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City of Lower Burrell, PA
Westmoreland County
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Table of Contents
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[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Lower Burrell as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 4-9-1974 by Ord. No. 3-1974]
[Amended 2-8-1999 by Ord. No. 5-1999]
The owners, lessors and rental agents of all real estate, residences, apartments, stores and other structures in the City of Lower Burrell leased, offered for lease or occupied by persons, partnerships, corporations or others than the owner thereof shall, within 15 days after effective date of this article, supply to the City Treasurer of the City of Lower Burrell lists of names and addresses of all current lessees and occupants of real estate, residences, apartments, stores and other structures of which they are the owners, lessors or rental agents and shall thereafter supply to the City Treasurer in writing, and within 15 days, the names and addresses of all new lessees or occupants of such premises.
The City Treasurer shall supply the names and addresses of all lessees and occupants of real estate obtained by him hereunder or by any other means to all other officials and departments of the City requesting same for the proper performance of their duties.
[Amended 2-8-1999 by Ord. No. 5-1999[1]]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 plus costs and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 30 days. Each day a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
[Adopted 12-10-2007 by Ord. No. 6-2007]
A rental agreement license is required before any new tenant be allowed to rent, dwell or occupy in any fashion a unit until all procedures, policies and protocols are fulfilled, culminating in the issuance of a rental license by the City Treasurer.
A rental license is contingent upon the successful inspection of the Code Enforcement Department. The Code Enforcement Officer will review each unit based on a standardized check list (Appendix A).[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A, Inspection Form Checklist, is on file in the City offices.
The fee structures charged to the landlord/property owner will be $35 for each of the first two inspections, $100 for the third inspection and $125 for every inspection thereafter.
A flow chart of this application process is detailed in Appendix B.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix B, Flow Chart, is on file in the City offices.
After each inspection, the property owner will be provided a list of the deficiencies (Appendix C).[1] The property owner will correct the deficiencies before reoccupancy. The Code Enforcement Officer may grant an extension based on the magnitude of the deficiency to be corrected.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix C, Burstible Form Highlighting Inspector's Deficiencies, is on file in the City offices.
A license will not be issued if smoke detectors are lacking in terms of operation or appropriate number.
Also, in the event a landlord/property owner rents, allows dwelling or occupation of a dwelling that has been vacated by the previous tenants without going through the application process, the property owner will incur a fine of up to $1,000 and will then be subject to the inspection process with the current tenant in this unit.
It should be noted that an application can be failed for any inspection deficiency as well as any incomplete or missing information pertaining to either the landlord or prospective tenant. All information must be accurate to the best of the landlord's knowledge at the time of the application.
Existing structures will be subject to a "grandfather" for existing structural dimensions, provided the existing structures offer no undue safety hazard, as determined by the Code Enforcement Officer, subject to appeal as stipulated in the International Property Maintenance Code (current edition).
All tenant and landlord information listed must be provided at the time of application and such information may be used for any purpose by any City entity deemed appropriate by Mayor and Council.
All landlords/property owners must inform the Code Enforcement Officer of all rental properties in the City of Lower Burrell. This notice shall be received in writing on or before 30 days after passage of this article. Further, all new acquisitions designated for rental throughout the year must be reported to the Code Enforcement Officer within 10 days after real estate settlement closing on the property. Failure to comply shall be interpreted as bypassing the procedure and will incur a fine of up to $1,000. Also, any landlord that furnishes false information to the City or uses false name or address will be sentenced to a fine of up to $1,000.
This article is not meant to be all encompassing; therefore, in the event, a subject topic was not explicitly addressed, the procedure will default to the guidelines of the International Property Maintenance Code, latest edition.