[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Farrell as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 4-3-1995 by Ord. No. O-2-1995]
A. 
The Treasurer or such official's designee (hereinafter the "Municipal Officer") is hereby appointed as the designated officer who is authorized to carry out all responsibilities and duties of the City stated herein.
B. 
A fire loss or claim for fire damage is defined as any loss occurring after the effective date of this article and covered under a policy of fire insurance, including any endorsement or riders to the policy.
A. 
No insurance company, association or exchange (hereinafter the "insurer") doing business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall pay a claim of a named insured for fire damage to a structure located within the City of Farrell (hereinafter the "municipality") where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under all policies exceeds $7,500 unless the insurer and the named insured comply with the provisions of Section 508(b) of Act 98 of 1992 and the provisions of this article.
B. 
The Municipal Officer shall, upon the written request of the named insured specifying the tax description of the property, name and address of the insurer and the date agreed upon by the insurer and the named insured as the date of the receipt of a loss report of the claim, furnish the insurer either of the following within 14 working days of the request:
(1) 
A certificate or, at the discretion of the City, a verbal notification which shall be confirmed in writing by the insurer to the effect that, as of the date specified in the request, there are no delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties or user charges against the property and that, as of the date of the Municipal Officer's certificate or verbal notification, the City has not certified any amount as total costs incurred by the City for the removal, repair or securing of a building or other structure on the property.
(2) 
A certificate and bill showing the amount of delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties and user charges against the property as of the date specified in the request that have not been paid as of the date of the certificate and also showing, as of the date of the Municipal Officer's certificate, the amount of the total costs, if any, certified to the Municipal Officer that have been incurred by the City for the removal, repair or securing a building or other structure on the property. For the purposes of this subsection, the City shall provide to the Municipal Officer the total amount, if any, of such costs, if available, or the amount of costs known to the City at the time of the Municipal Officer's certificate.
(3) 
A tax, assessment, penalty or user charge becomes delinquent at the time and on the date a lien could otherwise have been filed against the property by the City under applicable law.
C. 
Upon receipt of a certificate pursuant to Subsection B(1) of this section, the insurer shall pay the claim of the named insured in accordance with the policy terms.
D. 
Upon the receipt of a certificate and bill pursuant to Subsection B(2) of this section, the insurer shall return the bill to the Municipal Officer and transfer to the Municipal Officer an amount from the insurance proceeds necessary to pay the taxes, assessments, penalties, charges and costs shown on the bill or the full amount of the insurance proceeds, whichever is the lesser amount. The City shall receive the amount and apply or credit it to payment of the items shown in the bill.
E. 
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of the City to recover any deficiency.
A. 
The transfer of proceeds to the Municipal Officer shall be on a pro rata basis by all insurers with applicable policies of insurance providing protection from fire loss.
B. 
The Council of the City of Farrell may by resolution adopt additional procedures and regulations to implement Section 508 of Act 98 of 1992 and this article and may by resolution fix reasonable fees to be charged for municipal activities or services provided pursuant to Section 508 of Act 98 of 1992 and this article including, but not limited to, issuance of certificates and bills.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Any owner of any property, any named insured or any insurer who shall violate any provision of this article shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs, or to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 90 days, or both. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
[Adopted 4-3-1995 by Ord. No. O-3-1995]
A. 
The Treasurer or such official's designee (hereinafter the "Municipal Officer") is hereby appointed as the designated officer who is authorized to carry out all responsibilities and duties of the City stated herein.
B. 
A fire loss or claim for fire damage is defined as any loss occurring after the effective date of this article and covered under a policy of fire insurance, including any endorsement or riders to the policy.
A. 
No insurance company, association or exchange (hereinafter the "insurer") doing business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall pay a claim of a named insured for fire damage to a structure located within the City of Farrell (hereinafter the "municipality") where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under all policies exceeds $7,500, unless the insurer is furnished by the Municipal Officer with a municipal certificate pursuant to Section 508(b) of Act 98 of 1992 and unless there is compliance with Section 508(c) and (d) of Act 98 of 1992 and the provisions of this article. (Insurers are hereby given notice that the City has also enacted Article I of this chapter, an article establishing a procedure for the payment of delinquent taxes.)
B. 
After full compliance with the requirements of Section 508(b)(1)(i) of Act 98 of 1992 and Article I of this chapter, referenced above, the insurer shall pay the claim of the named insured; provided, however, that if the loss as agreed upon by the named insured and the insurer equals or exceeds 60% of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies covering the building structure, the following procedures shall be followed:
(1) 
The insurer shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to the Municipal Officer the aggregate of $2,000 for each $15,000 of a claim and for each fraction of that amount of a claim, provided:
(a) 
That this section is to be applied such that if the claim is $15,000 or less, the amount transferred to the City shall be $2,000.
(b) 
That, if at the time of a loss report the named insured has submitted a contractor's signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing or securing the building or other structure in an amount less than the amount calculated under the foregoing transfer formula, the insurer shall transfer to the City from the insurance proceeds the amount based upon the estimate.
(2) 
The transfer of proceeds shall be on a pro rata basis by all companies, associations or exchanges insuring the building or other structure. Policy proceeds remaining after the transfer to the City shall be disbursed in accordance with the policy terms.
C. 
After the transfer, the named insured may submit a contractor's signed estimate of the cost of removing, repairing or securing the building or other structure and the designated officer shall return the amount of the funds transferred to the City in excess of the estimate to the named insured, if the City has not commenced to remove, repair or secure the building or other structure.
D. 
Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the City shall do the following:
(1) 
The Municipal Officer shall place the proceeds in the separate fund to be used solely as security against the total costs of removing, repairing or securing the building or structure which are incurred by the City. Such costs shall include, without limitation, any engineering, legal or administrative costs incurred by the City in connection with such removal, repair or securing of the building or any proceedings related thereto.
(2) 
It is the obligation of the insurer when transferring the proceeds to provide the City with the name and address of the named insured. Upon receipt of the transferred funds and the name and address of the named insured, the Municipal Officer shall contact the named insured, certify that the proceeds have been received by the City and notify the named insured that the procedures under this subsection will be followed.
(3) 
When repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure have been completed in accordance with all applicable regulations and orders of the City and the required proof of such completion received by the Municipal Officer, and if the City has not incurred any costs for repairs, removal or securing, the fund shall be returned to the named insured. If the City has incurred costs for repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure, the costs shall be paid from the fund, and, if excess funds remain, the City shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured.
(4) 
To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held by the City pursuant to this section, and retained by it, such interest shall belong to the City. To the extent that the proceeds are returned to the named insured, interest earned on such proceeds shall be distributed to the named insured at the time that the proceeds are returned.
E. 
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of the City to recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit the City and the named insured from entering into an agreement that permits the transfer of funds to the named insured if some other reasonable disposition of the damaged property has been negotiated.
The Council of the City of Farrell may by resolution adopt procedures and regulations to implement Section 508 of Act 98 of 1992 and this article and may by resolution fix reasonable fees to be charged for municipal activities or services provided pursuant to Section 508 of Act 98 of 1992 and this article; including, but not limited to, issuance of certificates and bills, performance of inspections and opening separate fund accounts.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Any owner of any property, any named insured or any insurer who shall violate any provision of this article shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs, or to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 90 days, or both. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.