COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON LICENSES AND INSPECTIONS - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, May 19, 2008, 10:14 a.m. - - - Bill 080004 Requiring towers to accept credit card and debit card payments. Bill 080085 Providing for protection against sale of cars in need of substantial repairs, commonly known as "a lemon law." Res. 080263 Authorizing L&I Committee to hold hearings to investigate cause of large numbers of false burglar alarm activations. Bill 080301 Prohibiting junk dealers from transacting bus. w/respect to certain items. Bill 080373 Assess towing/storage fees in accordance with provisions of Sec. 12-2406. (Full text of all of above attached hereto.) COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Maria D. Quinones-Sanchez, Chair Joan L. Krajewski, Vice Chair Blondell Reynolds Brown Bill Green William K. Greenlee Jack Kelly OTHER COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Darrell L. Clarke James F. Kenney - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Specialists 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE I N D E X WITNESS BILL 080004 Dominic Verdi, Deputy Commissioner, L&I Richard Dixon, Phila. Parking Authority 8 J. Parente, Morton Towing and Recovery 11 BILL 080073 J. Parente, Morton Towing and Recovery 15 RESOLUTION 080263 Chief Inspector Michael Feeney, PPD...... 21 Eileen O'Brien, Department of Finance.... 25 Commissioner Jack Gaittens, PPD.......... 37 Bill 080301 Michael Fink, L&I Construction Services 58 Bill No. 080301 Debra McCarty, PWD Operations............ 64 Dominic Verdi, Deputy Commissioner, L&I 65 Michael Axelrod, President, HAPCO........ 70 BILL 080085 Lance Haver, Director, Consumer Affairs 78 Dominic Verdi, Deputy Commissioner, L&I 90 Kevin Mazzacola Auto Dealers Association 98 * * * 3 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080004
The Committee on Licenses and Inspections will now start its public hearing. Having recognized -- we have a quorum of the committee: Councilman Kelly, Councilwoman Krajewski, Councilman Green, Councilman Bill Greenlee, and also joining us at the table is Councilman Darrell Clarke, who has a bill up this morning. Will the clerk read the first bill, please.
Bill No. 080004, an ordinance amending Section 9-605 of the Philadelphia Code, entitled "Towing," by requiring every person licensed to engage in the business of towing vehicles to accept credit cards and debit cards in payment of towing and other charges, under certain terms and conditions. (Witnesses come forward.)
Thank you. 4 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080004 I have scheduled Commissioner Verdi, Rick Dixon, and Joseph Parente. Is there anybody else in the audience who is going to be testifying on 080004? (No response.)
Okay, thank you. State your name for the record. COMMISSIONER VERDI: Dominic Verdi, Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Licenses and Inspections.
You can begin. COMMISSIONER VERDI: Good morning, Chairwoman Sanchez and members of the committee. I'm Dominic Verdi, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Licenses and Inspections. Today I'm here to provide testimony on Bill No. 080004, which, if enacted, will require persons licensed by the City in the business of towing vehicles to accept credit cards and/or debit cards as payment to cover the 5 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080004 charges incurred through the towing of vehicles in the City. The Department of Licenses and Inspections is a local agency that is charged with the enforcement of 9-605 of the Philadelphia Code related to the licensing of tow truck businesses that tow private vehicles either from the highway or from private property. With respect to the provisions of Bill 080004, we offer no objections to the enactment of this bill, as this will provide a benefit to the public we serve, and we will enforce the bill's provisions by ensuring that tow businesses have and maintain the necessary equipment to accept credit and/or debit card payments from citizens in order to reclaim their vehicles after having been towed. Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on Bill No. 080004, and I'd be happy to answer any questions at this time. 6 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080004
Any questions from the committee? I have one: What will be our process for ensuring compliance? What's going to be the process? If we're saying we're going to accept credit cards, how long are we going to give the providers? COMMISSIONER VERDI: To have the equipment ready?
