The Township Secretary or such person as the
Board of Supervisors of the Township may designate is hereby appointed
as the designated officer who is authorized to carry out all responsibilities
and duties stated herein.
No insurance company, association or exchange
(hereinafter the "insuring agent") doing business in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania shall pay a claim of a named insured for fire damage
to a structure located within the municipality where the amount recoverable
for the fire loss to the structure under all policies exceeds $7,500,
unless the insuring agent is furnished by the Township Secretary with
a municipal certificate pursuant to § 508(b)(1) of Act 93
of 1994 and unless there is a compliance with § 508(c) and
(d) of Act 93 of 1994 and the provisions of this article.
Pursuant to § 508(b)(1) of Act 93
of 1994, the Township Secretary shall provide a Certificate of Delinquent
Claims, if any, to the insuring agent within 14 days of any request.
If the Township Secretary determines that there are no delinquent
taxes, assessments, penalties or user charges against real property,
the insuring agent shall pay the claim of the named insured; provided,
however, that if the loss agreed upon by the named insured and the
insuring agent equals or exceeds 60% of the aggregate limits of liability
on all fire policies covering the building restructure, the following
procedures must be followed:
A. The insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance
proceeds to the designated officer of the Township in the aggregate
of $2,000 for each $15,000 of a claim and for each fraction of that
amount of a claim, this section shall be applied such that if the
claim is $15,000 or less, the amount transferred to the Township shall
be $2,000; or
B. If at the time of a proof of loss agreed to between
the named insured and the insuring agent, the named insured has submitted
a contractor's signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing
or securing the building or other structure, the insuring agent shall
transfer to the Township from the insurance proceeds the amount specified
in the estimate.
C. The transfer of proceeds shall be on a pro rata basis
by all companies, associates or exchanges insuring the building or
other structure.
D. After the transfer, the named insured may submit a
contractor's signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing or
securing the building or other structure, and the designated officer
shall return the amount of the funds transferred to the Township in
excess of the estimate to the named insured, if the municipality has
not commenced to remove, repair or secure the building or other structure.
E. Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the Township
shall do the following:
(1) The designated officer shall place the proceeds in
a separate fund to be used solely as security against the total costs
of removing, repairing or securing the building or structure which
are incurred by the Township. Such costs shall include without limitation,
any engineering, legal or administrative costs incurred by the Township
in connection with such removal, repair or securing of the building
or any proceedings related thereto;
(2) It is the obligation of the insuring agent when transferring
the proceeds to provide the Township with the name and address of
the named insured. Upon receipt of the transferred funds and the name
and address of the named insured, the designated officer shall contact
the named insured, certify that the proceeds have been received by
the Township and notify the named insured that the procedures under
this subdivision shall be followed;
(3) When repairs, removal or securing of the building
or other structure have been completed in accordance with all applicable
regulations and orders of the Township and required proof of such
completion received by the designated officer, and if the Township
has not incurred any costs for repairs, removal or securing, the fund
shall be returned to the named insured. If the Township has incurred
costs for repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure,
the costs shall be paid from the fund and if excess funds remain,
the Township shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured;
and
(4) To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds
held by the municipality pursuant to this section, and not returned
to the named insured, such interest shall belong to the Township.
To the extent that proceeds are returned to the named insured, interest
earned on such proceeds shall be distributed to the named insured
at the time that the proceeds are returned.
F. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit
the ability of the Township to recover any deficiency. Furthermore,
nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the Township
and the named insured from entering into an agreement that permits
the transfer of funds to the named insured if some other reasonable
disposition of the damaged property has been negotiated.
The Township may by resolution adopt procedures
and regulations to implement Act 98 of 1992, Act 93 of 1994 and this
article and may by resolution fix reasonable fees to be charged for
municipal activities or services provided pursuant to Act 98 of 1992,
Act 93 of 1994 and this article, including but not limited to issuance
of certificates and bills, performance of inspections and opening
separate fund accounts.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate
any provision of this article, upon conviction thereof in an action
brought before a Magisterial District Judge in the manner provided
for the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules
of Criminal Procedure, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less
than $100 nor more than $1,000 plus costs and, in default of payment
of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 90
days. Each day that a violation of this article continues or each
section of this article which shall be found to have been violated
shall constitute a separate offense.