[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Common Council of the City of Westminster 10-25-2010 by Ord. No. 820.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Charter provisions on redevelopment and urban renewal — See Article 2 of the City Charter.
Buildings — See Ch. 56.
Disorderly house nuisances — See Ch. 68.
Fire prevention — See Ch. 78.
Nuisances — See Ch. 100.
Sewers and sewage — See Ch. 124.
Solid waste — See Ch. 130.
Urban renewal — See Ch. 150.
Fee Schedule — See Ch. A175.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 - Revisions to the International Property Maintenance Code
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch. 119, Property Maintenance, adopted 3-26-2001 by Ord. No. 662, as amended.
[Amended 11-11-2013 by Ord. No. 847]
The 2012 Edition of the International Property Maintenance Code, as amended from time to time, as published by the International Code Council, Inc., which is kept and maintained by the Code Official, shall be and is hereby adopted as the City of Westminster Property Maintenance Code (sometimes hereinafter referred to as the "Property Maintenance Code"). All of the regulations, provisions, penalties, conditions and terms of said Property Maintenance Code are hereby referred to, adopted and made a part hereof as if fully set out in this chapter, with the additions, insertions, deletions and changes, if any, prescribed in § 119-2 of this chapter.
[Amended 11-11-2013 by Ord. No. 847]
The following sections of the International Property Maintenance Code are hereby amended and revised as set forth in this section. Unless otherwise noted, the sections enumerated below are intended to replace in their entirety the corresponding sections of the 2012 International Property Maintenance Code.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Revisions to the International Property Maintenance Code are included as an attachment to this chapter.
The Code Official of the City of Westminster shall maintain two copies of the Property Maintenance Code on file in the City Office.
[Added 2-11-2013 by Ord. No. 839]
A. 
Rental license. It shall be unlawful for any person to rent, let or lease any dwelling, dwelling unit or portion thereof within the City, including rooming houses ("rental dwelling"), without first obtaining a license to do so as hereinafter provided. A dwelling or dwelling unit shall be subject to the prohibition contained in this subsection if it is occupied by any person other than the property owner in exchange for any compensation or monetary remuneration.
B. 
Resident agent. If no owner of record resides at the property address or within 50 miles of the property, the owner(s) of record shall designate on the application for the rental license the name, address, and telephone number of a local agent residing within 50 miles of the City who is authorized by the property owner(s) to receive notices, telephone calls in the event of an emergency, and correspondence regarding violations pertaining to the property, other than citations or other legal process. The property owners shall ensure that the information required by this subsection is current at all times.
C. 
License application. The owner of record of a rental dwelling shall make written application to the City for a rental unit license on or before June 1, 2013, upon such form or forms as the City shall from time to time designate. Such application shall be submitted to the City together with a nonrefundable rental license fee as established from time to time by the Mayor and Common Council in the City's General Fee Ordinance.[1] A person who initially rents, lets or leases any rental dwelling after June 1, 2013, shall make written application to the City for a rental unit license prior to allowing such property to be occupied by a tenant.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. A175, Fees, Art. I, General Fees.
D. 
Length of validity of license; fees.
[Amended 5-23-2016 by Ord. No. 864]
(1) 
Rental unit licenses issued on or before July 1, 2017, shall be valid for a period of one year, commencing June 1, and terminating on the last day of May following the issuance of the license. Any license issued after March 1 of any year shall only be valid through the last day of May following its issuance, except that rental licenses issued for the period on or after June 1, 2016, but before July 1, 2017, shall be valid through June 30, 2017.
(2) 
Rental unit licenses issued on or after July 1, 2017, shall be valid through June 30 of the City's fiscal year in which the license was issued.
(3) 
The rental license fee shall not be prorated based upon submission of an application after the beginning of any rental licensing year. Rental unit licenses shall be renewed annually at the fees specified in the City of Westminster General Fee Ordinance.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: See Ch. A175, Fees, Art. I, General Fees.
E. 
Inspections. All rental dwellings shall be subject to inspection to determine whether they are in conformance with the Property Maintenance Code in the event of a complaint filed with the City concerning an alleged violation of said code. For purposes of this section, a complaint includes any statement made by an individual or a federal, state, county or City department, agency or code enforcement official, received by the City in any manner, including but not limited to via telephone or mail, including electronic mail. Upon receipt of a complaint, the Code Official or his designee shall inspect the premises. Subject to the right of the owner or occupant to require the City to obtain a judicial warrant as set forth in Subsection G below, the Code Official or his designee is hereby authorized, upon presentation of proper credentials, to enter, examine and survey at all reasonable times all rental dwellings and premises in response to a complaint or to conduct an inspection if the Code Official believes that a violation of City Code Chapter 119 has occurred.
F. 
Reinspection. Whenever the Code Official or his designee observes a violation, he shall reinspect the premises to confirm that the violation has been corrected.
G. 
