[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Orange 1-15-74 by Ord. No. 2-74. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 3-6-2018 by Ord. No. 6-2018]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DWELLING UNIT
Any room or rooms, or suite or apartment thereof, whether furnished or unfurnished, which is occupied or intended, arranged or designed to be occupied for sleeping, dwelling or residence purposes by one or more persons.
EMERGENCY CONDITION
Any condition dangerous or injurious to the health, safety or welfare of the occupants of a dwelling unit, multiple dwelling or the occupants of neighborhood buildings which arises out of any of the following circumstances or conditions:
A. 
Lack of adequate ventilation or light.
B. 
Lack of adequate and properly functioning sanitary facilities.
C. 
Lack of adequate and healthful water supply.
D. 
Structural, mechanical or electrical defects which increase the hazards of fire, accident or other calamity.
E. 
Except in senior citizen buildings, from October 1 of each year until the next succeeding May 1, failure to maintain every unit of dwelling space and every habitable room therein at a temperature of at least 70° F. whenever the outside temperature falls below 55° F. during the daytime hours of 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. or failure to maintain every unit of dwelling space and every habitable room therein at a temperature of at least 68° F. whenever the outside temperature falls below 40° F. during the nighttime hours of 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. In senior citizen buildings, from October 1 of each year until the next succeeding May 1, failure to maintain every unit of dwelling space and every habitable room therein at a temperature of at least 74° F. whenever the outside temperature falls below 55° F. during the daytime hours of 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. or failure to maintain every unit of dwelling space and every habitable room therein at a temperature of at least 74° F. whenever the outside temperature falls below 40° F. during the nighttime hours of 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. In meeting the aforesaid standards, the owner shall not be responsible for heat loss and the consequent drop in the interior temperature arising out of action by the occupants in leaving windows or doors open to the exterior of the building.
MULTIPLE DWELLING
Any building or structure of one or more stories, and any land appurtenant thereto and any portion thereof, in which four or more dwelling units are occupied by four or more persons who live independently of each other. Premises which are used primarily for purposes other than sleeping, dwelling or residence purposes shall not be considered a "multiple dwelling."
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Sections 1 and 2 concerning the establishment, composition and duties of the Orange Multiple Dwelling Emergency Board are to be found in Ch. 4, Administration of Government, § 4-63.
The owner of a multiple dwelling located in the City of Orange shall deposit with the Rent Leveling Board security funds to be used for the repair, maintenance, supply or replacement of those items of structure, equipment or supplies which are necessary to correct, eliminate or alleviate an emergency condition. The amount of the security funds to be deposited with the Board shall be computed in the following manner:
A. 
The owner of a multiple dwelling containing between four (4) and twenty-five (25) units shall deposit one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125.) for each dwelling unit.
B. 
The owner of a multiple dwelling containing between twenty-six (26) and forty (40) dwelling units shall deposit two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.) for the first twenty-five (25) units and fifty dollars ($50.) for each additional dwelling unit.
C. 
The owner of a multiple dwelling containing more than forty (40) dwelling units shall deposit two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.) for the first twenty-five (25) units, fifty dollars ($50.) per unit for the next fifteen (15) units and thirty dollars ($30.) per unit for each additional dwelling unit.
D. 
In no event shall an owner be required to deposit more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.) in security funds pursuant to this chapter. All funds required to be deposited under the terms of this chapter shall be deposited with the Board by delivering such funds to the office of the Board within ten (10) days after receipt of notice from the Board of the amount so due. Notice of the amount due shall be given by the Board or its agent by personally delivering same to the owner or the owner's agent, servant, employee or joint venturer on the owner's premises, or by certified mail sent to the owner's last known address. Upon receipt of such security funds, the Board shall deposit same in an interest-bearing savings account at financial institutions within the City of Orange in the name of the Board in trust for each particular owner. All interest payable on such accounts shall accrue to the particular owner on whose behalf the account is maintained by the Board.
E. 
Said deposit shall be in cash or certified check, except that in lieu of the owner or a landlord depositing cash, said owner or landlord may deposit a personal recognizance bond or performance bond in the amount of his required cash deposit, said bond to run to the benefit of the City of Orange, and said bond to be approved as to form and substance by the office of the City Attorney.
In the event that the Board expends money from any account, as authorized by this chapter, thus reducing the amount in the account and leaving less than the sum required as computed in § 173-2 of this chapter, the Board shall immediately notify the owner in the same manner as notification is given in § 173-2 of this chapter, of the amount necessary to bring that account up to the originally required amount. The owner shall thereafter deposit said required sum necessary to bring the account up to the originally required amount with the Board and within the following time schedule.
A. 
Where the balance remaining in the owner's account is more than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.), the deposit shall be made within thirty (30) days from the date the owner received notice.
B. 
Where the balance remaining in the account is one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.) or less, the deposit shall be made within five (5) days from the date the owner received notice.
Where the Board has spent money from an account, the owner of the premises may appeal to the City Council of the City of Orange for a hearing concerning solely the issues of whether an emergency condition did exist and whether the amount expended to remedy the emergency condition was reasonable. If such appeal is desired, the owner shall, within ten (10) days of receiving notice of the amount spent, file with the City Clerk of the City of Orange a letter requesting such appeal. The City Council of the City of Orange shall hold a hearing regarding the aforementioned issues not less than ten (10) nor more than thirty (30) days after the City Clerk has received the request from the owner, and it shall render its decision within fourteen (14) days after the hearing has been concluded. By mutual consent between the City Council of the City of Orange and an aggrieved party, the time limitations herein stated may be extended.
The Board shall be authorized to expend the moneys from the account it maintains for an owner to correct, eliminate or alleviate an emergency condition only when:
A. 
It has examined those circumstances and conditions alleged to constitute an emergency condition and has declared an emergency condition to exist.
B. 
The remedying of such emergency condition is the owner's responsibility.
C. 
The owner or the owner's agent, servant, employee or joint venturer has received notice of the circumstances or conditions constituting the emergency condition from the Board in person or by regular mail, telegram or telephone conversation.
D. 
No work has been commenced by the owner or the owner's agent, servant, employee or joint venturer to correct, eliminate or alleviate the emergency condition within twenty-four (24) hours after the owner or the owner's agent, servant, employee or joint venturer has received notice as described in Subsection C of this section of the circumstances and conditions constituting the emergency condition.
E. 
Where work was commenced within the twenty-four-hour period referred to in Subsection D of this section, but such work has not been reasonably completed within seventy-two (72) hours after the work was commenced, and such work, under the applicable circumstances and in the opinion of the Health Officer or the Public Officer, could have been completed within seventy-two (72) hours.
[Amended 5-18-1982 by Ord. No. 16-82]
Any person, firm, association or persons or corporation found guilty of violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.) or imprisonment for not more than ninety (90) days, or both. Each day that a violation occurs shall be considered a separate offense.