[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the City of
Washington: Article I on 4-13-1995 by Ord. No. 1497 and Article II on 4-13-1995 by Ord. No. 1498; amended
in its entirety 5-3-2007 by Ord. No. 1777 (Ch. 10, Part 10A and
B, of the 1986 Code of Ordinances). Subsequent amendments noted where
applicable.]
A.
The Building Inspector 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 City of Washington (hereinafter referred to as "municipality").
B.
A fire loss or claim for fire damages is defined as any loss occurring
after the effective date of this article and covered under a policy
of fire insurance, including any endorsement or riders to that policy.
A.
No insurance company, association or exchange (hereafter 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 Washington, Pennsylvania, where the amount for the fire loss to the structure under all policies exceeds $7,500, unless the insurer in furnished by the municipal officer with a municipal certificate pursuant to the terms of this chapter and unless there is compliance with all of the provisions of this article as well as the provisions of the ordinance adopted by the City of Washington, requiring the payment of delinquent taxes from fire insurance proceeds, known and designated as Bill No. 5 of 1995, Ordinance No. 1498, and codified at Article II of this chapter, (hereinafter referred to as "Ordinance Requiring the Payment of Delinquent Taxes from Fire Insurance Proceeds"), as approved by Council and as hereinafter modified by Council from time to time hereafter.
B.
After full compliance with the requirements set forth above, and of the ordinance requiring the payment of delinquent taxes from fire insurance proceeds in Article II of this chapter, the insurer shall pay the claim of the named insured; provided, however, that if the loss agreed upon by the named insured and insurer equals or exceeds 60% of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies covering the building structure, the following procedures shall be followed:
(1)
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 a) that this section
is to be applied such that, if the claim is $15,000 or less, the amount
transferred to the City shall be $2,000; and b) that, 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 insurer shall transfer to
the City from the insurance proceeds the amount based upon the estimate.
(2)
The transfer of proceeds shall be on a pro rata basis by all companies,
associations or exchanges insuring the building or other structure.
Policy proceeds remaining after the transfer to the City shall be
disbursed in accordance with the policy terms.
C.
After the transfer, the named insured may submit a contractor's
signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing or securing the
building or the structure, and the designated officer shall return
the amount of the funds transferred to the City in excess of the estimate
to the named insured if the City has not commenced to remove, repair
or secure the building or other structure.
D.
Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the City shall do the
following:
(1)
The municipal officer shall cause any proceeds received to be paid
to the Treasurer to be placed 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 City. Such costs
shall include, without limitation, any engineering, legal or administrative
costs incurred by the City in connection with such removal, repair
or securing of the building or any proceedings related thereto.
(2)
It is the obligation of the insurer when transferring the proceeds
to provide the City with the name and address of the named insured.
Upon the receipt of the transferred funds and the name and address
of the named insured, the municipal officer, Treasurer or their designee
shall contact the named insured, certify that the proceeds have been
received by the City, and notify the named insured that the procedures
under this subsection shall be followed.
(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 City and the required proof of such completion received
by the municipal officer, and if the City has not incurred any costs
for repairs, removal or securing, the Treasurer shall return the funds
to the named insured. If the City 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 City
Treasurer shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured.
(4)
To the extent that the interest is earned on proceeds held by the
City pursuant to this section and retained by it, such interest shall
belong to the City. 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.
(5)
Notify the Treasurer in writing, as soon as is practical, of the
receipt of the proceeds from the insurer and any disbursement of the
resolution of the claim or proposed funds to the named insured or
otherwise.
E.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit any rights of
the City, including, but not limited to, the ability of the City to
recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing in this article shall
be construed to prohibit the City and the named insured from entering
into an agreement that permits the transfer of fund to the named insured
if some other reasonable disposition of the damaged property has been
negotiated.
A.
The City of Washington may by resolution adopt procedures and regulations
to implement the provision and intent of this article and may by resolution
fix reasonable fees to be charged for municipal activities or services
provided pursuant to the terms of this article, including, but not
limited to, issuance of certificates and bills, performance of inspections
and opening of separate fund accounts.
B.
Any person or entity requesting a certificate pursuant to this article
shall submit a written request with a certificate fee of $20. The
City of Washington may by resolution adopt any additional procedures
or regulations to enforce this article and may modify the fees charged
for certificates and otherwise by resolution.
C.
The property owner and/or insured shall pay all costs incurred by
the City for the removing, repairing or securing of the premises and/or
structure, which shall include, without limitations, all actual costs
incurred for materials, labor and otherwise, as well as any and all
engineering, legal and administrative costs incurred by the City in
connection with such removal, repair and/or securing of the premises
or structure. Said costs and expenses shall become a lien on the property
and collected in any manner provided by law.
Any owner of property, any named insured, or any insurer who
violates this article shall be subject to a penalty of not less than
$100 and not more than $1,000 per violation.
A.
The Treasurer or such official's designee (hereafter, the "Treasurer")
is hereby appointed as the designated officer who is authorized to
carry out all responsibilities and duties of the City of Washington
(hereinafter referred to as "municipality") stated herein.
B.
A fire loss or claim for fire damage is defined as any loss occurring
after the effective date of this article and covered under a policy
of fire insurance, including any endorsement or riders to the policy.
A.
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 Washington, Pennsylvania, 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 this article and the provision provided in the ordinance provided by the City of Washington establishing escrow procedures for payment of fire insurance proceeds, known and designated as Bill No. 4 of 1995, Ordinance No. 1497, and codified at Article I of this chapter (hereinafter referred to as "Ordinance Establishing Escrow Procedures for Payment of Fire Insurance Proceeds").
B.
The Treasurer shall, upon 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 receipt of a loss report of the claim, furnish the insurer
either of the following within 14 working days of the request:
(1)
A certificate or, at the discretion of the City, 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 notification, the City has not certified any amount as total
costs incurred by the City for the removal, repair or securing of
a building or other structure on the property.
(2)
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 Treasurer's certificate,
the amount of the total costs, if any, certified to the Treasurer
that have been incurred by the City for the removal, repair or securing
of a building or other structure on the property. For the purposes
of this subsection, the City shall provide to the Treasurer the total
amount, if any, of such costs, if available, or the amount of costs
known to the City at the time of the Treasurer's certificate.
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 City under applicable law.
C.
Upon receipt of a certificate pursuant to Subsection B(1) of this section, the insurer shall pay the claim of the named insured in accordance with the policy terms, subject to the provisions of the ordinance establishing escrow procedures for payment of fire insurance proceeds in Article I of this chapter.
D.
Upon the receipt of a certificate and bill pursuant to Subsection B(2) of this section, the insurer shall return the bill to the Treasurer/Officer and transfer to the Treasurer 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 City shall receive the amount and apply or credit it to payment of the items shown in the bill.
E.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit any rights of
the City, including, but not limited to, the ability of the City to
recover any deficiency.
A.
The transfer of proceeds to the Treasurer shall be on a pro rata
basis by all insurers with applicable policies of insurance providing
protection for fire loss.
B.
The City of Washington may by resolution adopt additional procedures
and regulations to implement the terms of this article and may by
resolution fix reasonable fees to be charged for municipal activities
or services provided pursuant to this article, including, but not
limited to, issuance of certificates and bills.
C.
Any person or entity requesting a certificate pursuant to this article
shall submit a written request along with a certificate fee of $20.
The City of Washington may by resolution adopt any additional procedures
or regulations to enforce this article and may modify the fees charged
for certificates and otherwise by resolution.
Any owner of property, any named insured, or any insurer who
violates this article shall be subject to a penalty of not less than
$100 and not more than $1,000 per violation.
