[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Baldwin as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 7-28-2009 by Ord. No. 820]
This article shall be known as the Borough of Baldwin "Rental
and Real Estate Transfer Inspection Ordinance."
It is the purpose of this article and the policy of the Council
of the Borough of Baldwin, in order to protect and promote the public
health, safety and welfare of its citizens, to establish rights and
obligations of owners and occupancy relating to the rental and sale
of residential units in the Borough of Baldwin and to encourage owners
and occupants to maintain and improve the quality of housing within
the community. It is also the policy of the Borough that owners, managers
and occupants share responsibilities to obey the various codes adopted
to protect and promote public health, safety and welfare. As a means
to those ends, this article provides for a system of inspections,
issuance and renewal of occupancy permits and sets penalties for violations.
In addition, there is a greater incidence of violations of various
codes of the Borough of Baldwin in residential rental properties where
owners rent properties to tenants. This article shall be liberally
construed and applied to promote its purposes and policies. In considering
the adoption of this article, the Borough of Baldwin makes the following
findings.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The Borough of Baldwin, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Any code or ordinance adopted, enacted and/or in effect in
and for the Borough of Baldwin concerning fitness for habitation or
the construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use or appearance
for any premises or residential unit. Included within, but not limited
by, this definition are the following which are in effect as of the
date of the enactment of this article: the Uniform Construction Code
(hereafter "UCC"), International Property Maintenance Code, International
Plumbing Code, International Fire Prevention Code, International Electrical
Code, Floodplain Management Ordinance, International Building Code
and any duly enacted amendment or supplement to any of the above and
any new enactment falling within this definition.
The duly appointed Code Enforcement Officer(s) having charge
of the Office of Code Enforcement of the Borough of Baldwin and any
assistants or agents.
Any open area within a structure by occupants or that the
occupants have the right to share, including, but not limited to,
kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, attics, basements
and any room used for parties, social events or the congregation of
people, excepting bedrooms.
Any form of conduct, action, incident or behavior perpetrated,
caused or permitted by any occupant or visitor of a residential unit
that is so loud, untimely (as to the hour of the day), offensive,
riotous or that otherwise disturbs other persons of reasonable sensibility
in their peaceful enjoyment of their premises such that a report is
made to police and/or to the Code Enforcement Officer complaining
of such conduct, action, incident or behavior. It is not necessary
that such conduct, action, incident or behavior constitute a criminal
offense, nor that criminal charges be filed against any person, in
order for a person to have perpetrated, caused or permitted the commission
of disruptive conduct, as defined herein; provided, however, that
no disruptive conduct shall be deemed to have occurred unless the
Code Enforcement Officer or police shall investigate and make a determination
that such did occur, and keep written records, including a disruptive
conduct report, of such occurrence.
One or more persons, jointly or severally, in whom is vested
all or part of the legal title to the premises or all or part of the
beneficial ownership and a right to the present use and enjoyment
of the premises, including a mortgage holder in possession of a residential
rental unit (same as "owner").
The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, 68 P.S. § 250.101
et seq.
An adult individual designated by the owner of a residential
rental unit.
The permit issued to the owner of residential rental units
under this article, which is required for the lawful occupancy of
residential units.
An individual who resides in a residential rental unit, whether
or not he or she is the owner thereof, with whom a legal relationship
with the owner/landlord is established by a lease or by the laws of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
One or more persons, jointly or severally, in whom is vested
all or part of the legal title to the premises or all or part of the
beneficial ownership and a right to the present use and enjoyment
of the premises, including a mortgage holder in possession of a residential
rental unit.
A rental unit in which the owner resides on a regular, permanent
basis.
A natural person, partnership, corporation, unincorporated
association, limited partnership, trust or any other entity.
The Police Department of the Borough of Baldwin or any properly
authorized member or officer thereof or any other law enforcement
agency having jurisdiction within the Borough of Baldwin.
Any parcel of real property in the Borough, including the
land and all buildings and appurtenant structures or appurtenant elements,
on which one or more rental units are located.
Property consisting of a single-family detached home and
land.
A written agreement between owner/landlord and occupant/tenant
embodying the terms and conditions concerning the use and occupancy
of a specified residential rental unit or premises.
Any structure within the Borough of Baldwin which is occupied
by someone other than the owner of the real estate as determined by
the most current deed and for which the owner of the said parcel of
real estate received any value, including but not limited to money,
or the exchange of services. Each apartment within a building is a
separate structure requiring inspection and a license.
