The Village of Port Chester hereby creates a rental registry
for all two-family non-owner-occupied dwellings rented or leased within
the Village.
An application fee must be paid for each two-family non-owner-occupied dwelling that the owner(s) wishes to register to be submitted with the rental registry application form provided by the Department of Code Enforcement. The amount of the fee shall be as prescribed in Chapter
175, Fees.
To obtain a rental registry certificate, an owner of a two-family
non-owner-occupied dwelling must, at the time of registration:
A. Complete the rental registration application form as described in §
248-6; and
B. Pay with the application all required fees pursuant to §
248-4; and
C. Have no open cases with the Department of Code Enforcement for the
property being registered; and
D. Be current on all Village property taxes and special assessments
for the property being registered; and
E. Have no pending administrative or court enforcement proceedings brought
by the Village involving the property being registered; and
F. Submit to an exterior and interior inspection conducted by the Department of Code Enforcement under the terms and conditions set out in this chapter. Interior inspections shall be conducted with the consent of the property owner or property manager, and of tenant(s)/occupants(s) for rented or leased space, or if consent is not provided, pursuant to a warrant issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in lieu of an inspection by the Department of Code Enforcement an owner may provide for a New York State certified code official to certify on a form provided by the Department that the dwelling complies with the Property Maintenance Code. This section shall not be construed to require a person to consent to an inspection of the property in order to determine compliance with applicable code provisions. The Department of Code Enforcement shall make available a checklist of illustrative items that are the subject of inspection. A fee as set forth in Chapter
175, Fees, shall be prescribed for a reinspection(s) of the premises.
The owner of a two-family non-owner-occupied dwelling that has
a rental registry certificate shall immediately notify the Department
of Code Enforcement on a form prescribed by the Village of any change
in status, such as an impending sale of the premises or vacancy of
the unit(s).
An owner must conspicuously post the rental registration certificate
within a common space of the dwelling and must make the rental registry
certificate available to present to Department of Code Enforcement.
If there is no common space, then a copy of the rental registry certificate
must be conspicuously posted within the interior of each unit.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require a person to consent to an inspection of a property in order to determine compliance with applicable Code provisions. However, nor shall this chapter be construed as relieving the obligation of an owner to apply for and secure a rental registry certificate for the premises. When applying for a rental registry certificate which calls for an inspection, an owner shall have the right to decline to consent to the inspection. In such instance, the Village may, without further notice to the applicant, apply for a search warrant to conduct the inspection. However, if the premises are occupied, notice to the occupant or other person with apparent right of possession in accordance with the procedure outlined in §
248-12 shall be required.
It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully deny or unduly
delay entry or access to a designated code enforcement official with
a search warrant authorizing inspection of said premises, to willfully
deny or interfere with the inspection authorized by the warrant or
after receiving a copy of a warrant regarding the scheduling of an
inspection, to willfully fail to schedule a reasonable date and time
for the inspection as set forth in the warrant. Any person who violates
this section shall be subject to an application to be found in contempt
of court pursuant to Article 19 of the Judiciary Law and punishment
as provided therein.
Any person in violation of this chapter shall be subject to
a fine in an amount no less than or $500 nor exceeding $5,000, or
imprisonment not greater than 15 days, or both.