Tips and suggestions for municipal officials:
Review your municipality's entry in our municipal database — it's free and easy.
Thousands of Realtors use our municipal database to help demystify local resale regulations. Our database contains information that can often be hard to find, including:
- local resale inspection requirements
- water and sewer authority resale requirements
- rental licensing/inspection requirements
- sign regulations
- zoning and building codes
- tax rates
Post public notices and draft ordinances to your website — your residents deserve full transparency.
It's surprising how often we see public notices say something like:
The draft ordinance may be viewed at the township office during normal working hours.
Posting public notices and draft ordinances online is a simple and easy way to keep the community informed. For inspiration, visit Phoenixville Borough's Proposed Ordinance page.
Be aware of Act 133 of 2016 (an important amendment of the Municipal Code and Ordinance Compliance Act).
Act 133 of 2016 is a Pennsylvania law signed by Gov. Tom Wolf that changed the way local governments issue occupancy permits to homeowners.
[Click here to read the actual legislation.]
Under Act 133, municipalities must give the homeowner 12 months to resolve any violations found during the inspection, which allows the buyer and seller to negotiate who will perform and pay for the work.
- Once a municipality has conducted a resale code inspection, it must issue a resale certificate (U&O) to allow real estate settlements to move forward. (One exception: if the property has outstanding code citations from prior to the U&O inspection.) There are three types of resale certificates:
- a normal U&O permit, allowing new owners to move in
- a temporary U&O permit, allowing new owners to move in immediately and make repairs within 12 months
- a temporary access permit, allowing buyers of homes deemed “unfit for habitation” to access the building (without residing in it), and make substantial repairs within 12 months
- Municipalities can no longer demand escrow money as a condition of issuing use and occupancy permits.
- The term “unfit for habitation” is more clearly defined to describe homes that are “dangerous or injurious to the health, safety or physical welfare of an occupant or the occupants of neighboring dwelling.” As a result, code inspectors can no longer deny a U&O permit due to minor issues such as missing house numbers.