The purpose of this chapter and the policy of the Borough of
Ephrata is to protect and promote the public health, safety and welfare
of its citizens, to establish rights and obligations of owners and
occupants relating to residential rental units in the Borough and
to encourage owners and occupants to maintain and improve the quality
of rental housing within the Borough. In furtherance of these objectives,
this chapter provides for a systematic inspection program permitting
of residential rental units, and penalties.
Approvals issued pursuant to this chapter shall not relieve
an owner of the responsibility to secure such other permits or approvals
for activities or uses regulated by any other applicable code, rule,
act, or ordinance.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following terms shall,
for the purpose of this chapter, have the meanings indicated as follows:
BED-AND-BREAKFAST
The use and occupancy of a single-family detached dwelling
accommodating transient guests for rent.
BOARDINGHOUSE
A building in which the owner or tenant rents at least one
(but not more than five) residential rental units, regardless of whether
or not meals are furnished.
BOROUGH
The Borough of Ephrata, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
CODE
Any state or local code or ordinance adopted, enacted and/or in effect in and for the Borough of Ephrata concerning fitness for habitation or the construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use or appearance of any premises or residential rental unit, including, but not limited to, the Uniform Construction Code (hereinafter "UCC"), the International Property Maintenance Code, International Plumbing Code, International Fire Prevention Code, the International Building Code and any duly enacted amendment or supplement to any of the above and any new enactment falling within this definition, codified as Chapter
245 of the Code of the Borough of Ephrata, Property Maintenance; the Zoning Ordinance, codified as Chapter
319 of the Code of the Borough of Ephrata; the Municipal Waste Management Ordinance, codified as Chapter
271 of the Code of the Borough of Ephrata; Nuisance Property Regulations, codified as Chapter
218 of the Code of the Borough of Ephrata; Act 37 of 2014, 8 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq., the Borough Code; and the general public nuisance laws of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER OR OFFICIAL
A sworn or nonsworn person and any assistant or deputy thereof designated or assigned by Borough Council or its Borough Manager the duties to enforce this chapter, including the performance of inspections, issuance of residential rental permits and issuance of citations, their designated assistants or agents and those code enforcement officials and officials of the Borough of Ephrata as defined in Chapter
245 of the Code of the Borough of Ephrata, Property Maintenance, and other ordinances of the Borough of Ephrata; and any authorized member or officer of the Ephrata Borough Police Department or other law enforcement organization having appropriate jurisdiction.
COMMON AREA
Any open area within a structure shared by occupants or that
the occupants have the right to share, including, but not limited
to, kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, attics, hallways,
basements and any room, porch or yard used for parties, social events
or the congregation of people, excepting bedrooms.
COUNTY
The County of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
DWELLING UNIT
One or more rooms intended to be occupied by one family as
separate living quarters, containing sanitary facilities, kitchen
facilities and having outside access directly from the dwelling unit
or through a common hall.
GROUP HOME
A residential facility licensed under an applicable state
program occupied as a residence by one full-time resident supervisor
and not more than five residents who receive twenty-four-hour resident
supervision in a single-family residential setting.
GUEST
A person on the premises with the actual or implied consent
of an occupant.
HOTEL
A building or group of buildings containing six or more individual
rooms for rent, primarily for transients, with common hallways for
all rooms on the same floor, and where no provision is made for cooking
in any individual room or suite. "Hotel" does not include institutional
or educational uses, buildings where human beings are housed under
legal constraint, bed-and-breakfasts or campgrounds. The term "hotel"
shall be synonymous with "motel."
HOTEL UNIT
Any room or group of rooms located within a hotel or motel,
forming a single habitable unit used or intended to be used for living
and sleeping only on a transient basis for a period of less than 15
consecutive days.
LANDLORD
A lessor, or person(s) who act as agent for the lessor, of
any parcel of real estate located within the Borough of Ephrata, or
a lessor, or person(s) who act as agent for the lessor, of any improvements
on real estate or any building located within the Borough of Ephrata;
any person who owns and leases all or any part of his or her real
estate to another person for a dwelling unit for a consideration,
monetary or otherwise, or who owns and permits another person to use
or occupy all or a part of his real estate for a dwelling unit with
or without consideration.