Any human-made object, the use of which requires an ascertainable
stationary location on land, whether or not it is affixed to the land.
Each apartment within a building is a separate structure.
An individual who resides in a rental unit, whether or not
he or she is the owner thereof, with whom a legal relationship with
the owner/landlord is established by a lease or by the laws of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (same as "occupant").
A.
It shall be the responsibility of every owner to register with the
Borough of Baldwin a contact name and twenty-four-hour telephone number
for emergency purposes.
B.
C.
Maintenance of premises.
(1)
The owner shall maintain the premises in compliance with the applicable
codes of the Borough of Baldwin and shall regularly perform all routine
maintenance, including lawn mowing and ice and snow removal and shall
promptly make any and all repairs necessary to fulfill this obligation.
(2)
The owner and occupant may agree that the occupant is to perform
specified repairs, maintenance tasks, alterations or remodeling. In
such case, however, such agreement between the owner and occupant
must be in writing. Such an agreement may be entered into between
the owner and occupant only if:
(3)
In no case shall the existence of any agreement between owner and
occupant relieve an owner of any responsibility under this article
or other ordinances or codes for maintenance of the premises.
D.
Registration. Every owner of a residential rental unit must register
the unit with the Code Enforcement Officer in accordance with the
following schedule:
(1)
All owners of residential units must register the units with the
Code Enforcement Officer within 30 days after the effective date of
this article.
(2)
Any individual, entity or firm which converts any structure to a
residential rental unit or units shall register the residential rental
unit or units with the Code Enforcement Officer of the Borough of
Baldwin within 30 days of the completion of the conversion of the
unit or units; within 30 days of the time when any rent, including
the exchange of other services for the unit or units, is obtained;
or within 30 days of the date within which a tenant or tenants occupy
the unit or units, whichever time period is sooner.
(3)
It shall be the responsibility of the grantee and the grantee's
agent in the purchase of the said real estate, including the grantee's
attorney or title company, to notify Baldwin Borough within 72 hours
of any purchase or transfer of a rental unit building or real estate
residential property.
(4)
The owner of a residential rental unit must update the registration
information on record with the Code Enforcement Officer within 10
days of any changes of the information set forth below.
(5)
Registration information shall be provided by all owners and shall
include the following:
(6)
Any owner of a residential rental unit shall notify the Borough of
Baldwin within 10 days of a new tenant occupying, renting or residing
in the landlord's or owner's residential rental unit.
(7)
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, the names and
addresses of a tenant shall not be disclosed by any Borough personnel
in the event that the tenant is the subject of a court order requiring
that this information be kept confidential.
E.
Complaints. The owner shall reply promptly to reasonable complaints
and inquiries from occupants.
F.
Landlord-Tenant Act. The owner shall comply with all provisions of
the Landlord-Tenant Act.
G.
Enforcement.
(1)
Within 10 days after receipt of written notice from the Code Enforcement
Office that an occupant of a residential rental unit has violated
a provision of this article, the owner shall take immediate steps
to remedy the violation and take steps to assure that there is not
a reoccurrence of the violation.
H.
Code violations. Upon receiving notice of any code violations from
the Code Enforcement Officer, the owner shall promptly take action,
or cause the necessary action to be taken, to abate the offending
condition and eliminate the violation.
I.
Borough can make repairs. In case the owner of premises shall neglect,
fail or refuse to comply with any notice from the Borough or its Code
Enforcement Officer to correct a violation relating to maintenance
and repair of the premises under any code in effect in the Borough
of Baldwin within the period of time stated in such notice, the Borough
may cause the violation to be corrected. There shall be imposed upon
the owner a charge of the actual costs involved, plus 10% of said
costs for each time the Borough shall cause a violation to be corrected,
and the owner of the premises shall be billed after same has been
completed. Any such bill which remains unpaid and outstanding after
the time specified therein for payment shall be grounds for the imposition
of a municipal lien upon the premises as provided by law. Such a lien
may be reduced to judgment and enforced and collected as provided
by law, together with interest at the legal rate and court costs.
The remedies provided by this subsection are not exclusive, and the
Borough and its Code Enforcement Officer may invoke such other remedies
available under this article or the applicable codes, ordinances or
statutes, including, where appropriate, condemnation proceedings or
declaration of premises as unfit for habitation, or suspension, revocation
or nonrenewal of the license issued hereunder.
