The Paxtang Borough Council finds that dwellings or dwelling
units which are leased or rented to the public, when improperly maintained,
by reason of their structures, equipment, sanitation, use or occupancy,
may adversely affect the public health, safety and general welfare.
To correct unsuitable conditions which exist within rental properties
and to establish mechanisms for the continued maintenance of a sound
stock of rental housing within the Borough of Paxtang and to promote
the public health, safety and general welfare of its citizens, the
Borough Council establishes these regulations, which shall require
the registration of rental dwelling units and provide for enforcement
of rental housing standards.
This chapter is intended to protect the health, safety and welfare
of all the citizens of the Borough of Paxtang by requiring the registration
of all rental dwelling units in the Borough. This registration combined
with regular inspections of common areas and electrical, mechanical
and plumbing installations will help prevent overcrowding and the
incidence of communicable diseases, will aid in the enforcement of
the minimum standards for light, ventilation and heat, for safety
from fire and accidents, for the use, location and amount of space
for human occupancy, and for the adequate level of maintenance.
For the purpose of this chapter, certain terms, phrases, words
and their derivatives shall be construed as specified in this section,
except where the context clearly indicates or requires a different
meaning. If not specified in this chapter, or elsewhere in the Code
of the Borough of Paxtang, the term shall have its ordinary accepted
meaning within the context used. Words in the singular include the
plural and the plural the singular.
CODES
The following codes and any codes, regulations and ordinances
in the Paxtang Borough Code:
A.
Paxtang Borough code enforcement and building regulations as set forth in Chapter
160, Construction Codes, Uniform, of the Code of the Borough of Paxtang.
B.
International Property Maintenance Code, 2009 Edition, International
Code Council.
[Amended 12-16-2014 by Ord. No. 647]
COMMON AREA
The area in a rental complex not within a tenant's private
rental unit. It may include, but is not limited to, hallways, basement
areas, common exterior stairways, balconies and space which contain
mechanical, electrical or plumbing equipment.
GOOD FAITH EFFORT
Work done towards moving or rectifying a code violation,
while not completed, in the sole opinion of the inspecting Codes Enforcement
Officer, substantial and substantive progress toward that end has
been made.
OWNER
Any individual holding legal or equitable title to a property
or to real improvements upon a property solely, jointly, by the entireties,
in common, or as a land contract vendee or title to a mobile home
or house trailer. "Owner" shall also mean any person, individual,
association of individuals, a public private or not-for-profit corporation,
a firm or partnership. "Owner" shall not mean tenant.
PERSON
A natural person, partnership, corporation, unincorporated
association, limited partnership, tenant or any other entity.
PREMISES
Any parcel of real property in the Borough, including the
land and all buildings and appurtenant structures or elements on which
one or more rental complex, rental dwelling, rental property or rental
unit is located.
RENTAL AGREEMENT
A written agreement between the owner/landlord and tenant
embodying the terms and conditions concerning the use and occupancy
of a specified rental complex, dwelling, property or unit.
RENTAL DWELLING
Any dwelling containing a rental unit, a rooming unit, or
hotel/motel unit, including single-family homes and mobile homes,
occupied by a tenant or tenants.
RENTAL PROPERTY
Generally, all rental complexes, premises, dwellings and
units.
RENTAL UNIT
A particular living quarters within a dwelling intended for
occupancy by a person other than the owner and the family of the owner,
including mobile homes, single-family homes, apartments, hotel/motel
units, and rooming units.
TENANT
A person residing in or occupying a rental dwelling or rental
unit, whether or not he or she is the owner thereof, with whom a legal
relationship with the owner or landlord is established by written
lease or by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
VIOLATION NOTICE
Notice issued by the Codes Enforcement Officer advising an
owner, or his agent, of a violation of this chapter. Violation notices
shall list all infractions and corrective measures necessary to comply
with this chapter and a time period within which corrections must
be completed.
Rental registration is not required under the following circumstances:
A. Family occupancy. Any member of a family, as defined by §
425-10 in the Zoning Chapter, may occupy a dwelling as long as any other member of that family is the owner of the dwelling.
B. House-sitting. During the temporary absence of the owner and owner's
family of a domicile for a period not to exceed two years in any five-year
period, the owner may permit up to two unrelated individuals or a
family to occupy the premises without a rental registration by notifying
the Codes Enforcement Officer, on a form provided by the Borough,
of the address of the owner's temporary domicile, the projected
duration of the owner's absence, and the identity of the unrelated
individual(s) or family who will occupy the premises during the owner's
absence.
