[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Lemoyne as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 1-5-1995 by Ord.
No. 614]
This article is intended to comply with the Act of July 9, 1992,
P.L. 678, No. 98, Section 1, as amended, 40 P.S. § 638.
The provisions herein shall be interpreted to comply with said provisions
and amendments thereto.
The Borough Manager is hereby appointed as the designated officer
who is authorized to carry out all responsibilities and duties of
the Borough of Lemoyne stated herein, other than the responsibilities
and duties specifically assigned to the Tax Collector.
No insurance company, association or exchange (hereinafter the "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 Lemoyne Borough 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 certificate pursuant to § 305-4 of this article and unless in compliance with procedures set forth in this article.
The municipal Tax Collector shall, upon the 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 a loss report of the claim, furnish the insuring agent either of
the following within 14 working days of the request:
A.
A certificate, or at the discretion of the Borough a verbal notification
which shall be confirmed in writing by the insuring agent, 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
B.
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 Tax Collector's certificate,
the amount of the total costs, if any, certified to the treasurer
that have been incurred by a municipality for the removal, repair
or securing of a building or other structure on the property. The
certification may also specify the payee(s) of amounts owed, including
without limitation the Tax Collector, Tax Claim Bureau, or Borough.
For the purpose of this subsection, the Borough or other municipality
shall certify to the Tax Collector the total amount, if any, of such
costs, as well as the amount of any delinquent taxes, assessments,
penalties and user charges not otherwise available to the Tax Collector.
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.
A.
Upon the receipt of a certificate pursuant to § 305-4A of this article, 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 Borough shall follow the procedures set forth in § 305-6 of this article.
B.
Upon the receipt of a certificate and bill pursuant to § 305-4B of this article, 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, made payable as designated by the Tax Collector in the certificate and bill. The Borough shall receive the amount and apply or credit it to payment of the items shown in the bill.
When the loss 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 or other structure, the following
procedures shall be followed:
A.
The insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to the designated officer of the Borough in the aggregate $2,000 for each $15,000 and each fraction of that amount of a claim unless Subsection B herein applies.
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
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 from the insurance proceeds to the designated
officer the amount specified in the estimate.
C.
The transfer of proceeds shall be on a pro rata basis by all insuring
agents insuring the building or other structure.
D.
When transferring proceeds to the Borough, an insuring agent shall
provide the Borough with the name and address of the named insured.
E.
Policy proceeds remaining after the transfer to the Borough shall
be disbursed in accordance with the policy terms.
F.
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 Borough in excess of the
estimate to the named insured, if the Borough has not commenced to
remove, repair or secure the building or other structure.
G.
This section applies only to fire losses that occur after the effective
date of this article.
Upon receipt of proceeds under § 305-6, the Borough shall do the following:
A.
The designated officer shall place the proceeds in a separate fund
to be used solely as security against the total cost of removing,
repairing or securing the building or other structure which are incurred
by the Borough. Such cost shall include, without limitation, any material,
labor, engineering, legal or administrative costs incurred by the
Borough in connection with such removal, repair or securing of the
building or any proceedings related thereto.
B.
Upon receipt of the funds to be escrowed and the name and address
of the named insured, the Borough shall contact the named insured,
certify that the proceeds have been received by the Borough and notify
the named insured that the procedures under this section shall be
followed.
C.
When repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure
have been completed and the required proof received by the designated
officer, and if the Borough has not incurred any costs for repairs,
removal or securing, the fund shall be returned to the named insured.
D.
If the Borough has incurred costs for repairs, removal or securing
of the building or other structure, the costs shall be paid from the
fund. If excess funds remain, the Borough shall transfer the remaining
funds to the named insured.
E.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to limit the ability of
the Borough to recover any deficiency.
The Borough Council of the Borough of Lemoyne may by resolution
adopt procedures and regulations to implement Act 98 of 1992,[1] as amended, and this article and may by resolution fix reasonable fees to be charged for Borough activities or services provided pursuant to Act 98 of 1992, as amended, and this article, including, without limitation, to issuance of certificates and bills, performance of inspections and opening separate fund accounts. Nothing in this section shall prohibit or limit the Borough from recovering costs under § 305-7 of this article, whether or not such costs or fees have been fixed by resolution.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S. § 638.
Any owner of property, any named insured, any insuring agent
or any individual acting on behalf of an insuring agent who violates
this article shall be subject to a penalty not exceeding $1,000 per
violation.
If any sentence, clause, or section of this article is for any
reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, such unconstitutionality,
illegality or invalidity shall not affect or impair any of the remaining
provisions, sentences, clauses or sections of this article. It is
hereby declared as the intent of the Borough of Lemoyne that this
article would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal
or invalid sentence, clause, section or part thereof not been included
herein.
This article shall become effective January 11, 1995.
