[Adopted 8-20-1987 by Ord. No. 1987-8]
For the purposes of this article, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
OWNER
Owner, manager, managing agent, or other person, partnership
or corporation responsible for the operation of a rental unit.
RENTAL UNIT
That portion of a dwelling rented or offered for rent for
living and dwelling purposes, or any lots rented for the placement
of mobile homes to an individual or family unit, together with all
privileges, services, furnishings, furniture, equipment, facilities
and improvements connected with the use or occupancy of such portion
of the property. Multiple use properties which have one or more rental
units in addition to any and all other uses.
[Added 5-20-2021 by Ord.
No. 2021-03]
RESIDENT
Each occupant or inhabitant, over the age of 18 years, of
a rental unit, other than the owner of the rental unit, who is a permanent
resident of the Borough of Abbottstown, but excluding transient or
tourist persons who have stayed or intend to stay 30 days or less.
To enable the Borough of Abbottstown to more
equitably and efficiently assess and levy taxes on taxable residents
within the said Borough, each owner of a rental unit shall report
to the Secretary of the Borough of Abbottstown between January 1 and
15 of each year the identities of all residents of the owner's rental
unit or units. The owner shall also report any and all changes in
occupancy that shall occur during the year within 30 days of the change.
The report of such residents shall be made in writing on such forms
as shall be prescribed by the Borough. Should the Borough fail to
prescribe or have available forms for the aforementioned reports,
then such report shall be made by the owner, in writing, to the Borough
Secretary.
[Amended 5-20-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-03]
The failure of any owner of a rental unit to
make a report as hereinbefore set forth shall be punished, after conviction
before any Magisterial District Judge, by a fine of not more than
$600 for each resident not reported, together with costs of prosecution,
and, in default of payment of such fine and costs, shall be sentenced
to imprisonment for a period of not more than 30 days for each offense
thereafter. Every unreported change shall constitute a separate offense
hereunder and shall be punishable as such.
[Adopted 12-21-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-04]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
AGENT
Any person designated by the owner who has charge, care or
control of a residential rental property.
APPROVED
Acceptable to the Code Official.
CODE OFFICIAL
The official who is charged with the administration and enforcement
of this code, or any duly authorized representative.
CODES
The Fire Prevention, Building, Property Maintenance, Electrical,
Zoning, Stormwater Management and Plumbing Codes, as adopted by the
Borough from time to time, and any rules and regulations promulgated
thereunder.
EXTERIOR AREA
The outside facade of a building, including but not limited
to any porch, yard, lawn, landscaping, sidewalks, setbacks, curbs,
and all open area contiguous to a building owned by the same person
or persons or part of the same real estate parcel.
MULTIFAMILY DWELLING
Any dwelling, including apartment dwellings or parts thereof,
containing three or more dwelling units.
OCCUPANT
Any person (including an owner or operator) living and sleeping
in a dwelling unit or rooming unit.
OPERATOR
Any person having charge, care, management or control of
any dwelling or a part of it, in which dwelling units, sleeping units
or rooming units are let. See also AGENT.
OWNER
Any person, agent, operator, firm, corporation, partnership,
association, property management group, or fiduciary having legal,
equitable or other interest in any real property; or recorded in the
official records of the state, county or municipality 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 such person's estate. When used in this article
in a clause proscribing any activity or imposing a penalty, the term,
as applied to partnerships and associations, shall mean each partner,
and as applied to corporations, the officers thereof.
OWNER OCCUPIED OR OCCUPIED BY OWNER
A dwelling unit that is the primary, permanent residence
and domicile of a natural person who is identified as the owner or
one of the owners on the deed for the property. In order for a dwelling
unit to be considered owner occupied, the dwelling must be considered
the domicile of the record owner or at least one of the record owners
under Pennsylvania law, and the owner must physically reside in the
dwelling not less than six months each calendar year, and the owner
cannot be registered to vote at any other address, and the owner must
use the dwelling at the owner's address for payment of taxes
including, but not limited to, earned income taxes.
PERSON
An individual, firm, corporation, association or partnership.
PREMISES
A lot, plot or parcel of land including the buildings and
structures thereon.
RESIDENTIAL RENTAL LICENSE
An annual license issued to the owner of a dwelling unit
after having met the chapter's inspection requirements and satisfying
the associated remittance.
RESIDENTIAL RENTAL UNIT
(1) A dwelling unit let for rent, or (2) a rooming unit,
or (3) a bed-and-breakfast establishment, or (4) a short-term rental,
or (5) an accessory dwelling unit, or (6) a dwelling unit that is
not occupied by the owner, is a residential rental unit. Each individual
townhouse dwelling, each individual apartment unit, each individual
unit in a multi-family building, each individual bed-and-breakfast
establishment, each individual rooming unit, and each individual short-term
lodging accommodation shall be considered a residential rental unit
whether the owner or a relative of the owner also resides in the structure.
