[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Ellenville 11-18-1974 by L.L. No. 3-1974. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building construction — See Ch. 70.
Fair housing — See Ch. 99.
Mobile homes — See Ch. 142.
Zoning — See Ch. 227.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DWELLING UNIT
A building or entirely self-contained portion thereof containing complete living, sleeping, cooking and eating facilities.
[Added 4-23-2007 by L.L. No. 4-2007]
GUEST
A person who shares a dwelling unit in a nonpermanent status for not more than 90 days in any one calendar year period.
[Added 4-23-2007 by L.L. No. 4-2007]
RENT
A return in money, property or other valuable consideration (including payment in kind or for services or other thing of value) for use and occupancy or the right to use and occupancy of a dwelling unit, whether or not a legal relationship of landlord and tenant exists between the owner and the occupant or occupants thereof.
[Added 4-23-2007 by L.L. No. 4-2007]
RENTED RESIDENTIAL APARTMENT UNIT
A residential building or part thereof which contains one or more dwelling units and in which space is occupied or intended to be occupied by one or more persons who is not the owner or who is not the husband or wife, son or daughter, mother or father or sister or brother of the owner. Expressly excluded from this definition are hotels, motels, rooming and boarding houses if covered by any other village, town, county or state laws, rules, regulations or ordinances. Also expressly excluded are single boarders, foster children or guests living with the owner of said property.
[Amended 4-23-2007 by L.L. No. 4-2007]
RRAU
Rented residential apartment units.
[Amended 4-23-2007 by L.L. No. 4-2007]
A. 
Certificate required. The owner of a property containing an RRAU must, before allowing occupancy, apply to the Building Inspector, Housing Inspector and/or their assistant(s) for a certificate of rental safety.
B. 
Petition for relief from certificate of rental safety requirement. Any property owner within the Village may submit a petition to the Village Board requesting relief from the requirement to gain a certificate of rental safety before allowing occupancy of an RRAU. Such petition shall be subject to approval by the Village Board, and no occupancy shall be allowed without a certificate of rental safety unless approval of the Village Board has been previously obtained.
(1) 
The Village Board in making a determination to grant relief to a property owner may consider, in reaching a decision on such request, any item that the Village Board deems appropriate, including, but not limited to, the following: whether the occupant is a guest; whether the occupancy will be temporary in nature; persons acting as property managers for owners residing temporarily at seasonal homes; and housing of exchange students. The Village Board may also consider such other terms and conditions as the Village Board deems appropriate.
(2) 
Any approval granted by the Village Board shall be deemed an agreement by the property owner to refrain from accepting rent from the occupant in consideration for his or her occupancy.
(3) 
In the event that approval of the Village Board is granted, the property owner shall be responsible for complying with all regulations set forth under Chapter 171, Property Maintenance, and all other sections of the Village Code pertaining to residential property maintenance.
It is the express intent of this chapter to require owners of property containing RRAU to have a certificate of rental safety which shall be renewed every 12 months.
A. 
The Building Inspector and/or his assistant, after inspecting the premises shall, within five working days from the date of inspection, issue a certificate of rental safety or, if same are in violation, shall send the owner or agent a written list of each such violation, together with a specific time in which the owner must correct same.
B. 
He shall reinspect the premises within five working days after he has been notified that the corrections have been made.
C. 
The inspection which is authorized pursuant to this chapter shall be made after receiving permission from the owner or person in control of the premises. Prior to receiving permission, the Building Inspector and/or his assistant shall advise the owner of the premises or the person otherwise in control that they may refuse to grant permission for the inspection. The owner or such other person in control shall also be advised that in the event that permission to perform the inspection is not granted, then the Building Inspector and/or his assistant will apply to the court to obtain an appropriate warrant to inspect the premises; provided, however, that an inspection without permission or without a warrant may be conducted in emergency situations.
[Added 7-17-2000 by L.L. No. 4-2000]
Application in triplicate for certificates of rental safety shall be supplied to the owner or his agent of any RRAU by the Building Inspector and/or his assistant and shall, among other pertinent information, contain the name of the owner, location of the unit, number of units available and the number of rooms in each apartment.
[Added 11-12-2024 by L.L. No. 3-2024]
A. 