J.
Inspections. The inspection provisions of this section shall also
pertain to any real estate residential property in which ownership
is being transferred, provided that it has been at least one year
since the previous inspection. The owner shall permit inspections
of any premises by the Code Enforcement Officer at reasonable times
upon reasonable notice. The inspections shall be completed as follows:
(1)
The Code Enforcement Officer of the Borough of Baldwin shall inspect
at the time of transfer of occupant, provided that it has been at
least one year since the previous inspection.
(2)
A list of the items for the Code Enforcement Office to inspect for
the transfer of rental or real estate residential property shall be
on display in the Code Enforcement Office. This list of items may
be modified from time to time commensurate with residential UCC codes.
The noncompliance provisions of this section shall also pertain to
any real estate residential property in which ownership is being transferred.
A.
Any parcel of real estate containing a residential rental unit which
has been found to be in noncompliance with this article shall be subject
to reinspection by the Code Enforcement Officer as follows:
B.
In the event of a violation, a residential rental unit cannot be
occupied unless and until the unit is approved as meeting the criteria
of this article and any other applicable codes of the Borough of Baldwin
as determined by the Code Enforcement Officer.
C.
Notice of violation.
(1)
If, after inspection of one or more of the residential rental units
as set forth above, the Code Enforcement Officer determines that there
are violations of any code of the Borough of Baldwin, the Code Enforcement
Officer shall provide a notice of violation, which shall at a minimum
set forth the following:
(2)
Within 10 days after receipt of a written notice from the Borough
of Baldwin Code Enforcement Officer that there has been a violation
of this section or any other applicable ordinances of the Borough
of Baldwin, the owner shall take immediate steps to remedy the violation
and take steps to assure that there will not be a reoccurrence of
the violation.
(3)
Within 20 days after receipt of a notice of violation the owner of
a residential rental unit shall file with the Code Enforcement Officer
a report on a form provided by the Borough of Baldwin setting forth
what action the owner has taken to remedy the violation and what steps
he or she has taken to prevent a reoccurrence of the violation. The
report shall also set forth a plan as to steps the owner will take
in the future if the violation reoccurs.
D.
All owners of any real estate containing or upon which are erected
any residential rental unit which are in noncompliance with this article
and who desire to sell the parcel of real estate shall notify the
purchasers, in writing, prior to the sale of the parcel of real estate,
that the parcel of real estate is in noncompliance with the terms
and conditions of this article. Further, any property owner selling
a parcel of real estate upon which is erected a residential rental
unit or units which are found to be in noncompliance under the terms
and conditions of this article shall notify the Code Enforcement Officer,
in writing, within 30 days prior to closing on the sale of said parcel
of real estate.
E.
All owners of any parcels of real estate containing residential rental
units shall permit access to the property so that the Code Enforcement
Officer of the Borough of Baldwin shall be able to complete all inspections
necessary to determine compliance with this article and any other
applicable ordinances of the Borough of Baldwin. Refusal to allow
entry of the residential rental unit by the Code Enforcement Officer
of the Borough of Baldwin to inspect the said unit shall be a violation
of this article.
F.
The owner of any property containing or upon which is erected a residential
rental unit shall pay a fee of $60 for each and every reinspection
to cover the cost of a reinspection each time a reinspection is required
under the terms of this article or each time a reinspection is requested
by the Code Enforcement Officer to determine compliance with this
article or any other applicable ordinances of the Borough of Baldwin.
The fee set forth herein may be increased or decreased by a resolution
of Baldwin Borough Council.
A.
Inspection of premises. The occupant shall permit inspections by
the Code Enforcement Officer of the premises at reasonable times,
upon reasonable notice.
A.
Occupancy permit requirement. The occupancy permit provisions of
this section shall pertain to any real estate residential property
in which ownership is being transferred.
(1)
As a prerequisite to entering into a rental agreement or permitting
the occupancy of any rental unit, the owner of every such rental unit
shall be required to apply for and obtain an occupancy permit for
each rental unit.
(2)
An occupancy permit shall be required for all residential rental
units.
(3)
The application for the occupancy permit shall be in a form as determined
by the Borough.
(4)
The owner shall maintain a current and accurate list of the occupants
in each rental unit which shall include their name and current telephone
number, which shall be available to the Borough for inspection upon
reasonable notice. The owner shall notify the Borough of changes in
the occupancy or of contact information within 10 days of the change
and shall provide the name of the person who is no longer residing
in the premises in the event a person departs and the name, current
address and current telephone number of new occupants in the event
a new person is added.
