This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Foreclosing
Mortgaged Property and Vacant Property Registration" regulations.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Derry finds that:
A. Mortgage foreclosures and vacant properties have a negative impact
on all communities trying to manage the consequences of property vacancies
and abandoned real properties.
B. The Township has recognized an increase in the number of foreclosed
properties located throughout the Township.
C. The Township finds that the presence of foreclosed, vacant, and/or
abandoned properties can lead to a decline in property value, create
attractive nuisances, and lead to a general decrease in neighborhood
and community maintenance and aesthetics as a result of blighted foreclosed
properties.
D. The Township has already adopted property maintenance codes to regulate
building standards for the exterior of structures and the condition
of the property as a whole.
E. The Township is sometimes challenged to identify and locate owners
or foreclosing parties who can maintain the properties that are in
the foreclosure process, that have been foreclosed, or that are vacant.
F. The Township has a vested interest in protecting neighborhoods against
decay caused by foreclosed, vacant, and/or abandoned properties and
concludes that it is in the best interests of the health, safety,
and welfare of its citizens and residents to impose the registration
and certification requirements on foreclosed and vacant properties
located within the Township.
G. The Township desires to amend the Township's Code in order to
establish a vacant and/or foreclosed property registration process
for the identification of a contact person to address safety and aesthetic
concerns to minimize the negative impacts and blighting conditions
that occur as a result of the vacancy and/or abandonment of foreclosed
properties and vacant properties.
It is the purpose and intent of the Township to establish a
process to address the deterioration and blight of properties within
the Township that is caused by an increasing amount of foreclosed
real property and vacant property as defined hereinafter, and to identify,
regulate, limit, and reduce the number of vacant and/or abandoned
foreclosed properties. It is also the Township's intent to maintain
a registration program as a mechanism to protect neighborhoods from
becoming blighted due to the lack of adequate maintenance and security
of such foreclosed and vacant properties.
The Township is empowered to regulate land use activities that
affect building and housing regulations by the authority of Section
1527 of the Second Class Township Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
53 P.S. § 65101, et. seq.
This chapter applies to any foreclosed real property or vacant
property within the Township.
Any ordinance provision(s) or regulation of the Township inconsistent
with any of the provisions of this chapter is hereby repealed to the
extent of the inconsistency only.
In the event that any section or provision of this chapter is
declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision
shall not affect the validity of any of the remaining provisions of
this chapter.