[Adopted 5-19-1993 by Ord. No. 1498 (Ch. 80, Art. I, of the
1972 Code)]
The Borough of Lansdale or such official's designee is hereby
appointed as the designated officer who is authorized to carry out
all responsibilities and duties stated herein.
No insurance company, association or exchange (hereinafter "insuring
agent") doing business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall pay
a claim of a named insured for fire damage to a structure located
within the Borough of Lansdale (hereinafter the "municipality") where
the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under all
policies exceeds $7,500, unless the named insured or insuring agent
is furnished by the Municipal Treasurer 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.
Where, pursuant to Section 508(b)(1)(i) of Act 98 of 1992, the Municipal Treasurer issues a certificate
indicating that there are no delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties
or user charges against real property, the insuring agent shall pay
the claim of the named insured; provided, however, that if the loss
is agreed upon by the named insured and the insuring agent equals
or exceeds 60% of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies
covering the building restructure, the following procedures must be
followed:
A. The insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to
the designated officer of the municipality in the aggregate of $2,000
for each $15,000 of a claim and for each fraction of that amount of
a claim, this section to be applied such that if the claim is $15,000
or less, the amount transferred to the municipality shall be $2,000;
or if, at the time of a loss report agreed to between the named insured
and the insuring agent, the named insured has submitted a contractor's
signed estimate of 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 insuring agent shall transfer
to the municipality from the insurance proceeds the amount specified
in the estimate.
B. The transfer of proceeds shall be on pro rata basis by all companies,
associations or exchanges insuring the building or other structure.
C. After the transfer, the named insured may submit a contractor's signed
estimate of the costs of removing, repairing or securing the building
or other structure, and the designated officer shall return the amount
of the funds transferred to the municipality in excess of the estimate
to the named insured, if the municipality has not commenced to remove,
repair or secure the building or other structure.
D. Upon receipt of proceeds under this article, the municipality shall
do the following:
(1) The designated 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 municipality. Such costs shall include, without limitation,
any engineering, legal or administrative costs incurred by the municipality
in connection with such removal, repair or securing of the building
or any proceedings related thereto.
(2) It is the obligation of the insuring agent when transferring the
proceeds to provide the municipality 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 designated officer shall contact
the named insured, certify that the proceeds have been received by
the municipality and notify the named insured that the procedures
under this section shall 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 municipality and the required proof of such completion
received by the designated officer, and if the municipality has not
incurred any costs for repairs, removal or securing, the fund shall
be returned to the named insured. If the municipality has incurred
costs for repairs, removal or securing the building or other structure,
the costs shall be paid from the fund and if excess funds remain,
the municipality shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured.
(4) To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held by the municipality
pursuant to this article and not returned to the named insured, such
interest shall belong to the municipality. To the extent that 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 article shall be construed to limit the ability of
the municipality to recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing in
this section shall be construed to prohibit the municipality and the
named insured from entering into an agreement that permits the transfer
of funds to the named insured of some other reasonable disposition
of the damaged property as has been negotiated.
The Borough of Lansdale may, by resolution, adopt procedures
and regulations to implement 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 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.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this article
shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial
District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure,
be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of
not more than $1,000, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees
incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings. Upon judgment
against any person by summary conviction, or by proceedings by summons
on default of the payment of the fine or penalty imposed and the costs,
the defendant may be sentenced and committed to the Borough lockup
for a period not exceeding 10 days or to the county jail for a period
not exceeding 30 days. Each day or portion thereof that such violation
continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate
offense, and each section of this article that is violated shall also
constitute a separate offense.