[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Fallowfield as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire Department — See Ch. 33.
Uniform construction codes — See Ch. 175.
Property maintenance — See Ch. 278.
Zoning — See Ch. 400.
[Adopted 6-24-1998 by Ord. No. 149]
The following terms in this article are defined as follows:
ACT 98 OF 1992
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Act of July 9, 1992, P.L. 678, No. 98, Section 1, 40 P.S. § 638, as now or hereafter amended, modified and/or supplemented and any legislative enactment as now or hereafter enacted which amends, replaces and/or supplements said Act.
BUILDING CODES
Any code, ordinance and/or law adopted, enacted, and/or in effect in and for the Township of Fallowfield concerning fitness for habitation, the construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use or appearance of any premises, building and/or fire prevention, housing, housing standards, and municipal waste, including but not limited to all applicable federal and state codes and regulations. Also included within, but not limited by, this definition are the following ordinances: ordinance pertaining to removal or repair of dangerous structures; building permit ordinance; collection and removal of garbage ordinance; junk automobiles, garbage or rubbish ordinance; garbage ordinance; dangerous structure ordinance; floodplain management ordinance; weed ordinance; zoning ordinance;[1] and any duly enacted amendment or supplement to any of the above and any new enactment falling within this definition.
INSURING AGENT
Any insurance company, association or exchange.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Fallowfield, Washington County, Pennsylvania.
[1]
Editor's Note: See also Ch. 175, Construction Codes, Uniform; Ch. 209, Floodplain Management; Ch. 278, Property Maintenance; Ch. 315, Solid Waste; Ch. 400, Zoning, of the Code of the Township of Fallowfield.
The Secretary/Treasurer of the Township of Fallowfield or the Supervisors' designee, in the Secretary/Treasurer's absence, is hereby appointed as the designated officer who is authorized to carry out all responsibilities and duties stated herein.
No insuring agent doing business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall pay a claim of a named insured for fire damage to a building or structure located within the Township of Fallowfield where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under all policies exceeds $7,500, unless the insuring agent is furnished with a municipal certificate by the Township's Tax Collector 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,[1] and the provisions of this article.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638.
A. 
The Tax Collector shall, upon written request of the named insured specifying the tax description of the property, name and address of the insuring agent and the date agreed upon by the insuring agent and the named insured as the date of the receipt of the loss report of the claim, furnish the insuring agent either of the following within 14 working days of the request:
(1) 
A certificate 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 Tax Collector's certificate or verbal notification, no municipality has certified any amount as total costs incurred by the municipality for the removal, repair or securing of a building or other structure on the property; or
(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 treasurer's certificate, the amount of the total costs, if any, certified to the Tax Collector that have been incurred by a municipality for the removal, repair or securing of a building or other structure on the property. For the purposes of this subsection, the municipality shall certify to the Tax Collector the total amount, if any, of such costs. 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 municipality under applicable law.
B. 
Upon receipt of a certificate pursuant to Subsection A(1) of this section, the insuring agent shall pay the claim of the named insured in accordance with the policy terms, unless the loss agreed to between the named insured and the insuring agent equals or exceeds 60% of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies covering the building or other structure. In the case of such a loss, the insuring agent, the insured property owner and the municipality shall follow the procedures set forth in § 224-5 of this article.
C. 
Upon receipt of a certificate and bill pursuant to Subsection A(2) of this section, the insuring agent shall return the bill to the Tax Collector and transfer to the Tax Collector an amount from the insurance proceeds necessary to pay the taxes, assessments, penalties, charges and costs as shown on the bill. The municipality shall receive the amount and apply or credit it to payment of the items shown on the bill.
If the loss agreed upon by the named insured and the insuring agent, or otherwise to be paid to the insured, equals or exceeds 60% of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies covering the building or other structure, the following procedures must be followed:
A. 
The insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to the officer of the Township designated pursuant to this article, in the aggregate of $2,000 for each $15,000 of a claim, or fraction thereof, such that if the claim is $15,000 or less, the amount transferred to the Township shall be $2,000; or
B. 