MANAGER or RESPONSIBLE AGENT
A person retained by an owner to be responsible for one or
more residential rental units within the Borough and who is authorized
by the owner as the agent of the owner for service of process, receiving
of notices and demands; and performing the duties and obligations
of a manager or responsible agent as set forth in this chapter.
OCCUPANT
Any person over one year of age living and sleeping in a
residential rental unit or having actual possession of said residential
rental unit; any individual who resides in a residential rental unit,
whether or not he or she is the owner thereof, with whom a legal relationship
with the owner/landlord is established by a lease or by the laws of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
OWNER
The person who holds record title and/or the equitable owner
under an agreement of sale of a property upon which a residential
rental unit is erected or maintained. If more than one person owns
the residential rental unit as joint tenants, tenants in common, tenants
by the entireties, or tenants in co-partnership, each such person
shall be considered an owner and shall have all of the duties of an
owner under this chapter; any person, agent, operator, property management
group, housing authority or fiduciary having legal, equitable or other
interest in any real property; as recorded in the official records
of the state, county or municipality as holding title to the real
property; or otherwise having control of the real property, including
the guardian of the estate of such person and the executor or administrator
of such person's estate. When used in this chapter in a clause
proscribing any activity or imposing a penalty, the term as applied
to partnerships and associations, shall mean each general partner;
as applied to corporations, the officers thereof; and as applied to
limited liability companies, the members and any managers or responsible
agents thereof; a landlord.
PAST DUE
Any real estate tax, sewer, electric or water usage charge
or municipal trash collection fee for the residential rental unit
that is not paid in full by the due date or dates established for
such tax, charge or fee by the applicable service provider or taxing
entity.
PERSON
A natural individual, unincorporated association, partnership,
corporation, estate, trust or any other legally recognized entity,
and the members of such partnership and the officers of such corporation.
PERSONAL CARE HOME
A premises in which food, shelter, and personal assistance
or supervision are continually provided for four or more adults who
are not relatives of the operator, who do not require the services
in or of a licensed long-term facility, but who do require assistance
or supervision in matters such as dressing, bathing, diet, financial
management, evacuation of a residence in the event of an emergency,
or medication prescribed for self-administration, and which meets
the regulations of any applicable government licensing agency.
PREMISES
Any parcel of real estate within the Borough, including the
land and all buildings and appurtenant structures, on which one or
more residential rental units are located.
RESIDENTIAL RENTAL AGREEMENT
A legally enforceable agreement between owner and tenant/occupant
embodying the terms and conditions concerning the use and occupancy
of a regulated residential rental unit and executed by all parties
subject to the agreement.
RESIDENTIAL RENTAL PERMIT
A document issued annually by the Code Enforcement Officer
to the owner, operator, responsible agent or manager of a residential
rental unit certifying the unit as permitted for being rented. Such
permit is required for lawful rental and occupancy of residential
rental units.
RESIDENTIAL RENTAL UNIT
A rooming unit or a dwelling unit let for rent or a residential
unit occupied by any persons other than one occupied solely by the
owner and members of the owner's family. Each individual townhouse
dwelling, each individual apartment unit, each individual unit in
a multifamily building, and each rooming unit shall be considered
a separate residential rental unit. If a structure contains a rooming
unit or if any portion of the structure is let for rent, it shall
be considered a residential rental unit whether or not the owner or
a relative of the owner also resides in the structure. A residential
rental unit includes dwelling units under lease-purchase agreements
or long-term (greater than six months) agreements of sale; a transient
dwelling; a hotel or motel unit; a boardinghouse room; a bed-and-breakfast
facility.
ROOMING UNIT
A portion of a dwelling unit, including any room or group
of rooms forming a single habitable unit used or intended to be used
for living and sleeping but not for cooking purposes. Granting of
permission to use shared or common cooking facilities may be associated
with the leasing of a rooming unit.
TENANT
An occupant of a residential rental unit with whom a legal
relationship with the owner as established by a lease or other enforceable
agreement under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
TRANSIENT DWELLING
A one-family, two-family or multifamily dwelling which is
not occupied exclusively by the owner thereof and each dwelling unit
therein is not occupied pursuant to the terms of a written lease for
more than 15 days during any one-month period or is occupied pursuant
to a written lease with a term of less than one month.
