The Village of Darien recognizes a need for an organized registration
and inspection program of residential rental units within the Village
in order to maintain the condition of such residential rental units
so that they meet and comply with all provisions of the Village of
Darien Municipal Code as well as all applicable safety, health, fire,
building and construction requirements promulgated by the State of
Wisconsin. The Village Board finds that a significant percentage of
code complaints and violations occur at residential rental dwelling
units and that the conditions which exist at these units adversely
affect the neighbors and neighborhoods in which they are located.
This chapter is enacted to encourage property owners who own and operate
residential rental dwelling units to exercise their responsibility
to ensure that the Village ordinances governing the condition and
maintenance of residential rental dwelling units are followed to protect
the health, safety and welfare of the public, prevent blighted conditions
within the Village and provide safe, decent and sanitary living conditions
for tenants.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates that a different
meaning is intended:
BUILDING INSPECTOR
The Building Inspector shall include the official Building
Inspector as designated by the Village Board or the individual designated
by the Village Board to enforce this section of the Municipal Code.
DWELLING UNIT
A room or group of rooms providing or intending to provide
complete independent living facilities for one or more persons, including
permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation,
including single-family attached and detached units.
DWELLLINGS
A.
SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED DWELLING UNITA dwelling designed for and occupied by not more than one family and having no roof, wall, or floor in common with any other dwelling unit. This dwelling unit type consists of a fully detached single-family residence which is located on an individual lot or within a group development. The dwelling unit must be a site building structure built in compliance with the State of Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code (UDC), or may be a manufactured dwelling (modular home) as permitted by the UDC or a manufactured home as permitted by the HUD code. For any of these dwelling units, the use of permanent, continuous UDC foundation is required. This dwelling unit may not be split into two or more residences;
B.
COMMERCIAL APARTMENTCommercial apartments are dwelling units which are located above the ground floor of a building used for a commercial land use (as designated in Chapter
17.12) most typically an office or retail establishment. See Section
17.20.020 of the Village of Darien Zoning Ordinance;
C.
MULTIFAMILY DWELLINGA building or portion thereof containing two or more residential rental units, including apartments, duplexes, twin houses, townhouses, two-flat houses, and multiplexes as defined in Section
17.02.070 of the Village of Darien Zoning Ordinance;
E.
DORMITORYA space in a building where sleeping accommodations are provided for more than one person not members of the same family group, in one room; and
F.
HOTELA room or rooms in any building or structure kept, used, maintained, advertised or held out to the public to be an inn, motel, apartment, hotel, lodging house, boardinghouse, rooming house, tourist house, dormitory or place where sleeping, rooming, office, conference or exhibition accommodations are furnished for lease or rent, whether with or without meals.
HABITABILITY VIOLATION
Any of the following conditions is in violation of one of
more provisions of any applicable provisions of the Village of Darien
Municipal Code:
A.
The rental property or rental unit lacks hot or cold running
water.
B.
The heating facility serving the rental property or rental unit
is not in safe operating condition or is not capable of maintaining
a temperature, in all living areas of the property or unit, at least
67° F. during all seasons of the year in which the property or
unit may be occupied. Temperatures and living areas shall be measured
at the approximate center of the room, midway between floor and ceiling.
C.
The rental property or rental unit is not served by electricity,
or the electrical wiring, outlets, fixtures, or other components of
the electrical system are not in safe operating condition.
D.
Any structural or other conditions in the rental property or
rental unit that constitute a substantial hazard to the health or
safety of the tenant, or create an unreasonable risk of personal injury
as a result of any reasonably foreseeable use of the property or unit
other than negligent use or abuse of the property or unit by the tenant.
E.
The rental property or rental unit is not served by plumbing
facilities in good operating condition.
F.
The rental property or rental unit is not served by sewage disposal
facilities in good operating condition.
G.
The rental property or rental unit lacks working smoke detectors
or carbon monoxide detectors.
H.
The rental property or rental unit is infested with rodents
or insects.
