[Adopted 7-15-2008 by L.L. No. 6-2008]
The Village of Cobleskill hereby establishes
a program for the enactment, enforcement and administration for the
purpose of periodic registration of all rental units within the boundaries
of the Village of Cobleskill. Landlords and rental property owners
are therefore required to furnish emergency contact information and
maintain an inventory of available rental housing.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any landlord who resides outside the designated boundaries
of the Village of Cobleskill as those boundaries may be defined at
the time of regular, periodic property registration.
Any single unit which is capable of housing one separate
household, whether a detached single-family structure or building
or part of a multihousehold structure or building.
The "immediate family" of the owner of a housing unit consists
of the owner's spouse, children, parents, grandparents or grandchildren.
Any property owner or designated agent who offers a housing
unit for occupancy to persons other than members of his immediate
family in exchange for a fee or compensation, whether monetary or
otherwise.
Any housing unit, commercial space or units which are occupied
by persons other than the owner or his immediate family or for which
a fee or compensation, monetary or otherwise, is received by the owner
in exchange for such occupation.
A representative of a property owner or landlord who resides
within the designated boundaries of the Village of Cobleskill as defined
at the time of periodic property registration.
A.
All landlords must initially register with the Village
of Cobleskill on or before December 31 in the year this article becomes
law. Upon adoption of this article, initial registration will begin
as soon as practicable after this article is effective. It is the
responsibility of the property owner to register any rental property
or properties, and failure to do so constitutes a violation of these
regulations and is subject to the penalties set forth herein.
B.
All absentee landlords must have an emergency contact
person for each rental property.
C.
Should the property change ownership at any time,
the new owner of the registered dwelling shall re-register the dwelling
within 60 days of assuming ownership.
A.
Properties shall be registered on a form provided
by the Village of Cobleskill Village Code Enforcement Officer and
signed by each owner or managing agent of the property being registered.
The following documentation shall be provided by the owner or managing
agent at the time of registration:
(1)
Proof of ownership of the property (copy of the deed);
(2)
Proof of residency of each owner;
(3)
A certification in a form acceptable to the Village
Code Enforcement Officer by each property owner or managing agent
attesting to the total number of persons legally allowed to occupy
each rental property owned or managed by such person within the Village
as of the date of registration; and/or modified within this Code.
B.
At the time of registration, all absentee landlords
are required to designate a resident agent for service of process
of a violation of this article. If that resident agent's residence
should be removed from the Village of Cobleskill during the yearly
registration period, another agent must be designated for the duration
of that period. Service of an appearance ticket as defined in the
New York State Criminal Procedure Law upon said agent shall constitute
good and sufficient service as if the landlord had been served themselves
within the Village of Cobleskill or Schoharie County. No landlord
who designates an agent pursuant to the provisions of this article
may assert the defense of lack of notice or lack of in-person jurisdiction
based solely upon the service of process upon his designated resident
agent. The failure to provide the name and address of an agent for
service of process shall be a violation of this article punishable
by a fine not to exceed $350.
C.
Exemptions: none.
D.
The Village of Cobleskill Code Enforcement Officer
shall provide copies of all rental property registrations filed with
the Village to the fire district servicing such properties by July
1 of every year.
E.
It shall be unlawful for any landlord to offer any
unit for rent or to allow any rental unit to be occupied without having
first registered as a landlord as required herein within the time
prescribed for such registration.
A.
Violations of the provisions of these standards or any rules or regulations established pursuant thereto shall be subject to applicable penalties under this article in addition to those imposed by other applicable codes or ordinances including, without limitation Village of Cobleskill Code, Chapter 62, the Village of Cobleskill Zoning Law, § 160-15.4, and the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code.
B.
Any person, firm or corporation who violates, disobeys,
neglects or refuses to comply with any of the terms of this article
shall be guilty of a violation and be subject to one or more of the
following remedies:
[Amended 7-21-2020 by L.L. No. 2-2020]
(1)
A fine not to exceed $350; or
(2)
A penalty of $350 to be recovered by the Village in
a civil action.
(3)
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Cobleskill
may also maintain an action or other proceeding in the name of the
Village in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance
with or restrain by injunction the violation of any provision of this
law.
(4)
Each week or part thereof a violation continues shall
be deemed a separate offense.
In accordance with § 7-706(7) of the
Village Law, this article or any amendments thereto shall take effect
10 days after the required publication, posting and filing with the
New York State Department of State, but shall take effect from the
date of its service as against a person served personally with a copy
thereof, certified by the Village Clerk and showing the date of its
passage and entry in the minutes.