No person shall let to another for occupancy any residential rental unit unless he or she shall first apply for and obtain annually a permit issued by the Codes Enforcement Office of the Borough of Ephrata in accordance with the provisions of §
253-10 of this chapter (Residential rental unit permitting) and it shall be unlawful for any person to conduct or operate or cause to be rented, either as owner or manager or responsible agent, any residential rental unit within the Borough without having a residential rental permit as required by this chapter.
Each occupant of a residential rental unit shall have the following
duties:
A. Comply with all obligations of this chapter and all applicable codes
and Borough ordinances, as well as all state laws and regulations.
B. Conduct himself/herself and require other persons, including, but
not limited to, guests on the premises and within their residential
rental unit with their consent, to conduct themselves in a manner
that will not disturb the peaceful enjoyment of the premises by others
and that will not disturb the peaceful enjoyment of adjacent or nearby
dwellings by people occupying the same.
C. Not engage in, nor tolerate, nor permit others on the premises to
cause damage to the residential rental unit or engage in violations
of this chapter, codes, Borough ordinances, or applicable state laws.
D. Use the trash and recyclable collection services provided by the
owner unless the tenant has otherwise contracted with a collection
service.
E. Use the residential rental unit for no purpose other than as a residence and such other accessory uses permitted by Chapter
319 of the Code of the Borough of Ephrata, Zoning.
F. Maintain the residential rental unit in a manner meeting all requirements for occupants of structures set forth in Chapter
245 of the Code of the Borough of Ephrata, Property Maintenance.
G. Allow the code enforcement officer to inspect the residential rental
unit in accordance with the provisions of this chapter upon reasonable
notice and at reasonable times.
H. Not allow persons other than those identified on the lease to reside
in the residential rental unit.
I. Not allow the residential rental unit to be occupied by more than one family. For the purposes of this subsection, a "family" shall be considered to be a family as that term is defined in Chapter
319 of the Code of the Borough of Ephrata, Zoning, i.e., no more than four persons unrelated to all the others by blood, marriage, adoption or legal foster relationship.
J. Not engage in, nor tolerate, nor permit others on the premises of
the residential rental unit to engage in, any conduct declared illegal
under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code (18 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et
seq.; the Pennsylvania Liquor Code (47 P.S. § 1-101 et seq.);
or the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act (35 P.S.
§ 780-101 et seq.) or which is otherwise in violation of
any code, Borough ordinance or other applicable law that regulates
the use, occupancy, construction, maintenance or condition of the
residential rental unit or premises.
K. Ensure that the maximum number of persons permitted in the residential rental unit at any time shall not exceed the occupancy requirements of Chapter
245 of the Code of the Borough of Ephrata, Property Maintenance, § 245-404.5, as amended from time to time.
L. Maintain all batteries installed in each provided smoke and carbon
monoxide alarm at all times during tenant's occupancy of the
residential rental unit and do not otherwise tamper with or disable
any such alarm.
Prior to initial occupancy of newly constructed residential
rental units, newly created residential rental units, or substantially
rehabilitated residential rental units (as documented by a certificate
of occupancy), the owner, manager or responsible agent shall make
written application to the code enforcement officer for a residential
rental permit as herein provided.
A. Initial inspections will occur within three business days from the
receipt of written notice from the owner, manager or responsible agent
to the Code Enforcement Office that a residential rental unit is ready
for inspection.
B. Inspections of residential rental units shall be performed by the
Codes Enforcement Office prior to the occupancy or change in occupancy
of any such unit and not less frequently than once during any three-year
period regardless of the term of occupancy of any tenant. The Code
Enforcement Officer may also inspect residential rental units upon
receipt of complaints or for any other reasonable cause.
C. If the code enforcement officer, upon completion of any inspection,
finds that the applicable codes or statutes have not been met, the
code enforcement officer shall issue notices and, if appropriate,
commence enforcement actions under the procedure set forth in the
code or statute which has been violated. Notice provided to a manager
or responsible agent shall be deemed notice provided to the owner.
D. For the purpose of enforcing this chapter, the code enforcement officer
may seek to obtain a search warrant issued by a competent authority
for the purpose of compelling an inspection or otherwise enforcing
the terms and conditions of this chapter.
E. The penalty for not allowing an inspection or reinspection of a residential
rental unit shall be the revocation or denial of the residential rental
permit.
The provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by the sworn
and nonsworn code enforcement officers and officials of the Borough
of Ephrata and any authorized member or officer of the Ephrata Borough
Police Department or other law enforcement organization having appropriate
jurisdiction.