I.
The rental property or rental unit contains excessive mold.
PERMANENT RESIDENT
A person or entity which occupies, or has the right to occupy,
any room or rooms in a hotel or motel, or any residential rental unit,
for at least 30 or more consecutive days, without an intervening occupancy
interval of less than 30 days.
PERSON
A natural individual, firm, partnership, association, joint
stock company, joint venture, public or private corporation, limited
liability company, or receiver, executor, trustee, conserver or other
representative appointed by order of any court.
PROPERTY
Any building or dwelling containing one or more residential
rental units under one ownership or each residential rental unit if
under separate ownership.
PROPERTY OWNER
Any person who alone or jointly or severally with others
shall be the legally recorded holder of the title with or without
actual possession thereof, or who has charge, care or control of any
dwelling unit as agent or owner or as executor, administrator, trustee
or guardian of the estate of the owner. The term "property owner"
shall also include the legally recorded holder of a land contract
vendee interest.
RESIDENTIAL RENTAL UNIT
A dwelling unit, rooming unit or dwelling which is rented
for occupancy or made available for occupancy on a rental basis, to
a permanent resident who is not the owner of such dwelling unit or
rooming unit.
ROOMING UNIT
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
or eating purposes.
VILLAGE
The Village of Darien, County of Walworth, Wisconsin.
No owner shall rent any dwelling unit to another person unless,
at the time the dwelling unit is rented, the owner has properly made
and filed with the Building Inspector a registration statement in
accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Registration shall
be made upon forms furnished by the Building Inspector of the Village
for such purpose and shall specifically require the following minimum
information:
A. Name, address, phone number, and electronic mail address of the property
owner or authorized contact person;
B. The street address of the property.
Property owner(s) must register each property used as a residential rental unit in the office of the Building Inspector of the Village once. If any of the information required in Section
15.18.030 changes, the property owner(s) must complete and submit a new registration form with the updated information within 30 days of the change. Registration shall be required prior to the issuance of any building permits relating to the property.
Every new owner(s) of property (whether as fee owner or land contract purchaser or upon conveyance or transfer of any interest in the property) subject to the registration requirements set forth in Section
15.18.030 shall be required to complete and submit a new registration form for the property within 30 days of closing or taking possession of the property.
Pursuant to Section 66.0104(2)(e)1m Wis. Stats., the Village
may establish a district that has demonstrated evidence of blight,
high rates of building code complaints or violations, deteriorating
property values, or increases in single-family home conversions to
rental units, in which residential rental units shall be initially
and periodically inspected. The Village hereby established this district
to include all property located within the Village limits.
All properties within the Village, including residential rental
dwelling units, shall remain subject to inspection complaints. The
Department shall inspect residential rental dwelling units based on
tenant or citizen complaints.
Any violation of this chapter is declared to be a nuisance as
defined by the Village of Darien Municipal Code and/or Wisconsin Statutes.
In addition to any other relief provided by this chapter, or the Village
of Darien Municipal Code, the Village Attorney may apply to a court
of competent jurisdiction for an injunction to prohibit the continuation
of any and all violations of this chapter. Such application for relief
may include seeking a temporary restraining order, temporary injunction
and permanent injunction. The Village Attorney may request and shall
be entitled to receive, on behalf of the Village, reimbursement for
any and all costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney fees,
related to such injunction proceedings and any other enforcement action
or litigation related to or arising from a violation(s) of this chapter.
The Village may apply all such penalties or costs and expenses awarded
to the Village by a court of competent jurisdiction related to a violation(s)
of this chapter as a special assessment or lien against the property
for collection.
The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision
of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance
is held or determined to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect
any other provisions or applications of this chapter which can be
given effect without the invalid provisions or application.
Any person determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to
have violated any provision of this chapter shall be fined not less
than $25 nor more than $1,000 plus court costs and expenses, including
reasonable attorney fees, for each offense, and a separate offense
shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation(s)
occurs or continues.