A residential rental unit includes dwelling units under lease-purchase
agreements or long-term (greater than six months) agreements for sale.
A residential rental unit shall not include a hotel as defined herein
or a hospital room utilized for medical services. It may include a
motel or boarding house, where residents are permitted to stay for
an extended period of time (greater than 30 days). For the purposes
of this article, there shall be excluded from this definition those
dwelling units subject to a periodic inspection by a state or federal
agency at least once every two years applying a standard substantially
the same as or more thorough than the Borough codes referenced in
the definition of "codes" above.
SHORT-TERM RENTAL
Units must have a valid a short-term rental license as issued
by the Borough of Abbottstown.
SUPPLIED
Installed, furnished or provided by the owner or operator
at his expense.
TENANT
A person, corporation, partnership or group, whether or not
the legal owner of record, occupying a building or portion thereof
as a unit.
YARD
An open space on the same lot with a structure.
The requirements for periodic inspections shall be as follows:
A. Each residential rental unit shall be inspected by the Property Maintenance
Code Officer or other designee of the Borough at least one time in
every twenty-four-month period; and for such purpose and for any reinspection
required hereunder, the owner shall provide access to Borough representatives.
A unit where inspection access is denied may not be a qualified residential
unit until inspection access is provided.
B. Where the occupancy of the rental unit changes, the owner shall provide
the Borough an updated renter information form no later than 15 days
after the change in occupancy. No charge shall be assessed for the
updated rental record submission.
C. This inspection shall include both the exterior and interior of the
premises being inspected.
D. Upon submission of a new residential rental license application,
or at such other times as provided for in this article, the Property
Maintenance Code Officer or other designee of the Borough, or an approved
independent inspector shall perform an inspection of the residential
rental unit to insure that the residential rental unit meets all of
the requirements of the Code of the Borough of Abbottstown, including,
but not limited to, the International Property Maintenance Code, the
Uniform Construction Code, the International Fire Code, the Abbottstown
Borough zoning ordinance, the terms and conditions of this section,
and any other applicable provisions of the Code of the Borough of
Abbottstown or the laws of the Commonwealth.
E. For the purposes of enforcing this article, the Property Maintenance
Code Officer or designee of the Borough may seek to obtain an administrative
search warrant issued by a competent issuing authority in accordance
with applicable legal standards for the purpose of compelling an inspection
of a residential rental unit. The refusal to provide inspection access
does not limit the Borough to the remedy that the unit is determined
not to be a qualified residential unit.
F. The foregoing notwithstanding, if the building containing the residential
rental unit in question has received a certificate of occupancy for
new construction under any other Borough code, the owner of said building
shall not be required to schedule an inspection of such new construction
pursuant to this article until the expiration of 24 months from the
date of the issuance of said certificate of occupancy.
G. If the owner of a residential rental unit can present to the Borough
Property Maintenance Code Officer a certificate certifying that a
particular residential rental unit has been inspected by a federal
or a state authority pursuant to a maintenance standard equivalent
to or more strict than the International Property Maintenance Code
or any successor thereto which from time to time is in effect in the
Borough of Abbottstown, and pursuant to said inspection found to be
in compliance, the owner of said building shall not be required to
schedule an inspection under the terms of this article until the expiration
of 24 months from the date of the issuance of the state or federal
certificate of compliance. If, as a result of the state or federal
inspection, deficiencies were determined, there shall be no waiver
of the inspection requirements under this article unless the property
owner can also provide to the Borough Property Maintenance Code Officer
a certificate evidencing resolution of the deficiency sufficient to
obtain a certificate of compliance.
H. Independent inspectors.
(1) Any owner shall have the right to employ an independent inspector
certified as a qualified inspector per Item H.2 below and as to any
residential rental unit inspected and certified as being in compliance
by said inspector, the owner of said building shall not be required
to schedule an inspection under the terms of this article until the
expiration of 24 months from the date of the issuance of the certificate
of compliance based on said inspection.
(2) Approved independent inspectors must provide sufficient written evidence
to document a thorough, current and competent knowledge of the Borough
codes, as well as other relevant codes. The Borough reserves the sole
right to determine the eligibility and appropriateness of an individual
for the purposes of conducting rental unit inspections.
(3) In this context, the Borough shall maintain a database list of inspectors
which it recognizes as being properly certified to perform inspections
under the International Property Maintenance Code and any independent
inspector employed by an owner must be from said list.
