Philadelphia City Council is making a mad dash to a  Committee hearing on its Property Maintenance Code overhaul bill. if you can make it, Tuesday, October 23, 2PM Rm 400 City Hall, we'd really appreciate it.  This is a serious, major change to their PM Code.

Brief highlights :

Bill No 120647 will make the 2009 International Property Maintenance  Code the Property Maintenance Code for the city. It would keep major portions of the current code, such as the Rental Suitability Certificate and the new Lead Paint Disclosure requirements, and add them to the 2009 International code.

It would  impose a fee of $75 per unit per year as a Rental Registration fee, with a $25,000 cap per property. 

And it would require rental owners to provide written notice to residents of the name, address, phone and other contact info of the person or persons responsible for maintenance and those who will be available at all times for emergencies.

There are many other issues awaiting discussion among stakeholders. The City Council's reason for rushing this bill to a hearing is not clear. We will testify on Tuesday  and are working with other rental owner groups, HAPCO and GPAR and continuing our talks with the city.