§ 10-143. Registration of property owners and agents.

(a)

On or after October 12, 2012, any nonresident owner to whom a notice of violation was issued under this article shall designate a person meeting the qualifications in section 10-143(a)(2) to accept all forms of service for any notice, order, citation, summons, complaint, and all other documents relating to or arising out of enforcement of the Code for violations concerning to the property cited under this article and to accept service of process in any civil action in which the nonresident owner is alleged to be liable based upon ownership of the property or upon transactions related to rental of it. The owner shall file a registration statement on a form acceptable to the city within thirty (30) days of service of a notice of violation.

(1)

The registration statement must include:

(A)

A description of the property by street number or otherwise, in such a manner as to enable the manager to find it.

(B)

The name and current address of the owner of record, and if the owner is a business entity, the statement must also contain the name and address of its registered agent.

(C)

The name and business address of the agent designated to accept service for the matters in section 10-143(a).

(2)

The agent designated must be a natural person eighteen (18) years of age or older who is customarily present in an office in the city for the purpose of transacting business or whose primary residence is within the city.

(b)

Any non-occupant owner to whom a notice of violation under this article is issued on or after October 12, 2012, for property that is neither the owner's primary residence nor its principal place of business, shall file a registration statement setting forth the information in sections 10-143(a)(1)(A) and (B). If the notice of violation was issued to the non-occupant owner on or before October 12, 2012, the owner shall file the registration by December 31, 2012. If the notice of violation was issued to the non-occupant owner after October 12, 2012, the owner shall file a registration statement within thirty (30) days of the date that the notice of violation was issued.

(c)

[Reserved.]

(d)

Penalties:

(1)

Any owner who fails to designate an agent to accept service or who fails to file a registration statement as required by this section is subject to a separate civil penalty of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) per day for each day the owner has failed to designate an agent or remains unregistered up to a total of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00). If the owner is in compliance with this section at the time of a hearing as provided in subsection (d)(2) below, and it is the first time that the owner has failed to comply with this section, this penalty may not exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00).

(2)

In assessing the civil penalty, the manager may consider the history of all Code violations concerning the property for which the owner has been noticed, whether the owner was negligent, the gravity of the violation, effect of the failure to register on enforcement action, and whether the owner has demonstrated good faith in attempting to achieve rapid compliance after notification of a violation. Additionally, when the property is lawfully used for commercial purposes, the manager may consider the effect of civil penalties on the property owner's ability to continue the business. The assessment of the civil penalty may be appealed under section 12-19 of the Code.

(e)

The owner shall notify the manager of any change in the designated authorized agent or ownership no later than ten (10) days after the change.

(f)

Except as provided in subsection (g) of this section, the registration of owners filed with the manager under this section is confidential and not open to the public. The manager shall make available the information contained in the registrations upon request of any law enforcement agency.

(g)

The manager will make available for public review the following information, and any subsequent amendments thereto, upon request identifying the property by address:

(1)

A description of the property by street number or otherwise.

(2)

The name of the owner of record and, in addition, if the owner is a corporation, the name and address of its registered agent.

(3)

The name and address of the owner's agent as shown in the manager's records.

(Ord. No. 90-95, § 3, 2-6-95; Ord. No. 807-03, §§ 10, 11, 10-27-03; Ord. No. 775-07, § 8, 12-26-07; Ord. No. 499-12, § 6, 10-8-12)

Editor's Note

Sec. 6 of Ord. No. 499-12, adopted Oct. 8, 2012, renumbered § 10-150 as 10-143 and amended said section. The history of prior § 10-150 has been maintained.