[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Wilkinsburg 4-26-1995 as Ord. No. 2488. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention — See Ch. 146.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:
BOROUGH
The Borough of Wilkinsburg, the municipality as designated under the Act.
[1]
DESIGNATED OFFICER
The Fire Chief and/or Building Inspector or such official's designee hereby appointed as the designated officer authorized to carry out all responsibilities and duties as hereinafter set forth.
TREASURER
An elected treasurer or other appropriate borough officer authorized to collect real property taxes.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Act refers to Act 98 of 1992 amending the Insurance Company Law of 1921, 40 P.S § 341 et seq.
No insurance company, association or exchange doing business in this commonwealth shall pay a claim of a named insured for fire damage to a structure located within the borough where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under all policies exceeds seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500.) unless the insurance company, association or exchange is furnished with a certificate pursuant to § 144-3 of this chapter and unless there is compliance with the procedures set forth in §§ 144-4 and 144-5 of this chapter.
A. 
The Borough Treasurer shall, upon the written request of the named insured specifying the tax description of the property, name and address of the insurance company, association or exchange and the date agreed upon by the insurance company, association or exchange and the named insured as the date of the receipt of a loss report of the claim, furnish the insurance company, association or exchange either of the following within fourteen (14) working days of the request:
(1) 
A certificate or, at the discretion of the borough, a verbal notification which shall be confirmed in writing by the insurer to the effect that, as of the date specified in the request, there are no delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties or user charges against the property and that, as of the date of the Treasurer's certificate or verbal notification, the borough has certified no amount as total costs incurred by the borough for the removal, repair or securing of a building or other structure on the property; or
(2) 
A certificate and bill showing the amount of delinquent taxes, assessment, penalties and user charges against the property as of the date specified in the request that have not been paid as of the date of the certificate and also showing, as of the date of the Treasurer's certificate, the amount of the total costs, if any, certified to the Treasurer that have been incurred by the borough for the removal, repair or securing of a building or other structure on the property. For the purposes of this subsection, the borough shall certify to the Treasurer the total amount, if any, of such costs. A tax, assessment, penalty or user charge becomes delinquent at the time and on the date a lien could otherwise have been filed against the property by the borough under applicable law.
B. 
Upon the receipt of a certificate pursuant to Subsection A(1) of this section, the insurance company, association or exchange shall pay the claim of the named insured in accordance with the policy terms, unless the loss agreed to between the named insured and the company, association or exchange equals or exceeds sixty per centum (60%) of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies covering the building or other structure. In the case of such a loss, the insurance company, association or exchange, the insured property owner and the borough shall follow the procedures set forth in §§ 144-4 and 144-5 of this chapter.
C. 
Upon the receipt of a certificate and bill pursuant to Subsection A(2) of this section, the insurance company, association or exchange shall return the bill to the Treasurer and transfer to the Treasurer an amount from the insurance proceeds necessary to pay the taxes, assessments, penalties, charges and costs as shown on the bill. The borough shall receive the amount and apply or credit it to payment of the items shown in the bill.
A. 
When the loss agreed to between the named insured and the company, association or exchange equals or exceeds sixty per centum (60%) of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies covering the building or other structure, the insurance company, association or exchange shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to the designated officer of the borough in the aggregate two thousand dollars ($2,000.) for each fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.) and each fraction of that amount of a claim, or, if at the time of a loss report the named insured has submitted a contractor's signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing or securing the building or other structure in an amount less than the amount calculated under the foregoing transfer formula, the insurance company, association or exchange shall transfer for the insurance proceeds the amount specified in the estimate.
B. 
The transfer of proceeds shall be on a pro rata basis by all companies, associations or exchanges insuring the building or other structure. Policy proceeds remaining after the transfer to the borough shall be disbursed in accordance with the policy terms. The named insured may submit a contractor's signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing or securing the building or other structure after the transfer, and the designated officer shall return the amount of the fund in excess of the estimate to the named insured if the borough has not commenced to remove, repair or secure the building or other structure.
C. 
This section applies only to fire losses that occur after the adoption of this chapter.
[Amended 7-31-1996 by Ord. No. 2525]
A. 
Upon receipt of proceeds by the borough as authorized by § 144-4, the designated officer shall place the proceeds in a separate fund to be used solely as security against the total cost of removing, repairing or securing incurred by the borough. When transferring the funds as required in § 144-4, an insurance company, association or exchange shall provide the borough with the name and address of the named insured, whereupon the borough shall contact the named insured, certify that the proceeds have been received by the borough and notify the named insured that the procedure under this section shall be followed.
B. 
The borough shall be entitled, immediately after fire damage to a structure or building, to cause such building to be secured such that it does not present a risk of injury to any person or property within the borough. If the borough has incurred costs for such securing of the building or structure or other costs associated with the securing of such structure or building, said costs shall be paid from the fund. Thereafter, the named insured shall be responsible to repair, remove or secure or cause to be repaired, removed by responsible demolition contractor or secured any fire damaged building or structure within sixty (60) days from the date that the borough notifies the named insured that the proceeds have been received by the borough and are being held pursuant to this section. The funds shall be returned to the named insured when repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure have been completed and the required proof received by the designated officer. In the event that the named insured fails to repair, remove or secure the building within the sixty-day period set forth hereinabove, the borough, upon fifteen (15) days' written notice to the named insured, shall be entitled to proceed to cause the repair, removal or securing of the structure or building. In the event that any excess funds remain, the borough shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured.
C. 
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of the borough to recover any deficiency. Further, nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit the borough 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.
Proof of payment by the insurance company, association or exchange of proceeds under a policy in accordance with § 144-4 is conclusive evidence of the discharge of its obligation to the insured under the policy to the extent of the payment and of compliance by the company, association or exchange with § 144-4.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to make an insurance company, association or exchange liable for any amount in excess of proceeds payable under its insurance policy or for any other act performed pursuant to this chapter or to make a borough or public official an insured under a policy of insurance or to create an obligation to pay delinquent property taxes or unpaid removal liens or expenses other than as provided in this chapter.
An insurance company, association or exchange making payments of policy proceeds under this chapter for delinquent taxes or structure removal liens or removal expenses incurred by a borough shall have a full benefit of such payment, including all rights of subrogation and of assignment.
The Borough Council may, by resolution, adopt procedures and regulations to implement the Act[1] and this chapter and may, by resolution, fix reasonable fees to be charged for municipal activities or services provided pursuant to the Act and this chapter, including but not limited to issuance of certificates and bills, performance of inspections and opening separate fund accounts.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 40 P.S § 341 et seq.
Any owner of property, any named insured or any insuring agent who violates this chapter shall be subject to a penalty of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000.) per violation.