Pennsylvania Act 1907-300 — TENEMENT HOUSES, REGULATION OF

Act text

TENEMENT HOUSES, REGULATION OF
                  Act of Jun. 7, 1907, P.L. 441, No. 300              Cl. 11
                                  AN ACT

     To regulate tenement-houses in cities of the first class, and to
        require those owning or conducting the same to secure a
        license from the mayor; making violations of the act
        misdemeanors, and providing penalties for such violations.

        Section 1.  Be it enacted, &c., That it shall be the duty of
     every person who desires to conduct a tenement-house in any city
     of the first class, to apply to the mayor of such city, before
     the first day of January of the year one thousand nine hundred
     and eight, and before the first day of January of each and every
     year thereafter, for a tenement-house license for the ensuing
     year.
        Every application for a license shall be on a form approved
     by the mayor, and shall state the name and address of the person
     who proposes to conduct the tenement-house and, if such person
     is not the owner, the name and address of the owner, its exact
     location, the general material of its construction, the date of
     its erection if originally constructed for tenement purposes, or
     the date of its alteration if subsequently altered to tenement
     purposes, and the number of rooms or apartments to be used for
     such purposes.
        Section 2.  The mayor of every city of the first class is
     hereby authorized to grant tenement-house licenses to those
     applicants who have complied with the provisions of this act and
     the rules and regulations of the Department of Public Health and
     Charities pertaining to tenement-houses, and whose buildings
     fully meet all the requirements of this act. Whenever the mayor
     refuses to grant a license, he shall forthwith record, in
     detail, his reasons for such refusal in a proper book, which
     shall be a public record.
        Each license shall clearly specify the name and address of
     the person authorized to conduct the tenement-house, and, if
     such person is not the owner, the name and address of the owner,
     its location, the number of rooms or apartments which may be
     occupied for tenement purposes, and the date of the expiration
     of the license. Every license shall expire at the end of the
     calendar year for which it was issued, or at any time prior
     thereto if the person to whom it is issued ceases to conduct the
     said tenement-house: Provided, however, That, should the person
     to whom the license had been issued die during its term, the
     license shall, nevertheless, be valid for thirty days from the
     date of his death, in favor of his legal representative or of
     the person to whom the tenement-house passes by law, as the case
     may be.
        The mayor shall keep a public record of all the tenement-
     house licenses issued under the provisions of this act. The
     original applications shall be preserved for a period of one
     year, and shall be open to examination by the public.
        The mayor shall have the power to revoke any license upon the
     request of the Department of Public Health and Charities, or
     upon his own motion if the person to whom the license was
     granted has violated any of the provisions of this act, or of
     the rules and regulations of the said Department pertaining to
     tenement-houses, or has failed at any time within the term of
     the license to maintain his tenement-house in the condition
     required by this act or by the rules and regulations of the said
     Department pertaining to tenement-houses.
        Any person whose application for a license has been refused,
     or whose license has been revoked, shall have the right to
     appeal, within fifteen days, from the decision of the mayor, to
     the court of common pleas of the proper county, and such court
     shall make such order as right and justice may require:
     Provided, however, That such appeal shall not operate to
     supersede any decision of the mayor, pending the entry of a
     final order by said court, unless said appeal is directed to
     operate as a supersedeas by said court, at a preliminary hearing
     to be held at the time and in the manner provided by its rules
     for applications for preliminary injunctions.
        The charge for every application for a license shall be two
     dollars, where the number of rooms in the tenement-house for
     which it is applied is ten or under, and five dollars in every
     other case.
        Section 3.  On and after the first day of January, nineteen
     hundred and eight, it shall be unlawful for any person to
     conduct a tenement-house in any city of the first class unless
     he has secured a license therefor; and unless he, at all times,
     displays it in a conspicuous place upon the wall within, and
     close to the outer entrance of, the tenement-house to which it
     applies.
        Section 4.  If any person who desires to conduct a tenement-
     house has failed to apply for a license prior to the first day
     of January, in any year, he may apply for  such license at any
     time during the following year; but the license issued to him
     shall, nevertheless, expire at the end of the current calendar
     year, and the charge for the application shall be the same as if
     the license had been applied for prior to January first.
        Section 5.  It shall be the duty of the Department of Public
     Health and Charities, in every city of the first class, to make
     quarterly inspections of all parts of every tenement-house, to
     ascertain whether all the provisions of this act and of other
     acts, and of the rules and regulations of the Department of
     Public Health and Charities pertaining to tenement-houses, are
     being properly observed. For this purpose, the director of the
     said Department shall have authority to employ two tenement-
     house inspectors, at a salary of not more than twelve hundred
     dollars each, and such additional inspectors as he may deem
     necessary, in order to secure the enforcement of the provisions
     of this act. These additional inspectors shall receive salaries
     to be fixed by the said director, subject to the approval of the
     mayor. Councils shall annually appropriate the sums necessary
     for the payment of the salaries of the tenement-house
     inspectors, and of such other inspectors as may be appointed
     under the provisions of this section. The inspectors shall
     report immediately, to the said Department, the result of every
     inspection. In every case where such reports indicate a breach
     of the building laws they shall be forthwith certified to the
     Bureau of Building Inspection.
        Section 6.  Any person who, after the first day of January,
     one thousand nine hundred and eight, conducts any tenement-house
     in any city of the first class, without having secured a license
     therefor from the mayor, or who continues to conduct any
     tenement-house after such license has expired or has been
     revoked, or who at any time fails to display the license as
     hereinbefore required, or who neglects or refuses to maintain
     any tenement-house in the condition hereinbefore prescribed, or
     who makes any false statement in any application for a license,
     or who violates in any way any of the provisions of this act or
     any of the rules and regulations of the Department of Public
     Health and Charities pertaining to tenement-houses, shall be
     guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
     sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months,
     or to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or to both such
     fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.
        Section 7.  The term "tenement-house," in this act, shall
     mean every building which, or a portion of which, is occupied,
     or is to be occupied, as a residence by three or more families,
     living independently of each other and doing their cooking upon
     the premises.
        The term "person," in this act, shall include natural
     persons, corporations, joint stock companies, partnerships,
     partnership associations, individuals, and associations of
     individuals.
        Wherever appropriate the words of the masculine gender, in
     this act, shall include the feminine and neuter gender, and the
     words in the singular shall include the plural.
        The term "license," in this act, shall mean a tenement-house
     license.
        Section 8.  All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this
     act be and the same are hereby repealed: Provided, however, That
     nothing in this act shall be construed as in any way repealing,
     altering, or amending the provisions of the act of June seventh,
     one thousand nine hundred and five, entitled "A supplement to an
     act, entitled 'An act amending section one of article three of
     an act, entitled 'An act for the better government of cities of
     the first class in this Commonwealth,' approved the first day of
     June, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five;
     regulating the construction, maintenance, and inspection of
     buildings,' approved the eighth day of June, Anno Domini one
     thousand eight hundred and ninety-three; regulating the
     construction, alteration, and ventilation of tenement-houses,
     and providing for the safety of the inhabitants thereof; and
     providing penalties for the violation of the same."