If at the time of a loss report, the named insured has submitted a contractor's signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing and/or securing the building or other structure, in an amount less than the amount calculated under the foregoing formula, the insuring agent shall transfer to the Township from the insurance proceeds the amount specified in the estimate.
C. 
The transfer of proceeds shall be on a pro rata basis by all companies, associations or exchanges insuring the building or other structure.
D. 
After the transfer, the named insured may submit to the Township a contractor's signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing and/or securing the building or other structure, and the Township's designated officer shall forward the amount of the funds transferred to the Township in excess of the estimate, to the named insured if the Township has not commenced to remove, repair and/or secure the building or other structure.
E. 
Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the Township shall do the following:
(1) 
The designated officer shall place the proceeds in a separate fund to be used solely as security against the total costs of removing, repairing and/or securing the building or structure which are or may be incurred by the Township of Fallowfield. Such costs shall include, but are not limited to, any and all engineering, legal and/or administrative costs incurred by the Township of Fallowfield in connection with such removal, repair and/or securing of the building or other structure or any proceedings related thereto; and
(2) 
It is the obligation of the insuring agent, when transferring the proceeds, to provide the Township of Fallowfield 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 Township's designated officer shall contact the named insured in writing, certify that the proceeds have been received by the Township and notify the named insured that the procedures under this article shall be followed; and
(3) 
When repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure damaged by fire have been completed in accordance with all applicable Township Codes, as certified by the Township Zoning Officer or the Supervisors' designee after an inspection by the Zoning Officer or the Supervisors' designee, and the required proof of such completion has been received by the Township's designated officer, and if the Township has not incurred any costs for repairs, removal or securing the building or other structure, the fund shall be forwarded to the named insured. If the Township has incurred or incurs 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 Township shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured; and
(4) 
To the extent that interest, if any, is earned on proceeds held by the Township pursuant to this article, and the proceeds are not returned to the named insured, such interest shall belong to the Township, as it was the Township's funds which were originally expended for such repairs, removal and/or securing of the building or other structure. 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 transferred to the insured.
F. 
The Township shall be entitled to recover any deficiency in expenditures and/or costs it incurs whatsoever, and nothing in this article shall be interpreted to modify its rights to do so under law or otherwise. Furthermore, the Township and the named insured may enter 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 and agreed to by the Township of Fallowfield.
The Board of Supervisors 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 and/or managing separate fund accounts.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to make any Township public official, employee nor agent an insuring agent, nor to obligate the Township of Fallowfield or any public official, employee or agent of the Township to pay any public property taxes, liens, costs or expenses, nor to take any action with regard to any property, except to the extent and only to the extent the Township has expended funds from the insurance proceeds therefor.
The Township's designated officer shall forthwith file a copy of this article with the Pennsylvania Department of Economic and Community Development, together with the names, position and phone number of the Township officer responsible for compliance with this article and Act 98 of 1992, and such other and further information, if any, as may be required to comply with Act 98 of 1992.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this article shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township before a Magisterial District Judge, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus all court costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred by the Township in the enforcement of this article. No judgment shall be imposed until the date of the determination of the violation by the Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense. Further, the appropriate officers or agents of the Township are hereby authorized to seek equitable relief, including injunction, to enforce compliance herewith.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
If any structure is owned by more than one person, in any form of joint tenancy, as a partnership, or otherwise, or if any named insured or insuring agent consists of a partnership, corporation or other entity(ies), each person, including, but not limited to, all partners and officers of a corporate owner, named insured or insuring agent shall be jointly and severally responsible for the duties imposed under the terms of this article, and shall be jointly and severally subject to prosecution and liability for a violation of this article.
This article shall be liberally construed to accomplish its purposes to deter the commission of arson and related crimes, to discourage the abandonment of property, to prevent urban blight and deterioration and to protect and promote the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Township of Fallowfield.