Mm-hmm. COMMISSIONER VERDI: We'll have to discuss that with the commissioner and with Otis, our legislative person, and we'll enact regulations to enforce.
Okay. Could we get that over to the Chairperson -- COMMISSIONER VERDI: We'll get that over to the Chair.
-- in terms of what your recommended time is for enforcement? COMMISSIONER VERDI: Yes. 7 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080004
Sure. Councilman Kenney, who is the author of the bill.
Thank you very much. Just so the record's clear on the genesis of this whole issue, oftentimes, when people's cars are towed, it's a major inconvenience for them. It's often at night, later, and where there's not a bank available. They have to go to an ATM machine, which is not safe. They don't have a car to get there they're walking. So there's a whole slew of reasons in addition to us keeping count of how many cars get towed and what happens to the money, which was also interesting aspect of it, but that's 8 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080004 really how it got started. So I just wanted to thank you for your consideration.
Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. And we'll be ready for our next witness, and I don't know if Commissioner Verdi wants to stay there since we're going to go (inaudible).
My name is Richard Dixon. I'm the Senior Director of Strategic Planning for the Philadelphia Parking Authority. I do have written testimony, but I'll summarize it in the interest of brevity. The reality is that we are dealing less and less in a cash society; people pay for coffee with a debit card and a credit card. To expect people to have a couple of hundred dollars to pay for fees for towing and storage is really not realistic. And the result of that is, people end up paying more fees because they are unable to get the car 9 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080004 on the day that it's towed, so additional storage fees are accrued, which costs the public more money. And it's always -- the Councilman said it's usually inconvenient; it's always inconvenient when a person's car is towed, and to further inconvenience that person and charge them more money is really not in the best interest of the service to the public. And, additionally, by having tow operators or tow companies deal exclusively in cash, we increase the likelihood that they could be crime victims as well. There are adequate safeguards in consumer-protection laws that would ensure that fraudulent charge-backs would not become the responsibility of the tow company. If they require signatures and identification when charges are made, the likelihood of them losing the fee for that tow is almost 10 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080004 none. We collect almost $10 million in tow storage and boot fees a year, and less than 1 percent is ever rejected as a charge-back, so the cost to the towing company is really minimal in terms of the possibility of fraudulent use of credit cards. So the Parking Authority would support enactment of this bill in the interest of the consumer and for the safety of the people that are involved.
Any questions of our witness from the committee? I have a question in terms of the -- I'm expecting that the tow truck operators are going to charge us a transaction fee. Do we have a sense of what that would be if they accept the credit cards?
This bill, I believe, prohibits using -- charging any kind of a fee associated with that. 11 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080004
And, actually, I think it -- I don't think it's legal for a face-to-face transaction to charge a convenience fee on credit cards as well. That's only possible, I think, in Web-based credit-card transactions, but if a person is there, presenting their card at the point of sale, I don't think you're allowed to charge a fee associated with that.
Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? (No further questions.)
Thank you for your testimony. Mr. Joseph Parente. (Witness comes forward.)
Good morning Council. My name is Joseph Parente. I'm the owner of Morton Towing and Recovery, and I'm here today to testify 12 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080004 on behalf of Morton Towing and Recovery and the Philadelphia Authorized Towers and Salvers Association. We are aware of the -- that people are able to not have access to credit cards at this time. Our company does accept credit cards. The Philadelphia Authorized Towers and Salvers Association are aware that in any reputable business, that the consumer's best interest is taken into consideration. There are many different situations and circumstances where the public is unable to have access to a bank or obtain payment in cash. Our towing association is in favor of Bill No. 080004.
