Property Maintenance

Property Maintenance Code Complaint Form

The Derry Township housing codes and zoning laws were adopted to benefit everyone in the community. In particular, the Township adopted the International Property Maintenance Code of 2003 (IPMC). According to IPMC Section 101.3, the IPMC's purpose is "to ensure public health, safety and welfare insofar as they are affected by the continued occupancy and maintenance of structures and premises."

Proper home maintenance preserves the value of the home in question and all the homes in the area. A basic public policy principle, the "broken windows theory" holds that ignoring the little problems -- graffiti, litter, shattered glass -- creates a snowball effect of continuing decline and neighborhood decay.

Thus, it is important to fix problems when they are small. Repair the broken windows within a short time, say, a day or a week, and the tendency is that vandals are much less likely to break more windows or do further damage. Clean up the sidewalk every day, and the tendency is for litter not to accumulate (or for the rate of littering to be much less). Problems do not escalate.

Identifying Property Maintenance Issues

Like most other local governments, Derry Township realizes it would not be cost-effective to pay a staff person to drive around town looking for problems. Thus, we rely on residents to contact the Township when they first notice problems. We understand that you may want your report to be anonymous, however; if we have a problem locating the situation that you reported, we will be unable to contact you for more information or to keep you informed of what progress has been made.

If you are a member of a Home Owners' Association (HOA) and notice a property maintenance issue in your neighborhood, you shouldalso contact your HOA as some HOAs are responsible for property maintenance.

Enforcement of Property Maintenance Laws

Once the Township has received a report, a code enforcement officer will inspect the situation within three business days.

If the officer determines there is a potential violation of the IPMC, the staff will attempt to contact the property owner and obtain their agreement to remedy the situation. This effort may take several days.

If the staff is unable to resolve the problem via the telephone within 10 business days, the staff will send a certified letter to the property owner with specific details as to what actions are required. The letter notes that if the issues are not resolved within the specified time limit (usually 30 calendar days), the Township may file a complaint with the District Justice. The outcome of the complaint may be fines levied against the responsible party until the problems are corrected. Furthermore, in certain circumstances, the Township can put a lien on the property if the property owner does not pay the fines. In extreme cases (e.g., situations involving health and safety), the Township may make the repairs and bill the property owner. Again, if the property owner does not pay for the repairs, the Township puts a lien on the property.