(5)
No occupancy permit shall be issued if the owner has not paid any
fines and costs arising from enforcement of this article or any of
the ordinances of the Borough of Baldwin relating to land use and/or
code enforcement or if any permit fees under this article are due
and owing the Borough.
A.
All notices shall be sent to the owner and manager, if applicable,
by certified mail. In the event that the notice is returned by the
postal authorities marked "unclaimed" or "refused," then the Code
Enforcement Officer shall attempt delivery by personal service on
the owner or manager, if applicable. The Code Enforcement Officer
shall also post the notice at a conspicuous place on the premises.
B.
If personal service cannot be accomplished after a reasonable attempt
to do so, then the notice may be sent to the owner or manager at the
addresses stated on the most current occupancy permit application
for the premises in question, by regular first-class mail, postage
prepaid. If such notice is not returned by the postal authorities
within five days of its deposit in the U.S. Mail, then it shall be
deemed to have been delivered to and received by the addressee on
the fifth day following its deposit in the U.S. Mail, and all time
periods set forth above shall thereupon be calculated from said fifth
day.
A.
Notices. For purposes of this article, any notice required hereunder
to be given to a manager shall be deemed as notice given to the owner.
(1)
There shall be a rebuttable presumption that any notice required
to be given to the owner under this article shall have been received
by such owner if the notice was given to the owner in the manner provided
by this article.
(2)
A claimed lack of knowledge by the owner of any violation hereunder
cited shall be no defense to occupancy permit nonrenewal, suspension
or revocation proceedings as long as all notices prerequisite to institution
of such proceedings have been given and deemed received in accordance
with the applicable provisions of this article.
B.
Changes in ownership occupancy. It shall be the duty of each owner
of a residential rental unit to notify the Code Enforcement Officer,
in writing, of any change in ownership of the premises or of the number
of residential rental units on the premises. It shall also be the
duty of the owner to notify the Code Enforcement Officer in writing
of any increase in number of occupants in any rental unit or of the
changing of a rental unit from owner-occupied to non-owner-occupied,
which thereby transforms the dwelling into a residential rental unit
for purposes of this article.
C.
Owners severally responsible. If any rental unit is owned by more
than one person, in any form of joint tenancy, as a partnership or
otherwise, each person shall be jointly and severally responsible
for the duties imposed under the terms of this article and shall be
severally subject to prosecution for the violation of this article.
D.
Confidentiality. All registration and contact information shall be
maintained in a confidential manner by the Code Enforcement Officer
and shall be utilized for the purpose of enforcement of this article
by the Code Enforcement Officer and the Borough Manager.
A.
This article shall be enforced by the Code Enforcement Officer of
the Borough of Baldwin.
B.
Basis for violation. It shall be unlawful for any person, as either
owner or manager of a residential rental unit for which an occupancy
permit is required, to operate without a valid, current occupancy
permit issued by the Borough of Baldwin authorizing such operation.
It shall be unlawful for any person, either owner or manager, to allow
the number of occupants of a residential rental unit to exceed the
maximum limit asset forth on the occupancy permit or to violate any
other provision of this section.
C.
Penalties. Any landlord or owner of a residential unit which violates
any of the provisions (coordinate with our code), together with all
of the subsections thereunder, shall, upon conviction thereof, be
sentenced to pay a fine of $500 for each and every offense. Each day
of the said violation shall be a separate offense.
D.
Fines as imposed through this article shall be collected as allowable
by law.
E.
Each day during which any owner of a residential rental unit violates
any provisions of this article shall constitute a separate offense.
F.
This article and the foregoing penalties shall not be construed to
limit or deny the right of the Borough of Baldwin or its agents or
representatives to such equitable or other remedies as may otherwise
be available with or without process of law.
G.
In addition to the fines set forth herein, the Borough of Baldwin
shall be entitled to reasonable attorney's fees incurred in enforcing
this article. The said fees shall be added to any penalties set forth
above.
H.
The owners of all residential rental units in the Borough of Baldwin
shall have the responsibility of making sure that all occupants within
their rental units comply with and abide by this article of the Borough
of Baldwin.
I.
If any section or provision of this article is adjudged by a court
of competent jurisdiction to be unlawful, void or unenforceable, all
the remaining sections and provisions of this article shall remain
in full force and effect.