Any questions from my colleagues? The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you. Over the years, we've been debating a lot of issues relative to tow 13 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080004 companies and towing problems and other issues, and I think, as usual, with most industries that have problems, it's usually a small number of people who are involved in the kind of bad activities on the street when they get people's cars. These guys here are not those people, and they are the ones that have borne the brunt a lot of times of the bad reputation that the industry has, when they are just legitimate business people who give people a fair shake. Certainly they have to tow a car as part of their jobs, but these are not the guys that are going around, you know, wreck-chasing and fighting with people. They are legitimate businesspeople, they employ people, they pay their taxes. And I just -- it's important for the committee and the City to see the other side and the other face of that industry, which is a good face. So thank you. 14 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080373
I want to thank you all for being present this morning and for supporting the bill. Thank you. Is there anybody else here present to testify on Bill No. 080004? Anyone who wasn't on our witness list? (No response.)
Okay. Having none, thank you very much. Will the clerk read the title of Bill No. 080373.
Bill No. 080373, an ordinance amending Section 12-1120 of the Philadelphia Code, entitled "Abandoned Vehicles," by providing that towing and storage fees charged by authorized salvers for the towing and storage of abandoned vehicles be assessed in accordance with the provisions of Section 12-2406.1, under certain terms and conditions.
We have Commissioner Verdi. I don't know if he 15 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080373 wanted to add anything. COMMISSIONER VERDI: No, ma'am.
Okay. We should have done these jointly. Is there anything added? How about Mr. Dixon; anything you need to add? No? Okay. Oh, the towers? I'm sorry. They should have stayed on. Hold on. Mr. Joseph Parente, if you wanted to add something related to the rates, Bill No. 15 080373? (Witness comes forward.)
The Philadelphia Towers and Salvers Association would like to also have our price increase run concurrently with the Parking Authority in respect to the pricing, and as the prices change with the Parking Authority, our price is equal to what the Parking Authority's prices are. 16 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080373
If they could -- Madam Chair, if they could talk about the last time there was an increase, which has been at least --
Again, 18 thanks for your testimony this morning 19 and for the association in working with 20 the both Administration and our bill 21 sponsor, Councilman Kenney. 22 Any other witnesses on Bill No. 23 080373? 24 (No response.)
Thank 17 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080373 you, Councilman Kenney. If the clerk would read Resolution 080263.
A resolution 6 authorizing the Committee on Licenses and Inspections to hold hearings to investigate the causes of large numbers of false burglar alarm activations Philadelphia and to examine the fiscal impact of these false activations and to propose solutions to reduce the number of false activations and their negative impact on the City's financial resources and policing capabilities. (Witnesses come forward.)
Good morning. If you could read your name in for the record and proceed. I have -- for the record, I have Commissioner Eileen O'Brien, Deputy Commissioner Gaittens, and Chief Inspector Feeney.
I defer to the people who hold the titles of 18 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 "Commissioner."
Excuse me. Before you start your testimony, we're going to have a brief statement by Councilman Bill Green, who is the author of this resolution.
Before we take public testimony regarding this resolution, I just want to share a few things. There are two issues, I believe, that will stand out regarding the City's false burglar alarm problem. First is the volume and rate of false alarms. Second is the amount of money it is costing the City each year. In the 2007 fiscal year, the police responded to 92,000 burglar alarms; 99 percent of these alarm activations were false. This is not an anomaly but a troubling trend. Over the last 10 years, 97 to 99 percent of the activations have been false. This results in a significant 19 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 amount of police resources and time being diverted to providing response to a non-emergency. Given the City's high crime rate, we can no longer afford such insufficient allocation of our scare police resources. As to the cost of this problem, based on the research my office has done, I estimate conservatively that false alarms cost taxpayers in excess of a million dollars a year. If a comprehensive study of costs responding to alarms was performed, as was last done in the early 1990s, I believe the cost per activation would be significantly higher than that number. Between fiscal years 1997 and 2008, the total cost to the City, just based on inflation adjustment from the 1990 studies, is 13.4 million. This deficit results from the fact of the high cost for police response, which is far greater than the revenue generated from registration fees and fines for 20 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 false alarms. We can quickly close this deficit through adjusting fees or fines, but that would not solve the overarching number of false alarms, and, more important, may not be the most appropriate solution. At this hearing, we are going to present what data we have about the false alarm problem in Philadelphia as well as mention what other cities have done to lower their number of false alarm activations. It is important to note that it is not my intent to discourage burglar alarm use. Burglar alarms play a positive role in the development of our city. Many people choose to leave the City because of security concerns and fear of crime. I am mindful that many areas of the City experiencing growth are doing so in part because of the availability of alarms. Therefore, when examining this 21 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 problem and crafting an appropriate solution, we should be mindful of the benefits that affordable access to alarm systems provide to the growth and develop of our city. Thanks.
