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McAdoo aiming to adopt landlords' pact
Thursday, 14 September 2006
By SAM GALSKI
galski@standardspeaker.com
Hazleton’s rental registration program has caught on in McAdoo.

McAdoo council voted during a special meeting Wednesday to authorize Solicitor Joseph Simasek to draw up a rental registration ordinance. It will mirror legislation originally adopted by Hazleton City Council in 2004.
Borough council President Brian Kolbush distributed copies of the amended city ordinance and asked council to consider a series of changes that he incorporated in the borough’s version.

Council will have to vote to advertise the ordinance before deciding whether to adopt it.

Kolbush and Councilman Joe Madochick publicly spoke in favor of the proposal, with Kolbush saying the ordinance will give the borough another means of who is moving into and out of the borough.

“It would be a yearly fee (where the landlord) would register the rental property each year,” Kolbush explained. “When the occupant moves in and out, the occupant will have to fill out forms. If a tenant leaves the borough and owes the borough money, the landlord will have 30 days or we cite (the landlord).”

The bulk of Kolbush’s amendments involved changing references to the borough, but primary parts of Hazleton’s nine-page measure have not been changed.

In a nutshell, the ordinance establishes a registration program for residential properties; requires all property owners to register properties (and requires out-of-town landlords to appoint an agent); prescribes duties of both property owners and tenants and establishes fees for registering rental properties and for permits that must be obtained by occupants.

The draft ordinance requires property owners who are not “owner-occupants” and who do not live either in the borough or within 10 miles from it to appoint an agent. Agents are responsible for receiving correspondences from the borough, arranging for the inspection of rental units; maintaining properties and keeping them in compliance with borough codes.

The measure also holds landlords responsible for paying any unpaid fees owed by occupants.

If an owner/agent does not pay outstanding fees within a 30-day timeframe, they would be subject to penalties and court costs, the measure says.

The ordinance also requires property owners to obtain at least $50,000 worth of general liability insurance and hazard and casualty insurance “in an amount sufficient to either restore or remove the building in the event of a fire or other casualty.”

Property owners are required under the proposal to turn over insurance information to the borough.

Sections 6 and 7 of the measure cover rental registration, license requirements and fees that will be assessed on property owners and occupants.

Property owners would be required to pay a $10 annual license fee per rental unit while a one-time $10 occupancy permit fee would be paid by each new occupant.

Children under the age of 18 and occupants 65 years old and older will be exempt from paying the occupancy fee provided they furnish adequate proof of age.

When registering properties, landlords will be required to provide their name, address, phone number, the same information for an agent (if one applies), the address of the rental property and the number and type of units within the rental, the proposal says.

The police chief, police and code enforcement officers, the borough secretary and a borough-appointed inspector and enforcement officer will be responsible for enforcing the ordinance.

Penalties for failing to comply range from between $100 and $300, plus court costs or imprisonment of up to 90 days in default of payment, the measure says.

However, if an owner or agent is found renting to occupants who have not provided “proper identification showing proof of legal citizenship and/or residency” he/she will be subject to a fine of up to $1,000 for each occupant who does not have a permit and another $100 per-occupant fine for each day the owner or agent allows them to rent without a permit.

Occupants who obtained an occupancy permit without proper identification showing legal citizenship and/or residency will be sentenced to a fine of up to $1,000 for each additional occupant living at the property without an occupancy permit.

A $100 fine per additional occupant will be assessed for each day that an occupant continues to allow others to occupy a rental unit without an occupancy permit.

The measure also includes a list of exemptions that includes hotels or elderly housing buildings occupied by 75 percent of people over the age of 65.

Resident Joe Skeeba spoke out against the ordinance, accusing council of placing a burden on landlords while failing to provide police coverage and an Illegal Immigration Relief Act.

Meeting attendee Kelly Hoherchak asked council if it truly intends to enforce the ordinance.