158.01 Scope of Provisions | 158.06 Housing Appeals Board |
158.02 Conflicting Provisions | 158.07 Minimum Structure Standards for All Rental Dwellings |
158.03 Definitions | 158.08 Responsibilities of Owners Relating to theMaintenance and Occupancy of Premises |
158.04 Certificate of Rental Permit | 158.09 Responsibilities of Occupants Relating to the Maintenance and Occupancy of Premises |
158.05 Inspection and Enforcement | 158.10 Penalty |
The provisions of this chapter (which may be known and cited as the Rental Housing Code for the City of Carroll, Iowa) apply to all rental dwellings within the City limits used or intended to be used for human occupancy, except that these provisions are not applicable to temporary housing as defined in this chapter.
In any case where a provision of this chapter is found to be in conflict with a provision of any zoning, building, fire, safety, or health ordinance or code of the City, the provision which establishes the higher standard for the promotion and protection of the health and safety of the people shall prevail.
Whenever the words “dwelling,” “dwelling unit,” “rooming house,” “rooming unit,” or “premises” are used in this chapter, they shall be construed as though they were followed by the words “or any part thereof.” The word “building” includes the word “structure” and the word “lot” includes the word “plot.” The following terms are also defined for use in this chapter:
1. “Acceptable” or “approved” means in substantial compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
2. “Accessory structure” means a detached structure which is not used, or intended to be used, for living or sleeping by human occupants.
3. “Adjoining grade” means the elevation of the ground which extends three (3) feet from the perimeter of the dwelling.
4. “Appurtenance” means that which is directly or indirectly connected or accessory to a thing.
5. “Attic” means any story situated wholly or partly within the roof or so designed, arranged or built to be used for business, storage, or habitation.
6. “Basement” means a story having a part but not more than one-half of its height above grade, which may or not be considered habitable space. A basement is counted as a story for the purpose of height regulations.
7. “Bath” means a bathtub or shower stall connected with both hot and cold water lines.
8. “Central heating system” means a single system supplying heat to one or more dwelling units or more than one rooming unit.
9. “Code Enforcement Officer” means the official of the City appointed to administer this chapter and any duly authorized representatives.
10. “Communal” means used or shared by, or intended to be used or shared by, the occupant of two or more rooming units or two or more dwelling units.
11. “Condominium” means a dwelling unit which is in compliance or conformance with the requirements of Chapter 499B of the Code of Iowa, as amended.
12. “Cooperative” means a dwelling unit which is in compliance or conformance with the requirements of Chapter 499B of the Code of Iowa, as amended.
13. “Court” means an open unoccupied space, other than a yard, on the same lot with a dwelling. A court not extending to the street or front or rear yard is an inner court. A court extending to the street or front yard or rear yard is an outer court.
14. “Dining room” means a habitable room used or intended to be used for the purpose of eating, but not for cooking or the preparation of meals.
15. “Duplex” means any habitable structure containing two single dwelling units.
16. “Dwelling” means any building, structure, or mobile home, except temporary housing, which is wholly or partly used or intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants and includes any appurtenances attached thereto.
17. “Dwelling, efficiency” – see efficiency dwelling
18. “Dwelling, multiple” - see “multiple dwelling.”
19. “Dwelling, single-family” - see “single-family dwelling.”
20. “Dwelling unit” means any habitable room or group of adjoining habitable rooms, located within a dwelling and forming a single unit with facilities which are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking and eating of meals.
21. “Efficiency dwelling” means a dwelling unit with a sleeping area open to the living area, with no intervening door.
22. “Egress” means an arrangement of exit routes to provide a means of exit from buildings and/or premises.
23. “Exit” means a continuous and unobstructed means of egress to a public way and includes intervening doors, doorways, corridors, windows, exterior-exit balconies, ramps, stairways, smoke-proof enclosures, horizontal exits, exit passageways, exit courts, walkways, sidewalks, and yards.
24. “Extermination” means the control and elimination of insects, rodents, or other pests by eliminating their harborage places; by removing or making inaccessible materials that may serve as their food; by poisoning, spraying, fumigating, trapping; or by any other recognized and legal pest elimination method approved by the Code Enforcement Officer.