Thank you. We can start with our first witness. INSPECTOR FEENEY: Good morning, Madam Chairwoman Quinones- Sanchez and other members of the Committee of Licenses and Inspections. My name is Chief Inspector Michael Feeney. I am in charge of IT and communication services for the Philadelphia Police Department. First, on behalf of Commissioner Ramsey, please let me extend this gratitude for allowing the Police Department the opportunity to be heard regarding this very important resolution. 22 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 I am here today to testify on the impact that false burglar alarms have on the Philadelphia Police Department and the citizens we're sworn to protect. There is currently both an opportunity as well as a financial cost to these responses. Accordingly, the Philadelphia Police Department appreciates the efforts of Councilman Green and other members of City Council to reduce the number of false activations in Philadelphia. Please let me explain how such efforts can not only benefit the Police Department but also the City as a whole. In 2007, 97 percent of alarm calls were deemed to be false. Let me just point out that on the testimony that was submitted, there was a mistake. It says "94 percent"; the correct number is 97. This resulted in approximately 52,690 hours of police hours wasted responding to these calls. This is time 23 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 that officers were precluded from responding to other priority assignments or from actively patrolling their areas of assignment. As a police officer, this is the most disturbing aspect of false alarms, the opportunity costs of being in the wrong place when a real emergency erupts. This impacts our response time for crimes and other legitimate service needs, it impacts our ability to deter crime, and, most important, it can impact officers' safety. While the Police Department fully accepts its responsibilities to respond to crimes in progress, the stakes are just too high to waste valuable police resources. While the inability to respond to real emergencies is the most disturbing aspect of false alarms, the Philadelphia Police Department cannot ignore the financial impact to the department. Conservative estimates that factor in simply average officer's 24 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 salary and fringe benefits place the cost of responding to false alarms at over $1 million annually. As with all other agencies, the department has a duty to be fiscally responsible. So, as you can image, the Police Department has a vested interest in reducing the number of false alarms activated in Philadelphia. Please keep in mind that the Philadelphia Police Department's new mission, under Commissioner Ramsey, is to fight crime and the fear of crime, including terrorism, by working with our partners to enforce the laws, apprehend offenders, prevent crime from occurring, and improving the quality of life for all Philadelphians. To accomplish this mission, the Philadelphia Police Department must clearly deploy all of its resources intelligently. All efforts that can reduce waste and inefficiency must be explored with best practices identified 25 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 and implemented. The citizens of Philadelphia deserve nothing less. So in closing, once again, on behalf of Commissioner Ramsey, I would like to thank Councilman Green and the members of this committee for beginning the process on how we as a team can begin to reduce waste and inefficiencies that result from responding to false alarms in Philadelphia. The Police Commissioner and the Police Department look forward to working with City Council to identify solutions and to implement the very best practices available here in Philadelphia. This concludes my testimony, and I would be happy to answer any questions at this time. Thank you.
We're going to let everyone testify and then ask questions of the panel. Thank you.