Administrative warrant. Permission for inspections and reinspections is a condition of any license, and the owner or occupant of every rental dwelling or the person in charge thereof shall give the Code Official or his designee unfettered access to such rental dwelling and its premises at all reasonable times for the purpose of such inspection, examination and survey. Failure to allow entry for an inspection or reinspection will result in the City seeking an administrative warrant. Failure of the owner to allow entry or the owner requiring any tenant to deny entry for such inspection upon an administrative warrant shall constitute a municipal infraction subject to a fine as set forth in 119 Attachment 1, Section 106, Violations, and shall further constitute sufficient reason for the denial or revocation of the rental license.
H. 
Onus to provide access. Every occupant of a rental dwelling shall give the owner thereof or his/her agent or employee access to any part of such dwelling or its premises at all reasonable times for the purpose of making such repairs or alterations as are necessary to effect compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
I. 
Revocation or denial of license/injunction. A license may be revoked or denied by the Code Official if the owner, after notice from the City, fails to correct violations of City Code Chapter 119. Revocation or denial of a license shall be in addition to, and not in substitution for, such other penalties as may be provided for said violations elsewhere in this Code. A license also may be revoked or denied if the City determines that the applicant for the license provided false or misleading information in his/her application. If a license is revoked or denied, the owner of the property in question shall immediately provide tenants notice that they must vacate the property within 60 days of the notice and any security deposit shall be returned to the tenants in accordance with the Real Property Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
J. 
Display of licenses. Licenses issued under this section shall be produced by a landlord on the demand of a tenant or prospective tenant and shall be available at reasonable times for examination by an authorized agent of the City.
K. 
Appeals. Appeals of a notice of violation or an action or determination of the Code Official other than the issuance of a municipal infraction citation may be appealed to the Board of Housing Appeals as set forth in Attachment 1 to this chapter, Section 301.2.2. see City Code § 119-2.
A. 
Whenever the Code Official or his designee determines that there are reasonable grounds to believe that there has been a violation of any provision of this chapter, he shall give notice of such alleged violation to the person or persons responsible therefor, as hereinafter provided. Such notice shall:
(1) 
Be in writing.
(2) 
Include a statement of the reason(s) it has been issued.
(3) 
Include a statement of the remedial action necessary to effect compliance with the provisions of this chapter and the time frame within which such action(s) must be taken.
(4) 
Allow a reasonable time for the performance of any act it requires.
(5) 
State that the violation must be fully corrected within the time frame stated therein, and state that, in the event that the owner and/or occupant, as the case may be, fails to do so within the time frame provided, a citation shall be delivered to him/her in accordance with the provisions of the City Code advising him/her of the imposition of a fine.
(6) 
Contain a statement that the notice constitutes the only notice the person will receive regarding a violation of the applicable section for the twelve-month period following the date that the notice is issued and that a citation shall issue immediately for any repeat violation during that twelve-month period. In the event that there is a repeat violation on the same property during the twelve-month period following the first violation, the fines for the repeat violation shall be as set forth in 119 Attachment 1, Section 106, Violations.
(7) 
Be served upon the owner or his/her agent or the occupant, as the case may require, provided that such notice shall be deemed to be properly served upon such owner or agent or upon such occupant if a copy thereof is served upon such person personally, or if a copy thereof is sent by regular mail to his/her last known address, or if a copy thereof is posted in a conspicuous place in or about the dwelling affected by the notice, or if the owner and/or occupant, as the case may be, is served with such notice by any other method authorized or required under the laws of this state.
B. 
Violations of § 119-4 are municipal infractions subject to the fines and penalties set forth in 119 Attachment 1, Section 106, violations.
C. 
In the event of a conflict between the provisions of this section and those of the International Property Maintenance Code, the provisions of this section shall govern.
A. 
This section applies to owners of rental dwelling units in the City who violate provisions of the Property Maintenance Code repetitively in a twelve-month period.
B. 
As used in this section "habitual offender" means any person owning a rental dwelling unit who has paid a fine assessed by the City or is found guilty of violating the provisions of City Code Chapter 119 on three separate occasions within a twelve-month period.
(1) 
Once a person is deemed to be an habitual offender, he or she will retain the status of habitual offender until such time as 12 months from the last fine paid or finding of guilt entered passes without another fine being paid or finding of guilt.
(2) 
A person who has been deemed an habitual offender may not lose such designation by transferring the property regarding which he or she has been deemed an habitual offender to an individual, partnership, corporation or any other entity in which the habitual offender has any interest.
C. 
After an owner of a rental dwelling unit becomes an habitual offender, all fines levied under City Code Chapter 119 for that dwelling unit shall be tripled until the habitual offender designation is removed, provided that the maximum fine shall not exceed the maximum fine allowed under Maryland Annotated Code, Art. 23A.
D. 
The rental license fee for a rental dwelling unit that is the subject of the habitual offender designation shall be as set forth in the General Fee Ordinance.[1][2]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. A175, Fees, Art. I, General Fees.
[2]
Editor's Note: Former § 119-7, Rental licensing program expiration date, which immediately followed, was repealed 5-23-2016 by Ord. No. 864.