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Amending Title 10 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Regulation of Individual Conduct and Activity," Chapter 10-800, "Safety," by adding a new Section 10-840, "Criminal and Defiant Trespassers," establishing and clarifying procedures to remove criminal and defiant trespassers from real property, all under certain terms and conditions.
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THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA HEREBY ORDAINS:
SECTION 1. Title 10 of The Philadelphia Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
TITLE 10. REGULATION OF INDIVIDUAL CONDUCT AND ACTIVITY.
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CHAPTER 10-800. SAFETY.
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ยง 10-840. Criminal and Defiant Trespassers.
(1) Legislative Findings.
(a) Criminal and defiant trespassers create a condition that could erupt in violence endangering lives and promoting the prospect of injuries to persons and damage to properties, all of which poses a serious risk to the public health, safety and welfare.
(b) Criminal and defiant trespassers have no rights to occupy residential property as against the rights of the current owner or authorized agent of said residential property.
(c) There is also confusion about whether criminal and defiant trespassers are tenants. They are not, and have none of the rights of tenants.
(2) Definitions.
(a) Alleged Criminal and Defiant Trespasser. A criminal and defiant trespasser is a person who the owner of a property or authorized agent of said residential property alleges is criminally and defiantly trespassing on the owner's residential property under this Section 10-840.
(b) City of Philadelphia Appropriate Eviction, Ejectment Proceedings, and Emergency Housing Fact Sheet. A fact sheet created by the Law Department in consultation with appropriate City offices and departments, which shall, at a minimum:
(.1) Explain the procedures for eviction or ejectment available before the Court of Common Pleas...
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