(4) When an inspection is performed by an independent inspector, a copy
of the inspection report must be provided to the Borough Property
Maintenance Code Officer within 48 hours of the date of inspection.
Where violations or code deficiencies are noted in the independent
inspector report, the independent inspector must provide a follow-up
inspection to verify resolution of those deficiencies and must provide
the Borough Property Maintenance Code officer a copy of the inspection
report following the follow-up inspection to verify the status of
corrections. The follow-up inspection must be prompt and within a
reasonable time from the date of the original inspection. No inspection
shall be recognized as having been completed under this section until
a certificate of compliance is issued.
(5) The Borough reserves the right to remove from the list of qualified
inspectors any inspector determined by the Borough not to be conducting
inspections in accord with the standards established by the International
Property Maintenance Code or who fails to conduct the required re-inspections
on properties in which deficiencies have been noted or who fails to
provide copies of all inspection reports in accord with the provisions
of this subsection.
I. For any inspection pursuant to Subsections
E and
F above, the Borough reserves the right to inspect any premises to verify the quality of any independent or government agency inspection. No fee will be charged for this inspection, but appropriate fees may be charged for re-inspections if violations are found.
J. No inspection under this article shall be made of hotels or motels
principally providing overnight lodging only.
Each Owner of a residential rental unit in the Borough of Abbottstown or the agent or operator for such Owner shall comply with the Rental Property Registration Ordinance, Ordinance No. 1987-8, codified in Chapter
162 of the Code of the Borough of Abbottstown, as may be amended.
If an inspection of a residential rental unit, discloses code
deficiencies, the Property Maintenance Code Officer or other Borough
designee, or the independent inspector, shall issue a notice of violation.
The notice of code violation shall set forth the following:
A. The street address or appropriate description of the subject property;
B. The date of the inspection;
C. The identity of the inspector;
D. A list of the code deficiencies;
E. An Appeals Form (for the owner's use should they dispute the
cited conditions);
F. The number of days in which the owner and/or occupant is to accomplish
repairs and/or otherwise eliminate the code deficiencies; and
G. Notice that, if the conditions are not repaired or the premises are
not otherwise brought into compliance with the applicable code within
the time specified, the tenant and/or the owner may be prosecuted
and/or the residential rental unit may be placarded as unfit for human
occupancy in accordance with the Borough Property Maintenance Code.
Only the Borough shall have authority to institute prosecution proceedings
under the terms of this article.
The issuance of a certificate of compliance is not a representation
by the Borough that the residential rental unit has been inspected
and/or the building in which it is located does not contain any violation
of any of the codes referenced in the definition of "codes" above.
Rather, the issuance of a certificate of compliance represents that
on the date of inspection, no material violation of any of said codes
was noted by the inspector. Neither enactment of this article nor
the issuance of a certificate of compliance is a guarantee to any
person that no code violations exist in the premises inspected, nor
shall there be imposed any liability upon the Borough for any errors
or omissions which resulted in the issuance of such certificate, nor
shall the Borough bear any liability not otherwise imposed by law.
The owner of a residential rental unit or a tenant of said unit
if a tenant has been cited who is aggrieved by a decision of the Property
Maintenance Code Officer or other Borough designee may, within 30
days of the date of receipt of the notice of violation or the time
fixed for repair, whichever is shorter, appeal the decision in accord
with applicable provisions of the International Property Maintenance
Code.
Nothing in this article shall preclude or prohibit the Property
Maintenance Code Officer or other Borough designee from identifying
any code violations or inspecting any property according to the terms
of any of the referenced codes at any time, whether or not the particular
premises are scheduled for periodic inspection under the terms of
this article.
Any Ordinance or Resolution, or any portion of any Ordinance
or Resolution, of the Borough of Abbottstown, which is inconsistent
with the contents of the present Ordinance shall be, and the same
is hereby, repealed insofar as the same is affected by or inconsistent
with the provisions of the present Ordinance.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion
of this article is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional
by any Court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed
to be a separate, distinct, and independent provision, and such holding
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the present
Ordinance.
This article shall take effect and be in full force and effect
beginning January 1, 2024, provided however, in order to provide for
an effective start up to the licensing and inspection provisions of
this article, Owners of applicable properties located North of U.S.
Route 30 must apply for a license and provide for an inspection and
otherwise comply with this article within 12 months of the effective
date of this article, and Owners of applicable properties located
South of U.S. Route 30 must apply for a license and provide for an
inspection and otherwise comply with this article within 24 months
of the effective date of this article. Except as provided in this
section, it shall be unlawful to occupy or let to others for occupancy
any residential rental unit which has not been currently licensed
and inspected as provided by this article.