25. “Family” means one or more persons occupying a dwelling and living as a single housekeeping unit. Each individual or group of individuals to whom rent is charged as a single unit shall be considered to be a separate family.
26. “Garbage” means animal or vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, or consumption of food and also means combustible waste material. “Garbage” also includes paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, and other combustible materials.
27. “Habitable room” means a room or enclosed floor space, having a minimum of seventy (70) square feet of total floor area within a dwelling unit or rooming unit used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, or eating purposes, excluding bathrooms, toilet rooms, pantries, laundries, foyers, communicating corridors, closets, storage spaces, and stairways.
28. “Historical” means any property designated by the Carroll County Historic Preservation Commission as a Historical Site or any property on the National Register of Historical Places.
29. “Infestation” means the presence, within or around a dwelling, of any insects, rodents, or other pests, in such quantities as would be considered unsanitary.
30. “Kitchen” means a habitable room used or intended to be used for cooking or the preparation of meals.
31. “Kitchenette” means a food preparation area not less than forty (40) square feet in area.
32. “Kitchen sink” means a basin for washing utensils used for cooking, eating, and drinking, located in a kitchen and connected to both hot and cold water lines and properly connected to a drainage system.
33. “Lavatory” means a hand-washing basin which is connected to both hot and cold water lines, and properly connected to a drainage system, which is separate and distinct from a kitchen sink.
34. “Living room” means a habitable room within a dwelling unit which is used, or intended to be used, primarily for general living purposes.
35. “Mobile home” means any vehicle without motive power used or so manufactured or constructed as to permit its being used as a conveyance upon the public streets and highways and so designed, constructed, or reconstructed as will permit the vehicle to be used as a place for human habitation by one or more persons.
36. “Multiple dwelling” means any dwelling containing three or more dwelling units.
37. “Occupant” means any person, including owner or operator, living in, sleeping in, and/or cooking in, or having actual possession of a dwelling unit or a rooming unit.
38. “Operator” means any person who rents to another or who has custody or control of a building, or parts thereof, in which dwelling units or rooming units are let or who has custody or control of the premises.
39. “Owner” means any person who has custody and/or control of any dwelling, dwelling unit or rooming unit by virtue of a contractual interest in or legal or equitable title to the dwelling, dwelling unit or rooming unit. “Owner” also means any person who has custody and/or control of any dwelling, dwelling unit or rooming unit as guardian.
40. “Permit” - see “rental permit.”
41. “Placard” means any display document showing that the unit for which it is issued has been determined to be unfit for human habitation.
42. “Plumbing” means and includes any or all of the following supplied facilities and equipment: water pipes, garbage disposal units, waste pipes, toilets, sinks, lavatories, bathtubs, shower baths, water heating devices, catch basins, drains, vents, and any other similar supplied fixtures together with all connections to water and sewer.
43. “Premises” means a lot, plot, or parcel of land including a building and/or accessory structure thereon.
44. “Privacy” means the existence of conditions which will permit a person or persons to carry out an activity commenced without interruption or interference by unwanted persons.
45. “Properly installed, connected, constructed, or repaired” means as required by this or any other building, plumbing, mechanical or electrical code of the City, including work to be done in a workmanlike manner.
46. “Public way” means any parcel of land, unobstructed from the ground to the sky, more than ten feet in width, appropriated to the free passage of the general public.
47. “Refuse” means waste materials (except human waste) including garbage, rubbish, ashes, and dead animals.
48. “Refuse container” means a watertight container that is constructed of metal, or other durable material impervious to rodents, that is capable of being serviced without creating unsanitary conditions.
49. “Rental permit” means a document, issued periodically, which grants the owner or operator the option of letting a unit for rental purposes and showing that the unit for which it is issued was in compliance with the applicable provisions of this chapter at the time of issuance.
50. “Roomer” means an occupant of a rooming house or rooming unit and shall also mean an occupant of a dwelling who is not a member of the family occupying the dwelling except for guests and/or domestic employees.
