Administrative Ordinance No 1-2009 (PDF)

a.) Appendix A (Rental Agreement Addendum) (PDF)

Frequently Asked Questions about the Rental Housing Ordinance (PDF)

Fees and Fines for Registration/Licensing/Transferring and Violations of the Ordinance (PDF)

 

Residential Rental Registration Occupancy License Policies and Procedures 02-14-2011 (PDF)

 

Highlights of the ordinance include:

Every rental property must be registered with the City.  This one-time registration of both vacant and inhabited units will give City officials a better understanding of the housing stock.  If a property was registered previous to the ordinance change, there will be no additional fee, only a simple form to fill out and return to the City.  For properties not already registered, there will be a form and a one-time fee.

Registration form for rental properties that are not currently registered (PDF)

Registration form for rental properties that currently have license or registration (PDF)

Designation of Responsible Agent (PDF)

Affidavit for Non Rental Property (PDF)

Every rental unit that is or will be inhabited must receive an occupancy license.  When applying for a new occupancy license a property will be inspected for code violations.  

Rental Property Inspection Checklist (PDF)

After the property is brought into compliance the owner will receive a license to post in each rental unit.  Those properties already registered with the City will continue to be inspected on a regular basis and will pay the annual licensing fee according to the existing schedule.  Property owners who live outside Lancaster County will be asked to designate a local responsible agent. 

New to the rental housing ordinance is a provision requiring an owner or responsible agent to begin legal eviction of tenants in a unit that have received three disruptive conduct reports.  Disruptive conduct reports are issued by Lancaster City Police Officers who are called to a property for issues that are disruptive to neighbors.  Disruptive conduct is defined in the ordinance as any act by an occupant of a residential rental unit or by a person present at a residential rental unit that:

1. Is so loud, untimely as to the time of day, offensive and/or nuisance causing that it unreasonably interferes with the peaceful enjoyment by other persons of their premises or causes damage to property that is owned by others;
2. Involves music or noise that is disruptive to persons occupying a different dwelling unit;
3. Involves music that is audible from a street, sidewalk or dwelling from a minimum distance of fifty  feet away from where the sound is originating;
4. Is the subject of a criminal citation for “disorderly conduct” under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code;
5. Is the subject of a criminal citation under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code or the Pennsylvania Liquor Code;
6. Involves the illegal possession of a controlled substance or drug paraphernalia as defined by the Crimes Code or the Controlled Substance, Drug Device and Cosmetic Act.