C. One- and two-family dwelling sales. The sale of any one- or two-family
dwelling intended for occupancy by the owner or owners of record which
are to be occupied by the seller under a rental agreement for a period
of less than 90 days following closing. The sale of any one- or two-family
dwelling intended for occupancy under a lease with option to purchase
agreement, life estate agreement or any other form of conditional
sale agreement shall require rental registration if legal or equitable
ownership is not transferred in its entirety within 90 days of execution
of the conditional sales agreement.
D. Exchange student, visiting clergy, medical caregiver, child care:
For an owner-occupied dwelling, additional occupancy by exchange students
placed through a recognized education exchange student program, one
visiting clergy or clerical aide to a local church or congregation,
or one person to provide child care or medically prescribed care.
E. Estate representative. Occupancy by a personal representative, trustee
or guardian of the estate and his/her family, where the dwelling was
owner-occupied for the last year prior to the owner's death,
and the occupancy does not exceed two years from the date of death
of the owner, by notifying the Codes Enforcement Officer on a form
provided by the Borough of the owner's name, date of death, and
name of the person occupying the premises.
All owners of rental property shall register with the Borough
of Paxtang each rental complex, dwelling, property and unit within
the boundaries of the Borough.
The registration of any rental property shall require at least
the following information on forms provided by the Borough:
A. The address of the rental property with each rental unit contained
therein enumerated. If the rental units are within a complex of buildings,
the property manager's address.
B. If applicable, the number of buildings in the rental complex.
C. The number of rental units per rental dwelling, the total number
of rooms per rental unit and the number of bedrooms per rental unit.
D. A floor plan of the dwelling, showing the number, size and location
of habitable and occupiable rooms in the rental unit, and the number,
size and location of nonhabitable and nonoccupiable rooms in the rental
unit, as well as all exits, basement and attic egress windows and
entryways to the unit. If the owner or the registered agent has previously
submitted a floor plan for the rental unit which is the subject of
the application, the application may incorporate by reference the
previously filed documents and certify that no material change to
the rental unit has taken place in the prior registration period.
E. A site plan showing the boundaries of the property; the location
of all structures; the location, number and size of parking spaces
in conformance with the Borough's Code; the location and size of driveways.
If the owner or the registered agent has previously submitted a site
plan for the rental unit which is the subject of the application,
the application may incorporate by reference the previously filed
documents and certify that no material change to the rental unit has
taken place in the prior registration period.
F. The owner's name, driver's license or state identification
number (or in the case of a corporation, the corporate ID number),
address and telephone number and the location where he/she shall receive
correspondence from the Borough and where he/she may be reached in
cases of emergency.
G. The name, driver's license or state identification number (or
in the case of a corporation, the corporate ID number), address and
telephone number of the registered agent or other responsible person
designated by the owner to receive official notices, legal processes,
tenant concerns and correspondence from the Borough.
H. The owner applicant shall sign the registration attesting to the
truth and accuracy of its contents.
I. Payment of all applicable fees as published in the Borough Schedule
of Fees.
An application for the renewal of a rental registration shall
contain the same information as an initial application, except that:
A. It may be signed by the owner or registered agent.
B. If there have been no changes from the previous application, it may
incorporate by reference the information previously submitted.
A rental registration application shall not be accepted by the
Codes Enforcement Officer unless it meets all requirements of this
chapter, is accompanied by the required rental registration fee, is
accompanied by the documents required by this chapter, and is accompanied
by any delinquent Borough fees and charges due and payable to the
Borough in conjunction with the property to be registered. The Codes
Enforcement Officer, within 30 days of receipt, shall notify the applicant
of any deficiencies of the application which prevent its acceptance.
An application is not considered accepted by the Codes Enforcement
Officer until the Borough does one or more of the following:
A. Provides a written acknowledgment of receipt and acceptance of a
complete application; or
B. For initial applications, schedules the inspection of the premises
and delivers an acknowledgment of a completed and accepted application.
The owner or his/her registered agent shall provide written
notification to the Codes Enforcement Officer of any change in the
registration information within 10 days of such change.
Included with the initial and renewal registration application
shall be an affidavit and agreement, signed by the property owner,
permitting inspections of his/her properties by officials of the Borough
and affirming that all tenants of the subject properties have been
informed of the regulations contained in this chapter and of inspections
of the properties by Codes Enforcement Officers. A copy of the affidavit
shall be provided by the property owner to all tenants.
The Codes Enforcement Officer may, with written notice, require
additional information of any or all registrants in order to reasonably
further the purposes of this chapter.
If no effort has been made to correct a violation within the
time allotted for its correction, the Codes Enforcement Officer may
issue an appearance ticket for said violation and may order the building
vacated in accordance with Section 108 of the International Property
Maintenance Code.