from the records
of the City of Pottsville Code Enforcement Office and from an inspection of
the property. The issuance of the use registration certificate is not a representation
by the City of Pottsville or office that the subject property or its present
use is or is not in compliance with the law. Neither the enactment of this
chapter nor the preparation and delivery of any certificate required hereunder
shall impose any liability upon the City of Pottsville or the Code Enforcement
Office for any errors or omission contained in such certificate, nor shall
the City of Pottsville or Code Enforcement Office bear any liability not otherwise
imposed by law.
Appeals from the findings set forth in the use registration certificate
must be filed in writing with the Code Enforcement Officer of the Code Enforcement
Office within three (3) days after issuance of the certificate, and the Officer
will refer the appeal as follows:
A.
To the BOCA Code Board of Appeals where the conditions
reported constitute violations of the existing structure, building, plumbing,
electrical, safety or fire prevention code.
