(A) Fees. The follow fees shall apply.
(1) Registration and inspection fee. An owner of any rental housing properties subject to this subchapter shall pay a registration fee of $65 per unit to finance the costs of inspection and enforcement by the borough. This fee shall be paid annually by January 31.
(2) Re-scheduling fee. An owner of a rental housing unit shall pay a fee of $25 per unit for re-scheduling an inspection, as required by § 151.23(D).
(3) Re-inspection fee. There shall be no fee for the initial re-inspection. An owner of a rental housing unit shall pay a fee of $50 per unit for the second re-inspection and $75 for per unit for any subsequent re-inspection any rental property or rental housing unit as required under § 151.23(F)(4).
(B) Registration and fee required.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any owner to engage in the business of rental housing, unless:
(a) Each rental housing unit is registered with the borough; and
(b) The proactive rental inspection program fee is paid for each rental housing unit.
(2) A rental housing unit is registered with the borough when the owner of the rental property submits a completed registration form, made available by the borough, signed under penalty of perjury to the Borough Secretary/Treasurer. The registration form must contain the following information:
(a) Description of the rental housing property, including, but not limited to, the street address and assessor’s parcel number;
(b) Number and address or other description of all rental housing units on the rental housing property;
(c) Name and current contact information for the owner of the rental housing property;
(d) Name and current contact information for the local contact representative, as described in division (C) below;
(e) Name, address and telephone number of the person or entity that a tenant is to contact when requesting repairs be made to their rental housing unit and the contact’s business relationship to the owner; and
(f) Any other information reasonably required by the Code Enforcement Officer to carry out this subchapter.
(3) Effective January 1, 2021, the registration requirement established by this section shall go into effect. Initial registration of rental housing units is due within 90 days of January 1, 2021. After the initial registration, the owner shall register each housing unit annually within 90 days of January 1, or a change of ownership or occupancy.
(C) Local contact representative.
(1) Each owner of rental housing property shall designate a local contact representative with full authority to act on behalf of the owner for all purposes under this chapter, including the acceptance of service of all notices from the borough. The owner of the rental housing property may act as the local contact representative.
(2) A local contact representative shall establish and maintain a local telephone number and a residence or business address within the jurisdiction of the borough or within a 20-mile air radius of the borough limits. No rental occupancy permit shall be issued to any owner residing more than 20 miles from the municipal limits of the borough unless the owner provides the Borough Secretary/Treasurer with the name, mailing address and telephone number of the agent residing within a 20-mile radius. All official notices served on the local contact representative shall be deemed to have been served on the owner. For the purposes of this division (C)(2), a post office box is not acceptable for the agent’s address.
(Ord. 03-2020, passed 11-16-2020) Penalty, see § 151.99