[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Port Jervis as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Multiple dwelling units — See Ch. 370.
[Adopted 2-10-1997 by L.L. No. 1-1997 (Ch. 26 of the 1981 Code)]
For the purposes of this article the terms used herein are defined as follows:
ACTION or PROCEEDING
Any action or proceeding which may be instituted in the City Court of the City of Port Jervis in connection with the alleged violation of any ordinance or local law of the City of Port Jervis or of the Multiple Residence Law of the State of New York.
BUILDING
Any improved real property occupied by a commercial building or use or occupied or used as a one- or two-family residence and which is located within the City of Port Jervis, which building is, in whole or in part, leased.
[Amended 12-14-2015 by L.L. No. 6-2015]
OWNER
Any individual or individuals, partnership or corporation, whether for profit or otherwise, in whose name title to the building stands.
PROCESS
A summons or any notice, mandate or other paper or process issued under any provision of the Code of the City of Port Jervis, the New York Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code or the Multiple Residence Law of the State of New York.
A. 
Every owner of a building, as herein defined, located within the City of Port Jervis shall post and keep posted, affixed to the entry wall inside the front or main entrance to each building on the affected property, a notice, at least six inches by eight inches in size, in a frame with a glass or plastic front, setting forth:
[Amended 12-14-2015 by L.L. No. 6-2015]
(1) 
The name, address and telephone number of the owner of said building.
(2) 
The name, address and telephone number of the person, firm or corporation responsible for the management of the building.
(3) 
The name, address, apartment number and telephone number of the resident superintendent of the building, if any.
[Amended 9-8-1997 by L.L. No. 5-1997]
(4) 
Whether the building is heated by gas, oil or electricity and, if heated by oil, the name, address and telephone number of the supplier thereof.
B. 
A copy of the completed notice shall be filed in the office of the Building Department of the City of Port Jervis.
In the event that a building is a one-family house, such notice need not be posted. In the event that a building is a two-family house and the owner of the building resides in the building, such notice need not be posted, but the owner shall furnish, in writing, each tenant and the Building Department with the information required in § 430-2 above.
A. 
If such owner or agent is a corporation or a nonresident of the City of Port Jervis, he or such corporation shall file with the Building Department the name, address and telephone number of an officer of the corporation or other individual authorized to accept service of notices and process on behalf of the corporation or such nonresident of the City of Port Jervis.
[Amended 9-8-1997 by L.L. No. 5-1997]
B. 
Either the managing agent or the person designated to accept service on behalf of a corporation or a nonresident of the City of Port Jervis shall reside in the City of Port Jervis.
C. 
Any change in ownership, managing agent or oil supplier shall necessitate the posting, filing with the Building Department and maintenance of a new identification sign within 10 days after such change.
Any person committing an offense against any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500.
[Adopted 4-9-2001 by L.L. No. 2-2001 (Ch. 82 of the 1981 Code)]
A. 
The Common Council of the City of Port Jervis is concerned about the use of rental properties located within the City for the purposes of illegal drug use, possession and sale.
B. 
These illegal acts have a deleterious effect upon the neighborhoods in which the properties are located.
C. 
The remedies provided in § 715 of the New York State Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law do not adequately address the problems resulting from the aforementioned illegal acts; and the District Attorney of Orange County is willing to proceed with evictions pursuant to the attached ordinance for eviction for illegal drug use and possession.
A special proceeding to evict a tenant from leased premises may be maintained upon the ground that the premises, or any part thereof, have been used or occupied for the purpose of using or possessing illegal drugs. For purposes of this section, the term "tenant," in addition to its ordinary meaning, shall include an occupant of one or more rooms in a rooming house or a resident, not including a transient occupant, of one or more rooms in a hotel who has been in possession for 30 consecutive days or longer.
The procedures applicable to summary proceedings to recover possession of real property under state law shall be applicable to any proceeding brought under this article.
A. 
The following persons, corporations or agencies may serve personally upon the owner or landlord, or upon his agent, of demised real property used or occupied in whole or in part for the use or possession of illegal drugs, a written notice requiring the owner or landlord to make an application for the removal of the person(s) so using or occupying the premises:
(1) 
Any domestic corporation organized for the suppression of vice, subject to or which submits to visitation by the State Department of Social Services and possesses a certificate from such fact of conformity with regulations of the Department.
(2) 
Any duly authorized enforcement agency of the state or of a subdivision thereof, under a duty to enforce the provisions of the Penal Law or of any state or local law, ordinance, code, rule or regulation relating to buildings.
B. 
If the owner or landlord or his agent does not make such application within 15 days thereafter; or having made it, does not in good faith diligently prosecute it, the person, corporation or enforcement agency giving the notice may bring a proceeding under this article for such removal as though the petitioner were the owner or landlord of the premises, and shall have precedence over any similar proceeding thereafter brought by such owner or landlord or to one theretofore brought by him and not prosecuted diligently and in good faith.
C. 
Proof of the ill repute of the demised premises or of the occupants thereof or of those resulting thereto shall constitute presumptive evidence of the unlawful use of the demised premises required to be stated in the petition for removal. Both the person(s) in possession of the property and the owner or landlord shall be made respondents in the proceedings.
Two or more convictions of any person or persons, within a period of one year, for any of the offenses defined in Articles 220 and 221 of the Penal Law arising out of conduct engaged in at the same real property consisting of a dwelling as that term is defined in Subdivision 4 of § 4 of the Multiple Dwellings Law shall be presumptive evidence of conduct constituting use and occupancy of the premises for the purpose of using and possessing illegal drugs, and of the tenant's knowledge thereof.
A court granting a petition pursuant to this section may, in addition to any other order provided by law, make an order imposing and requiring the payment by the respondent of a civil penalty not exceeding $5,000 to the municipality in which the subject premises is located and the payment of reasonable attorneys' fees and the costs of the proceeding to the petitioner. In any such case, multiple respondents shall be jointly and severally liable for any payment so ordered, and the amounts of such payments shall constitute a lien upon the subject realty.