(A) No owner of real estate within the city shall permit the real estate to be leased for any purpose that includes any person using the premises as their living quarters until a rental certification for each rental unit in a building has been obtained. No rental certification shall be required for a manufactured or modular home occupied by the owner of the same who does not own the real estate on which the manufactured or modular home is located.
(B) (1) A rental certification shall be obtained by making an application on forms provided by the city at the office of the Code Enforcement Officer and by paying an annual certification fee of $50 for each rental dwelling unit and an annual fee of $150 for each hotel, motel and rooming house. The fees shall be submitted at the time the application is made and be payable at City Hall, 700 N. High Street.
(2) At the time the application is made, the owner of the real estate shall supply his or her mailing address, the street address of the property being certified, the nature of the rental building or unit and any other information which may be required to assist in inspections and the enforcement of this chapter.
(C) The owner or the owner’s representative shall be entitled to 72 hours’ written notice from the Code Enforcement Officer prior to conducting an inspection. In the event that the owner, or if occupied, the tenant, refuses to allow the inspection, the Code Enforcement Officer shall apply for a warrant to make the inspection.
(D) After an inspection is complete and the rental unit is determined to be in compliance with this chapter, the Code Enforcement Officer shall issue to the owner a certificate.
(E) (1) Each certificate shall be valid for a period of two years. A certificate shall be renewed by its expiration date by submitting the application fee to the office of the Code Enforcement Officer.
(2) Certificates issued shall be valid for the specified period and commence on the anniversary date of the original expiration date, not as of the date of payment. In the event that the application fee is not paid within 30 days after the expiration date, a late fee of $100 will be assessed and the renewal will be retroactive to the prior expiration date.
(3) Payment of the certificate fee shall not be considered a defense to any action filed by the city to enforce the provisions of this chapter if such action was filed prior to payment of the application fee. In the event of a certificate revocation by the Code Enforcement Officer or the Property Standards Board, said property must be recertified through the process addressed in divisions (E)(1) and (E)(2) above.
(F) A rental certification applies to the rental unit and not to the owner of the property. However, within 30 days of the sale of equitable or legal title to any property certified under this chapter, any person acquiring equitable or legal title shall notify the Code Enforcement Officer of his or her name and mailing address and the address of the property acquired. No new application fee shall be due until the expiration date of the current certification.
(G) Each owner of a rental unit warrants at each change of tenant that the rental unit meets the certification and inspection requirements set forth in this chapter. This warrant is implied in the very act of renting the unit, and liability for it may not be removed by any act or agreement, either written or verbal, of either the owner or the prospective tenant.
(Ord. 2020-11, passed 12-7-2020) Penalty, see § 152.99