51. “Rooming house” means any dwelling, or that part of any dwelling, containing one or more rooming units, including, but not limited to hotels and motels, in which space is let by the owner or operator to one or more persons. Occupants of units specifically designated as dwelling units within a rooming house shall not be included in the roomer count. An owner-occupied, single-family dwelling, condominium, or cooperative containing a family plus one or two roomers shall be excluded from this definition and be treated as a owner-occupied, single-family dwelling.
52. “Rooming unit” means any habitable room or group of adjoining habitable rooms located within a dwelling and forming a single unit with facilities which are used, or intended to be used, primarily for living and sleeping. A rooming unit shall have bath and toilet facilities available for exclusive use by the occupant or for communal use in accordance with subsections 158.07(15) through (22) and, in addition, may have kitchen and dining facilities available for use by the occupant therein.
53. “Rubbish” means inorganic waste material consisting of combustible and/or noncombustible materials.
54. “Single-family dwelling” means a structure containing one dwelling unit.
55. “Supplied Facility” means equipment, appliance or system paid for, furnished by, provided by, or under the control of the owner or operator.
56. “Temporary housing” means any tent, trailer, motor home, or other structure used for human shelter which is designed to be transportable and which is not attached to the ground, to another structure, or to any utilities system on the same premises for more than thirty (30) days.
57. “Toilet” means a water closet, with a bowl and trap made in one piece, which is of such shape and form and which holds a sufficient quantity of water so that no fecal matter will collect on the surface of the bowl and which is equipped with a flushing rim or flushing rims.
1. Rental Permit Required. It is a violation of this chapter for any person to let to another for rent any dwelling unit or rooming unit (except a dwelling or rooming unit located within an owner-occupied, single-family dwelling, condominium, or cooperative containing no more than two dwelling or rooming units), unless the owner or operator holds a valid rental permit. A rental permit is valid from the date of issuance until March 31st of the following year. Renewals of rental permits shall be made annually between January 2nd and March 31st
. For existing rental properties in existence prior to the adoption of this chapter, rental permit applications shall be considered timely filed if they are received by the City on or before March 31, 2021 and such permits will be valid until March 31, 2023. The document shall be transferable from one owner or operator to another at any time prior to its expiration, termination or revocation. The owner or operator shall notify the Code Enforcement Officer of any changes of interest or ownership in the property within thirty (30) days of any conveyance or transfer of interest affecting the property and provide the name and address of all persons who have acquired an interest therein. In the event that the Code Enforcement Officer has not been notified of such conveyance or transfer within the designated period of time, the rental permit shall be transferred from one owner or operator to another only upon payment of a fee which shall be assessed the new owner or operator, the amount of which shall be set by resolution of the Council. The rental permit shall state the date of issuance, the address of the structure to which it is applicable, and its expiration date. The rental permit shall also include the maximum number of occupants. All dwellings and dwelling units and rooming units being let for rent and occupancy without a valid permit or application for the same on file with the City and fees paid may be ordered vacated.
2. Application. The owner or operator shall file an application for a rental permit, accompanied by the appropriate fees as established by resolution of the Council, with the Code Enforcement Officer on an application form provided by the Code Enforcement Officer. All applications shall be filed and a rental permit obtained before being let for rent or occupancy. Failure to file an application for a rental permit shall constitute a municipal infraction. The owner or operator shall, within thirty (30) days of application, schedule and allow an inspection of the unit by the Code Enforcement Officer, if such an inspection is due under the provisions of Section 158.05 of this chapter, and failure to do so may be judicially enforced and constitutes a municipal infraction. All fees for inspections and/or permits shall be paid prior to the scheduled inspection.
3. Issuance. When all pertinent provisions of this chapter have been complied with by the owner or operator, the Code Enforcement Officer shall issue a rental permit.
4. Extension. A rental permit shall be valid through the expiration date contained thereon. However, extensions shall be granted to cover any time period between the stated expiration date and the period of time permitted by the Code Enforcement Officer to remedy any violations cited subsequent to an inspection authorized or requested pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, provided a rental permit application is on file with fees paid.
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