TITLE 9. REGULATION OF BUSINESSES, TRADES AND PROFESSIONS
CHAPTER 9-1200. CONDOMINIUM AND COOPERATIVE CONVERSIONS
§9-1204. Unfair Conversion Practices.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any owner, landlord, agent
or other person operating or managing a multiple occupancy dwelling to convert
said premises to a condominium, or to terminate a lease with a tenant or to
make, alter, amend or modify any term or condition of any existing lease or
arrangement of tenancy with a tenant for the purpose of converting the said
premises to a condominium, unless:
(a) the tenant has been notified in
writing by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the owner's
intention to convert to a condominium by a date certain specified therein, which
notice shall be delivered one year prior to the date of the scheduled
conversion;
(b) the notice of intention to convert contains a statement
informing the tenant then in possession of his or her exclusive right to
purchase their unit at a specified price during the first 6 months of the notice
period. During the right-to-purchase period, the owner or his agent cannot show
the unit to other prospective buyers unless the tenant has, in writing, waived
the right to purchase;
(c) the statement contains a specific statement
of the total amount due on or before settlement of the purchase contract,
including any initial or special condominium fees due;
(d) the
statement contains information on the actual expenditures made on all repairs,
maintenance, operation and upkeep of the subject property, including all taxes
and utility payments, within the last three years, set forth tabularly with the
proposed budget of the condominium and cumulatively broken down on a per unit
basis;
(e) the statement contains a description of any provisions made
in the budget for reserves for capital expenditures, or, if no provision is made
for reserves, a statement to this effect;
(f) the statement contains a
declaration as to the present condition of all structural components and major
utility installations in the subject property, including the dates of
construction, installation and major repairs, and the expected useful life of
each item, together with the estimated cost (in current dollars) of replacing
each of same.
(2) A tenant in possession at the time of the delivery of
the notice referred to above, may not be required to vacate the premises prior
to the expiration of the one year's notice period except
for:
(a) nonpayment of rent;
(b) breach of a covenant in the
existing lease;
(c) the tenant's having committed a nuisance or
waste upon the property, or having caused the premises to be in violation of The
Philadelphia Code.
(3) Any tenant in possession at the time of delivery
of the aforesaid notice, whose lease would ordinarily terminate during the
one-year period, is entitled to have the tenancy extended on the same terms and
conditions until the expiration of the one-year period from the date of the
notice.
(4) Any tenant in possession at the time of delivery of the
notice may terminate his lease with 90 days' notice without penalty for
termination.
(5) Tenants who take possession of a unit after the one
year's notice provision is delivered pursuant to this section, but before
the date of actual conversion, shall be notified in writing prior to the signing
of the lease, of the owner's intentions to convert to a condominium as of
the specified date and given whatever information is requested by that tenant
relative to the costs of purchasing that unit.
(6) No provision of this
section can be waived or made subject to a contract between the parties
depriving a tenant of the benefits of this section.
(7) It is the policy
of the City of Philadelphia that provisions in any contracts, leases or other
undertakings which allow owners or their agents, at their option, to cancel and
terminate the terms of such leases upon any future possibility of conversion to
a condominium, upon less than one year's notice as required by this
section, shall be null and void as against public policy, except in the
following case:
(a) if the term of the lease shall be less than one
year between the date of original occupancy in the multiple occupancy dwelling
and the date of conversion.