Need a Certificate of Occupancy?

Question

Bought my first investment property about 1 month ago; single family I plan to rent out in Philadelphia. Completing relatively simple renovations (new paint, floors, fixtures, refreshing the place). Was previously used as a rental, so there is no change in use of the property.

Do I need to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy?

Yuriy Skripnichenko · Answer

@James Snow

You do not need Cert of Occupancy to rent your property.  Unless if you change it use from single to multifamily then you'll have to go through a lot of hoops.

What @Jared W Smith referees to is called City of Philadelphia Property Sales Certification and usually seller's side should provide you with it before the settlement. On this paper you will see the current use of the property as well as any current violation.

However, even if you do not have the cert, at the time when you'll go to apply for your rental license you will lear about all if any violations on the property.

Jared W Smith · Answer

You should have been given the CO when you purchased the property. This gives you the legality of the use. Title company usually provides from city's building department. (Devil's advocate: What if there's unpermitted work that doesn't match home? You'd be able to use this as a basis) Contact your attorney.

If not, then you should be able to go to the building  department and request any and all information on file for the house as the new owner. hopefully nothing's astray.

Lana Lee · Answer

Thank you

Yuriy Skripnichenko · Answer

@Lana Lee

For any City service you can always call 311 if you are in the city. Here is the contact information for the city departments http://www.phila.gov/311/pages/default.aspx

You can also go to http://property.phila.gov/

Lana Lee · Answer

How do I contact them without actually going to center city. Is there a phone number I could use to discuss over the phone?

Yuriy Skripnichenko · Answer

@Lana Lee

I would definitely recommend to talk to L&I about particular property. And not only one person at L&I. Unfortunately sometimes different people give you different answers at L&I

Lana Lee · Answer

I was wondering if for example a duplex zoned RTA-1 was occupied by the owner family, both units and was never rented would I have any problems obtaining two certificates of rental suitability ?

Yuriy Skripnichenko · Answer

an update to previous post:

I recently learned that city certification statement with current use and zoning (the certificate that you suppose to have before buying a property in Philadelphia) does not guarantee that the actual current use will be the same as stated on the certificate. It is stated right on the certificate that:

If the described use has been discontinued for a period of tree (3) years, a new use registration permit may be required. The department is not responsible to verify continuous use.

I knew that this wording is on the cert but had never had any issues until one of the recent deals that I purchased. To shorten the story, if the property didn’t have rental license for 2 years and more L&I may change the use to single family. And to get it back on track you may need to go through zoning department. In my case I was able to find “recent” zoning permit. I had to stamp that permit in zoning department and then show it to L&I to update their records and bring property back up to 3-units.

So in addition to the city certification statement always request most recent rental license.

Chris Martino · Answer

Hi @James Snow, the link below has some additional info on other items you will need for the rental as well, such as the rental license.

http://www.phila.gov/li/pages/tenantlandlord.aspx

Steve Babiak · Answer

In the City of Philadelphia, you can dial 311 to get questions like this answered; my guess is that the building is not changing use so might not be needed. If you were in the suburbs, I would say you probably would need a fresh Certificate of Occupancy and should contact the municipality's building department / code enforcement to find out.

If you do need to get a Certificate of Occupancy in the City of Philadelphia, here is the link:

https://beta.phila.gov/services/property-lots-hous...

https://business.phila.gov/certificate-of-occupanc...

Need a Certificate of Occupancy?

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