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BELLEFONTE -- Bellefonte Borough Council tabled a potential Rental Code Ordinance after members of the public expressed concerns about its contents.
Two members spoke during council's meeting this week about the ordinance.
The original plan for the meeting was to potentially approve the draft of the Centre Region Rental Housing & Building Safety Code, 2023 edition as presented, but this was rethought when members of the public spoke up about specific sections of the code.
Bill Shuey was the first of the pair to speak. Shuey was the previous owner of Linn Realty Group in Bellefonte and has owned rental properties in the area since 1988.
"I don't know how you can make the owners responsible for giving utilities," said Shuey, explaining that the electric heat in his properties isn't something he deals with; the tenants control that. "I can't give utilities. The electric is by the people who live there."
Council President Doug Johnson attempted to explain that line of the ordinance to Shuey.. The ordinance states landlords are expected to give a record of 24 months of utility payments.
"All that is asking for is if the tenant moves out that (landlords) have a record so that the new tenant has some idea of what the past utility bills were," said Johnson.
Shuey responded with, "They can call West Penn Power themselves. It's not up to me to provide that to them either."
He then read out another section of the draft, "'Return tenant outstanding security deposit as promptly as possible prior to the date of move out.' There is no way anyone is ever going to get a deposit from me before they move out. We have 30 days to give it to them, it's up to them to give us their forwarding addresses."
Shuey went on to describe different parts of the ordinance he had an issue with.
"'Owner will provide the tenant the option to renew the tenancy at the market rate unless you're going to rent it to a family member.' If I want to get rid of a tenant, I give them 60 days notice. I don't have to give them any reasons. I own the property. The people do not own the property," said Shuey.
Shuey also mentioned that in his leases he adds a clause about drugs on his property.
"(We caught a tenant) selling drugs out of my property. It was the 6th of April. I'm in Florida, the cops are there. They had one cuffed in the front, one cuffed in the back and I sent a guy out there to change the locks right then," Shuey said. "Immediate expulsion. The lady called me the next day and says she wants to get in and get her stuff out. I said, 'Well, I'll tell you what, I'll be back the 29th of April, give me a call then.'"
"I can sit here and tear this (whole ordinance) apart. I don't know what gives you the right to tell us what we have to do. I can tell you, some of these things I'm not going to do. I've been in this business too long. I do my stuff by the book. I want people to respect me, but you don't have to like me," said Shuey. "This (ordinance) is an overkill. Some of these things I will not do. If it comes down to it, I'll see you in court."
Brian Witmer spoke next, focussing first on permit fees.
"I have lots of issues with (the ordinance) but the first is the permit fee going up 25 percent," Witmer said. "They only inspect once every three years, and they're not there very long."
He ran through the problems he had with the ordinance quickly, agreeing with Shuey for many of the items.
"Having a separate permit for a fire alarm I think is unnecessary. The utility bills, it says the existing tenant has to give me a copy of their utility usage 60 days from when they receive it. That's the whole term of their lease. West Penn Power won't give the amounts, just the usage," he said.
Witmer read off specific sections to council he was concerned about, including sections 1104.1 regarding professional alarm licenses, 1105.1 regarding alarm system permits, 803.3-17 regarding the utility records, 101.3 regarding intent to ensure public health and the entire section of 101.6 regarding tenant rights.
"People in State College are making rules for people down here with no representation," said Witmer.
In response to these concerns, council felt it would be best to table the ordinance until they could discuss it more and potentially address the concerns these individuals had.
The Centre Region Rental Housing & Building Safety Code, 2023 edition can be read online at www.crcog.net under the "Departments" tab in Centre Region Code Administration (CRCA). Changes made to the original 2017 code are highlighted in red.
Bellefonte Borough Council will meet again on Aug. 7, 2023, with the business meeting beginning at 7:30 p.m.