Applicants with outstanding violations or unpaid monies. No such rental safety certificate (hereinafter "certificate") shall be granted to or renewed for an applicant who is in violation of any Village of Ellenville code, ordinance or local law (hereinafter "violations") or who owes property taxes, water or sewer fees, special assessments, fines for violations of Village ordinances or any other fees or past due monies of any name or nature owed to the Village of Ellenville (hereinafter "unpaid monies").
(1) 
The applicant shall have the burden of providing proof in a form acceptable to the Building Department that there are no such violations or unpaid monies.
(2) 
In the event that the applicant has accrued violations or unpaid monies, such permit or renewal thereof shall be denied regardless of whether such violations or unpaid monies relate to a parcel of real property for which the application is made or another parcel owned by applicant or are personal to the applicant.
(3) 
In the event that the applicant has accrued violations or unpaid monies, such permit or renewal thereof shall be denied regardless of whether such violations or unpaid monies occurred or accrued before the effective date of this section.
(4) 
In the event that an application is in process and a violation of this chapter occurs, processing of the application shall cease upon presentation of proof of the violation by the Receiver of Taxes or Code Enforcement Officer of the Village of Ellenville.
(5) 
Such certificate, once granted, shall be revoked in the event that the applicant accrues violations or unpaid monies, or violations or unpaid monies are discovered, after the certificate is granted. The revocation shall take effect five business days after receipt by the permit holder of notice from the Village of Ellenville of the pending revocation. Upon such revocation, all permitted activities and privileges shall immediately cease.
(6) 
No application fees shall be refunded upon revocation of the certificate.
(7) 
The applicant must reapply for the issuance of a revoked certificate by submitting a new application and paying all necessary application fees, and any such permitted activities or privileges may only be resumed once a new certificate has been granted.
(8) 
All requirements set forth herein shall also apply to nonperson entities and such certificate or renewal thereof shall be denied to an entity, or revoked, if a person with a substantial interest in such entity owes such unpaid monies or has accrued such violations. A "person with a substantial interest" shall mean an ownership interest of equal to or more than 10% of, membership on the governing board of, holding an office in or holding the ability to cast or control more than 10% of the votes in such entity.
(9) 
Payment plans. Any applicant herein which has a valid and current payment plan for unpaid monies authorized by the Board of Trustees or Village Manager shall be exempt from the requirements herein, so long as:
(a) 
All payments required under the payment plan have been made and the applicant remains current on said payments; and
(b) 
The applicant does not have any other active or current violations and/or unpaid monies; and
(c) 
The applicant does not accrue violations or unpaid monies, or violations or unpaid monies are discovered, after the certificate is granted.
(d) 
Should the applicant not meet these requirements, the application will be denied. Should the applicant violate these provisions after the issuance of the certificate, the certificate shall be revoked pursuant to the provisions herein.
A certificate of rental safety issued by the Building Inspector shall state that, as of the date of inspection, the RRAU and the building housing the same are not in violation of any state or local codes, ordinances and/or local laws applicable to RRAU and buildings. In addition thereto, each certificate of rental safety shall state the name of the owner, address of the premises, identity of the unit by number or other suitable means and shall state the number of people permitted to occupy said unit, which number shall be arrived at by applying the provisions of the housing or building code.
The owner, his agent and/or representative shall be in violation of the provisions of this chapter if he shall lease, sublet or otherwise rent or occupy an RRAU without obtaining a certificate of rental safety. Once such certificate shall be issued, it shall be valid for a twelve-month period.
[Amended 10-16-2000 by L.L. No. 5-2000]
Every person convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall, for the first conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than $250 and not more than $5,000; for a second or subsequent conviction within 12 months after any previous conviction, such person shall be punished by a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day of continued violation shall constitute a separate additional violation.
[Amended 9-19-1985; 5-15-1995 by L.L. No. 4-1995; 6-3-2002 by L.L. No. 4-2002]
The Village Board of Trustees of the Village of Ellenville is hereby authorized to adopt a resolution or by resolutions a schedule or schedules of reasonable and uniform fees that are required to be paid for rental safety certificates, inspections or any other associated fees that are now required or provided by Chapter 181 of the Code of the Village of Ellenville or that may hereafter be required or provided for. Such resolution or resolutions shall be adopted at a regular meeting of the Village Board of Trustees, and the fees so established may be revised or amended from time to time by a resolution or resolutions adopted at a regular meeting of the Village Board of Trustees. Said sum shall be paid on application thereof and shall be deposited in the general fund of the Village of Ellenville, New York.