[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of East Norriton 3-27-2018 by Ord. No. 578.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also superseded former Ch. 159,
Rental Property, Registration of, adopted 4-10-1972 by Ord. No. 81,
as amended.
This chapter shall be known as "Residential Rental Property
Licensing and Registration."
The purpose of this chapter is to regulate the licensing and
registration of residential rental units in East Norriton Township.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A permanent dwelling unit within a building containing three
or more dwelling units (also known as "apartment house"), each for
a single family living independent of one another, and being vertically
arranged, sharing outside access, and having one or more walls as
well as a ceiling or floor in common with another dwelling unit.
A building designed for and occupied exclusively for residential
purposes, excluding hotels, rooming houses, tourist homes, motels
and the like, but including the following:
SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLINGA building designed for and occupied exclusively as a dwelling for one family, including a mobile home.
TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGA building designed for and occupied exclusively as a dwelling for two families (also known as a "duplex").
MULTIFAMILY DWELLINGA building designed for and occupied exclusively for dwelling purposes by three or more families living independently of one another; not a townhouse, but customarily called an "apartment house."
A building, or portion thereof, providing complete housekeeping
facilities for one family, including living, sleeping, cooking, eating,
and sanitary facilities.
A natural person, heir, executor, administrator or assign,
and includes a firm, partnership or corporation, or limited liability
corporation, its successors or assigns, or the agent of any of the
aforesaid.
A natural person, partnership, corporation, unincorporated
association, limited partnership, or any other entity, appointed by
a landlord or property owner to maintain a residential rental unit
or units, and whose duty it is to ensure that a residential unit or
units complies with all statutes and ordinances of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania and East Norriton Township.
Any person who, either alone, or jointly or severally with
others, has legal title to any residential rental unit, with or without
accompanying actual possession thereof, or who has charge, care, or
control of any residential rental unit as an owner or agent of the
owner, or as executor, executrix, administrator, administratrix, trustee,
or guardian of the estate of the property owner. Any such person thus
representing the actual property owner shall be bound to comply with
the provisions of this chapter, and to the rules and regulations adopted
pursuant thereto, to the same extent as if he/she were the property
owner.
A room or group of rooms for one or more persons with independent
living facilities, providing for living, sleeping, cooking and sanitary
facilities that are not occupied by the property owner, including
but not limited to single-family dwellings, two-family dwellings,
multifamily dwellings, apartments, boardinghouses, and tourist homes.
East Norriton Township, Pennsylvania.
A.Â
Licensing required. No person shall occupy, allow to be occupied,
or lease to another person for occupancy, any residential rental unit,
within the Township, unless that person holds a current operating
license, issued by the Township, for the specific rental unit.
B.Â
Licensing effective. An operating license for a residential rental
unit shall be valid for the calendar year of issuance or the remainder
thereof, unless revoked, and such license shall be renewable for successive
calendar years. Licenses shall not be transferable.
C.Â
Notice required. Every person holding such operating license shall give notice in writing to the Township's Code Enforcement Department within seven days after having sold, transferred, given away, or otherwise disposed of ownership, or interest in, or control of, any residential rental unit. This section does not relieve owners from their responsibilities to comply with the notice requirements of Chapter 190.
D.Â
Annual license fee. Each applicant for a license to operate a residential
rental unit shall, at the time of application and each year thereafter,
pay an annual fee of $50 per unit, except that a fee will not be paid
for an owner-occupied dwelling. Any owner of a residential rental
unit who fails to pay the required license fee within 30 days from
the date of application will be charged an additional $10 per unit
per month, as a penalty. The Board of Supervisors may adjust these
fees from time to time.
E.Â
License revocation. The Township may withhold, revoke, suspend or
fail to renew a rental license if an owner is convicted by a court
of competent jurisdiction of violations of the Township's Code
of Ordinances, or if authorized by laws of the Commonwealth.
A.Â
Registration required. Every property owner shall, on or before October
1 of each year, register all residential rental units on forms provided
by the Township's Code Enforcement Department.
B.Â
Emergency contact information and response. Every property owner
shall provide such contact information to the Township that will allow
the Township, in the event of an emergency, to contact the property
owner or a designated property manager, 24 hours per day, seven days
per week, 365 days per year. It shall be the property owner's
or designated property manager's absolute duty to update the
contact information to reflect any changes. In the event the Township
or a representative of the Township alerts the property owner or property
manager of an emergency, the property owner or property manager shall
be present at the residential rental unit in question to address the
emergency.
C.Â
Certificates of use and occupancy shall be required for all residential rental units, upon their advertisement or offering for rent, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 190.
D.Â
List of occupants. Upon registering a residential rental unit on
or before October of each year, it shall be the duty of the property
owner to submit to the Township Manager a list of occupants, consisting
of the names of all persons 18 years of age and older residing in
said residential rental unit. Said list shall be submitted within
60 days of the effective date of this chapter, and shall be updated
each year upon registration, or upon a change in tenants. All applicants
for rental licenses shall comply with the general laws of East Norriton
Township, and the International Property Maintenance Code, as amended.
Any property owner who fails to comply with the provisions of
this chapter shall, upon summary conviction therefor before a District
Justice within the magisterial district within which the Township
is located, be fined not more than $1,000 plus costs of prosecution
and reasonable attorney's fees, after a summary proceeding brought
in the name of the Township before said District Justice. A new and
separate offense shall be deemed to be committed for each day that
such violation exists. In default of the payment of any fine imposed
and the costs, the person or persons that are charged may be sentenced
to be committed to the county jail for a period not exceeding 30 days.
