Joe Marino believes that everyone wants a clean, safe place to live, and it’s part of his job to see that happen.

Marino, the township’s new zoning officer, said he is trying to educate township landlords and tenants about having rental units inspected.

“Whenever there is an occupancy change, that apartment should be inspected for the safety of the tenant and the landlord,” he said.

“What I am looking to do is to try to enlighten people in the area that if they are moving into a rental property, that it does get inspected,” Marino said. “It’s a $50 fee, but I believe it is important to the tenant as well as the landlord.”

He said the ordinance carries a fine for failing to comply with the inspections, but he prefers to focus on the benefits of inspection. Instead, he is hoping that landlords and tenants see the value in having units examined before they are rented out again.

“I had someone move into a place, and here there was some problems with the electrical wiring,” he said. “It had the old knob and tubing wiring, which you are not allowed to have any more. There was a problem with the gutters; there were fleas in the carpeting.”

He said the tenant couldn’t live in those conditions. She opted to move out and lost her security deposit.

Landlords, however, are wary of such “registration” ordinances, according to Brad Dornish, lawyer for the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Congress of Real Estate, which represents the interests of landlords.

“As far as paying to ensure that you are providing clean, safe housing in a community, they don’t mind that,” he said.

But Dornish said landlords do mind when they think such ordinances are being used just to bolster a community’s coffers.

He said he is working on seven lawsuits around the Pittsburgh region challenging such ordinances. Two issues flow through all of them.

“The first issue is registration versus taxation,” Dornish said. “Simply put: I, as a residential landlord, pay my share of property taxes and my share of any business taxes that are required in a municipality. When a municipality adds to that a registration fee that exceeds the cost of the registration program, it becomes an additional tax on that property. It unfairly burdens that property as compared to other properties.”

The second issue is allowing municipalities to create a tax not approved under the state’s Local Tax Enabling Act.

“The state Legislature has not authorized the collection of general revenues through registrations by municipalities,” he said. “The problem is it’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. If it is simply a mechanism to make sure that properties are registered and that they are clean and safe when they are rented, that’s not a problem. When it becomes a revenue generator, that is when it becomes a problem.”

If a landlord rents a property and has it inspected beforehand but the tenant moves out within a few months, Dornish questions whether the property needs to be inspected again so soon. And how much should an inspection cost?

Dornish said he has requested information from 20 municipalities about their rental inspections, including how much is collected and what the costs are to run inspection programs. He said half complied.

“In none of these cases does the fee collected legitimately match the expenses of registration,” he said.

Costs that municipalities have listed as being covered by the fees include a percentage of a borough manager’s salary and a percentage of the cost to heat the municipal building, he said.

Dornish said lawsuits have been won against Erie and Westchester requiring money to be refunded to landlords.

Marino said Harrison officials are interested in maintaining clean, safe housing.

“We don’t inspect places to make money,” Marino said. “We don’t care about the money. We care that the people clean up their places. If they don’t clean it up, then they’re going to get fined.”

“A lot of people take good care of their rental properties, and other people are just looking to make a quick buck.”

Dornish said he advises members of ACRE to pay the inspection fees, which he as a landlord does even while he is challenging such ordinances in court.

“Understand, the process of registration is not illegal,” he said.

He said such ordinances and their enforcement do hold benefits for good landlords.

“As far as a good landlord is concerned, the value is it eliminates substandard housing from the neighborhood, and that improves all our rental values and property values,” Dornish said. “But it is very easy for the municipalities to go too far. And that’s where we have to be vigilant.”

Additional Information:

Getting inspected

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Harrison Township landlords must have units inspected before each rental by township Zoning Officer Joe Marino.

The cost is $50, and there is a fine for renting units without having them inspected.

To get more information and to schedule an inspection, landlords can call Marino at 724-224-9540 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, or e-mail him at harrisonzoning@comcast.net .

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