Ask a Lawyer
By: Steven M. Williams
Question:
I have a home that I took through the abandonment process, but the notary who handles my titles tells me that I need a tax certification in order to obtain a new title. The taxing people are not being cooperative because a substantial amount of taxes were divested. Any advice on how to proceed?
Answer:
Yes. Tell your notary that he is wrong. You are not required to provide a tax certification to PennDOT when seeking a new title after an abandonment. All you need is the bill of sale and a PennDOT form MV-16A. If your notary does not believe you, ask him to look at the MV-16A instructions. They state that only a bill of sale is needed.
Question:
My site manager took a home through the abandonment process, and we sold the home to a new resident. The new resident has contacted us saying that a lender is calling her demanding that she pay the lien that was on the home prior to the abandonment. I have learned that, before selling the home to the new resident, my site manager did not check to see if there were any liens on the home, and hence, the lienholder did not get notice of the intended disposal of the home. What can we do now?
Answer:
Since the lienholder did not get notice of the abandonment and intended disposal, its lien was not divested and remains on the home. Thus, you or the current owner will need to pay the lien. Whether the payment obligation will fall on you or the new owner will depend on the language in the sale documents. For example, if you sold it “free and clear,” you made a representation to the buyer that there are no liens, and you will likely have to pay the lien amount.
Question:
Regarding ESA, I have a tenant who has been requesting to get a dog but we have breed, age, and weight restrictions. Once she heard those she was not happy and now is asking what if her boyfriend had an ESA. She is just trying to get around not being able to have the dog she wants. Are ESA’s the same as Service Animals? Can we have restrictions? Can you charge pet rent for ESA’s? What kind of documentation do they need? The same certification?
Answer:
ESAs are treated the same as service animals. You cannot impose breed, size, or age restrictions, and you cannot charge any fees. All you can require is that the resident provide you with credible verification, from someone who is competent to give it, that: (1) the resident or someone with whom she associates is disabled, (2) that the dog is required to accommodate the disability, and (3) that having the dog will solve the problem that the disability creates.
Question:
Most of our tenants receive their water bills via email. We do have a few who either do not have an email or refuse to accept an emailed water bill. My question to you is, can we figure out the cost of the paper, ink, envelope, and stamp per tenant per bill and add a fee or a charge for it to mail it, or should we mail it for free and write it off at tax time? We only charge the cost per thousand gallons used according to the water company fee. We currently do not charge anything else.
Answer:
There are several considerations: First, you are unable to charge more to a resident than he would be charged by the utility company if he were getting the water directly from it. So long as your tenants would not be paying more than they would pay to the utility by adding this extra cost, it should be fine from a utility aspect. Second, under the MHCRA, your charges must be uniform for all residents. That is, you cannot charge fees to some residents that you do not charge to all. The fee you are proposing could be deemed to be a non-uniform fee. If you feel strongly about it, though, you could assess the fee against everyone, but then waive it for those who accept the bills via email (akin to a late fee that applies to all but is only charged to those who pay late). While this seems fine on its face, I do know how the Attorney General’s office would look at it if it received a complaint. Third, under the MHCRA, you would not be able to charge this fee until thirty days after you have given notice of it to the residents (mailing to all residents and posting publicly in the rental office).
If you intend to institute this fee, I suggest that you have your proposed notice reviewed by counsel before you send it.
