(A) Rental license. No rental property shall be rented/leased before the owner of the rental property obtains a rental license for the property from the township. Such a license shall be obtained by the owner filling out and submitting to the township an application for rental license for each rental property, on the township’s approved form, along with the applicable fee. A separate rental license must be obtained for each rental property. A rental property’s rental license is valid for as long as the owner(s) named on said license own the property. A rental license is not transferable, and as such, any new owner of a rental property must obtain a new rental license for that property prior to renting or leasing it.
(B) License exemptions. Rental properties that have been rented by the same owner or to the same occupant for more than ten years prior to the effective date of this chapter are exempted from needing a rental license until such ten-year plus owner and/or occupant is no longer involved in the renting or leasing of the property. Exempt properties that are sold to a new owner and/or rented to a new occupant, such that there is no longer a ten-year plus owner or occupant involved in the rental or lease of the rental property must have a rental license in compliance with the provisions of this chapter. Immediate family members (parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren and siblings) are not considered new owners or occupants under this exemption.
(C) Rental license fee. This fee shall be set forth in the township fee resolution, which may be amended from time to time by the Board of Supervisors at a public meeting.
(D) Maintenance. It shall be the duty of every owner of a rental property to keep and maintain such property in compliance with all applicable state and local laws, ordinances, codes, rules and regulations.
(E) Proper conduct. As provided for in this chapter, every owner shall be responsible for regulating the proper and lawful use of every rental property which he, she or it owns. As provided for in this chapter, every owner shall also be responsible for regulating the conduct and activities of the occupants of every rental property which he, she or it owns in the township, which conduct or activity takes place at, within, upon or about such rental property or its premises. At a minimum, owners are responsible for ensuring that their occupants fully comply with this chapter and do not engage in anything that constitutes disruptive conduct at, within, upon or about the rental property.
(F) Liability. This chapter shall not be construed as diminishing or relieving in any way the responsibility of occupants or their guests or visitors for their conduct or activity; nor shall it be construed as an assignment, transfer or projection over or onto any owner of any responsibility or liability in law which occupants or their guests or visitors may have as a result of their conduct or activity under any private cause of action, civil or criminal enforcement proceeding or criminal law; nor shall this chapter be construed so as to require an owner to indemnify or defend occupants or their guests or visitors when any such action or proceeding is brought against the occupant based upon the occupant’s conduct or activity. Nothing herein is intended to impose any additional civil or criminal liability upon owners other than that which is imposed by existing laws.
(G) Rental agreement. All disclosures and information required to be given to an occupant by the owner shall be furnished at or before the commencement of the landlord-tenant relationship concerning a rental property. The owner shall provide the occupant with copies of any rental agreement and addendums upon execution.
(1) The owner and occupant may include in a rental agreement terms and conditions not prohibited by this chapter or other applicable ordinances, regulations and laws including rent, term of the agreement and other provisions governing the right and obligations of the parties.
(2) Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, no rental agreement shall provide that the occupant or owner agrees to waive or to forego rights or remedies under this chapter. Any provision prohibited by this division (G) included in a rental agreement is unenforceable.
(3) Provision of summary of ordinance to occupant. Following the effective date of the ordinance prescribed within this chapter, being Ord. 249, effective as of July 19, 2021, a summary of the occupant’s responsibilities under this chapter, substantially in the form set forth in Appendix A, which was originally attached to this chapter and hereby adopted by reference and incorporated herein as if set out in full, shall be provided to the occupant at or before the commencement of the landlord-tenant relationship concerning a rental property. If a summary has been provided at or before the commencement of the landlord-tenant relationship, a summary does not have to be provided upon renewal.
(4) Where a rental agreement has been entered into prior to the effective date of this chapter, being July 19, 2021, the owner shall provide the occupants with a copy of a summary in accordance with this division (G) within 60 days after enactment of this chapter, being July 14, 2021.
(5) The owner shall secure a written acknowledgment from the occupants that the owner has provided and that the occupants have received the disclosures and information required by this chapter, including, but not limited to, those set forth in Appendix A. This acknowledgment shall be signed by all owners and occupants of a rental property.
(6) Within ten days of a request by the township, the owner shall furnish to the township copies of any lease(s) required by the State Landlord Tenant Act that the owner has entered into for a rental property, including all related signed acknowledgments required by this division (G) that the occupants have received the mandated disclosures and information, including, but not limited to, Appendix A.
(H) Other remedies. This chapter is not intended to, nor shall its effect be, to limit any other enforcement remedies which may be available to the township against an owner, occupant or guest or visitor of a rental property.
(Ord. 249, passed 7-14-2021) Penalty, see § 132.99