It shall be unlawful for any person, as either owner or manager
of a regulated rental unit for which a license is required, to operate
without a valid, current license issued by the Borough authorizing
such operation. It shall also be unlawful for any person, either owner
or manager, to allow the number of occupants of a regulated rental
unit to exceed the maximum limit as set forth on the license, or to
violate any other provision of this chapter. It shall be unlawful
for any occupant to violate this chapter.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter
shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding under the Pennsylvania
Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall
be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus court costs
and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement
proceedings. Upon judgment against any person by summary conviction,
or by proceedings by summons on default of the payment of the fine
or penalty imposed and the costs, the defendant may be sentenced and
committed to the county correctional facility for a period not exceeding
30 days. Each day that such violation exists shall constitute a separate
offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also
constitute a separate offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement
under this section, the Borough may enforce this chapter in equity
in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County.
The penalty provisions of this article and the license nonrenewal,
suspension and revocation procedures provided in this chapter shall
be independent, nonmutually exclusive separate remedies, all of which
shall be available to the Borough as may be deemed appropriate for
carrying out the purposes of this chapter. The remedies and procedures
provided in this chapter for violations hereof are not intended to
supplant or replace, to any degree, the remedies and procedures available
to the Borough in the case of a violation of any other code or ordinance
of the Borough, whether or not such other code or ordinance is referenced
in this chapter and whether or not an ongoing violation of such other
code or ordinance is cited as the underlying ground for a finding
of a violation of this chapter.
As provided by Act 200 of 2014, this chapter shall not be used to penalize a resident,
tenant or landlord for a contact made for police or emergency assistance
by or on behalf of a victim of abuse as defined in 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 6102,
a victim of a crime pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S.A. (related to crimes and
offenses) or an individual in an emergency pursuant to 35 Pa.C.S.A.
§ 8103, if the contact was made based upon the reasonable
belief of the person making the contact that intervention or emergency
assistance was necessary to prevent the perpetration or escalation
of the abuse, crime or emergency or if the intervention or emergency
assistance was actually needed in response to the abuse, crime or
emergency. The term "penalize" includes the actual or threatened revocation,
suspension or nonrenewal of a rental license, the actual or threatened
assessment of fines or the actual or threatened eviction, or causing
the actual or threatened eviction from leased premises.