[Ord. 8087, passed 4-24-2014]
As used in this article, certain terms are defined as follows:
(a) 
OWNER — Any person, agent, authorized agent, operator, firm or corporation having a legal or equitable interest in the property; or recorded in the official records of the State, county or City as holding title to the property; or otherwise having control of the property, including the guardian of the estate of any such person, and the executor or administrator of the estate.
(b) 
PROPERTY — Any building or structure, lot, plot or parcel of land or both.
(c) 
AGREEMENT OF SALE — Any agreement or written instrument which provides that title to any property shall thereafter be transferred from one owner to another owner, and includes inter alia written leases which contain options to purchase the leased property, and leases which provide that the lessee or the property shall acquire title thereto after the payment of a stipulated number of regular rent payments or after a stipulated period of time.
(d) 
TRANSFERRING DOCUMENT — Any deed or other document transferring legal title or transferring or vesting equitable title to the real property in the purchaser.
[Ord. 8087, passed 4-24-2014]
(a) 
No owner shall sell his property or any interest therein unless such owner first delivers to the purchaser at or prior to the time for settlement a certification of the district classification, issued by the appropriate City officer indicating the zoning classification and legality of the existing use of the property to be sold.
(b) 
No owner shall sell his property or any interest therein unless such owner first delivers to the purchaser at or prior to the time for settlement a certificate issued by the appropriate Code Official disclosing whether there exists any uncorrected violations of the City PA UCC Codes.
[Ord. 8087, passed 4-24-2014]
(a) 
Every owner shall insert in every agreement of sale or transferring document of property a provision showing the zoning classification of such property, and stating whether the present use of the property is in compliance with or in violation of zoning laws and ordinances, and every owner shall insert in every agreement of sale or transferring document of property a provision disclosing whether there exists any notices of uncorrected violations of the City PA UCC Codes.
(b) 
If any owner fails to include any provision required by this article in an agreement of sale or transferring document of property, then in any action, at law or in equity, instituted by a purchaser against an owner, it shall be conclusively presumed that the owner at the time of the signing of such agreement that such property was being used in compliance with the existing zoning laws and ordinances, and that there were no uncorrected violations of the City PA UCC Codes.
[Ord. 8087, passed 4-24-2014]
A certificate from the appropriate City officer certifying that the property has been approved or designated as a nonconforming use shall be deemed compliance with this article.
[Ord. 8087, passed 4-24-2014]
(a) 
The inspection and review fee(s) shall be as follows, or as may be amended from time to time by ordinance of Council. No reduction shall be made for the size, location, structures or any other reason. The fee(s) is non-refundable. The inspection and review fee(s) shall be as follows for each parcel associated in the agreement of sale.
Type
Fee
Residential Property (2 or less units)
$100
Residential Property (3 or more units)
$100 and $25 for each additional unit
Commercial Property
$250
Industrial Property
$250
(b) 
The fee(s) is applicable to each agreement of sale or transferring document no matter how often a property is sold or how often the deed is modified with the exception of a Scrivener's Affidavit to correct minor typographical errors. Owner is solely responsible for the non-refundable fee. The fee(s) is to be paid in full prior to the scheduling of the inspection. Fee(s) shall be paid, copy of any and all agreement(s) of sale and application shall be submitted in person or by regular mail to the appropriate, designated department(s) at the City hall of the City of New Castle or electronically online, whenever available, via a third party website or smart phone application or a website or smart phone application designated by the Code Enforcement Department or Department of Community and Economic Development including, any and all third party fee(s), online convenience fee(s) or other transaction fee(s) shall be the sole responsibility of the owner and paid in full at the time of application. There shall be no refund or reduction because of a failure to execute the agreement of sale. Inspection may be scheduled upon receipt of the fee(s) at the discretion of the Code Enforcement Department.
[Ord. 8087, passed 4-24-2014]
(a) 
Any and all Agreement(s) of Sale or transferring document shall be provided to the appropriate, designated department(s) at the City hall of the City of New Castle prior to the schedule of any and all inspections and any and all agreement(s) of sale shall be recorded at the Lawrence County Recorder of Deeds office within 90 days of the inspection.
(b) 
Execution of any and all agreement(s) of sale or transferring document may not occur until an affidavit provided by the Code Enforcement Department has been signed by the purchaser and notarized and the original, notarized affidavit has been received by the Code Enforcement Department and initialed and dated indicating the date of receipt by the Code Enforcement officer who performed the inspection or a City official designated by the director of Community and Economic Development.
(c) 
Owner, at the date the initial application is received by the Code Enforcement Department, shall be held solely responsible for any and all provisions of this ordinance contained here within.
[Ord. 8087, passed 4-24-2014]
(a) 
Application, provided by the Code Enforcement Department whether it be electronic or hard copy format, shall be signed and completed in full by the owner including, but not limited to, subject property ward, section, lot number, deed reference, parcel id number; address of property; type of occupancy identifying if it is owner, tenant or vacant; name of owner of record; address of owner of record; name of purchaser of property; contact person of purchaser of property; contact person of purchaser address and telephone number; signature of owner or authorized agent; address of owner or authorized agent and telephone number of owner or authorized agent.
(b) 
Affidavit, provided by the Code Enforcement Department whether it be electronic or hard copy format, shall be signed and completed in full by the purchaser including, but not limited to, county in which the affidavit is issued, purchaser name, address of property, purchaser signature, date affidavit is signed, purchaser address, purchaser telephone number, seal and signature of a registered notary.
(c) 
With the exception of a Scrivener's Affidavit to correct minor typographical errors, the name of the purchaser on the application shall be the same as the name of the purchaser on the affidavit and shall be the same as the name of the purchaser in the agreement of sale recorded at the recorder of deeds office.
(d) 
The purchaser shall be solely responsible to perform their due diligence and contact the Code Enforcement Department immediately to determine if the property is on the demolition list. If the property is on the demolition list, the purchaser may submit a written application to the Housing Code Board of Appeals within 10 days after service of the originally dated Notice and Order. Failure to do so, purchaser shall indemnify and hold the City harmless.
[Ord. 8087, passed 4-24-2014]
Whoever violates any provision of this article shall be guilty of summary offense and punished as provided in Section 101.99 of the Administrative Code. Any violation of the provisions of this article on any day shall be a separate and distinct violation and subject the violator to a separate and distinct penalty.