Good morning 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 Madam Chairwoman Quinones and members of the committee. My name is Eileen O'Brien. I'm an administrative analyst in the Department of Finance. I serve as the director of the Code Unit, which is responsible for tracking, billing, and collection of charges assessed for code-violation notices issued to violators of the Philadelphia Code ordinances. This unit also maintains the registry of alarm system users and bills and collects annual registration fees and charges for excessive false- alarm activity. The Code grants the authority for enforcement of the alarm ordinance, which is Section 9-305 of the Philadelphia Code, to the Department of Licenses and Inspections. In 1994, the Department of L&I, by then-Commissioner Bennett Levin, entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Office of the Director of Finance, then Ben Hayler, to allow the Code Unit to undertake these 27 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 responsibilities. The current law stipulates that alarm users must register with the City and pay an annual registration fee of $35. The Code Unit currently has approximately 105,000 registered alarm system users. Each user is entitled to three free false alarms in any given registration year. The fourth and subsequent false alarm results in a violation for excessive false alarm activity, upon which a charge of $25 is assessed. Failure to pay this charge or seek an administrative hearing to dispute the charge causes penalties to be added. Continued failure to pay charges will result in the filing of a code enforcement complaint in Municipal Court, where a fine of $300 per incident is sought. If a judgment is entered for such a code enforcement complaint, it becomes a credit impediment. Since the implementation and 28 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 enforcement of the requirement regarding alarm systems began, the Code Unit has collected over $41 million, averaging over $3 million per year. Approximately 2 million per year comes from registration fees and the remainder from false-alarm charges. I have attached to my testimony a report prepared April 30, 2008, which shows the revenue collected for each category from fiscal year 1996 to the present. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the City recovers the full cost of alarm response. In a study done in 1995, Drs. Simon Hakeem and Irwin Blackstone, professors of economics at Temple University, conservatively estimated the response cost at $28 per alarm activation. That cost has surely risen in 13 years. Councilman Green pegged the cost at $45 million based on inflation -- I'm sorry, that should be 29 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 4.5 million -- based on inflation indices, which translates into approximately $4 million per year in costs to the Police Department. A more current study would be in order to accurately determine the actual cost of police response to alarms and the Code Unit's cost in registering users and billing and collecting for false-alarm charges. A new study might also review the most successful techniques for cost recovery. Some jurisdictions provide fewer free calls or, in some instances, none at all. Other jurisdictions demand private response to alarm activations and only send police when evidence of a crime or an attempted crime is uncovered. The ultimate goal of all alarm ordinances is to keep alarm incidents at a minimum and recover the cost to providing alarm response since over 97 percent of all alarm activations prove 30 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 to be false. The Administration stands ready to work with City Council to fashion improvements to our alarm ordinance to achieve full cost recovery. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a couple of questions of the Chief Inspector. Has the amount of incidents increased, decreased over the years that the police have to respond? INSPECTOR FEENEY: The numbers, um... The numbers were actually higher in '03 and then seemed to have leveled off since then to about 85,000 -- 83 to 89,000 calls per year from '04 to '07.
Councilman Greenlee, in your package, you'll find 31 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 "False Alarm Hearing Committee on Licenses and Inspections," and this is a PowerPoint prepared by my staff that shows the alarm activations on and 7.
Oh, okay. Okay. Thank you, Councilman. One other question, if I could. In Miss O'Brien's testimony, she says other jurisdictions demand private response to alarm activations and only send police when evidence of a crime or an attempted crime is uncovered. I was wondering what the Police Department's opinion was on that. Is that something you've looked at? Do you think that could be effective? INSPECTOR FEENEY: Well, there is a delay then in responding to an alarm, and even it's only a --
Right. INSPECTOR FEENEY: It's my belief that even it's only a or percent chance that the alarm is 32 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 founded, we should be responding to it as quickly as possible.
Mm-hmm. INSPECTOR FEENEY: So I don't think that that's the way to go. That's just my opinion.
I mean, that was my general thought too, but I was just wondering what you thought because I guess when evidence of a crime or an attempted crime is uncovered, that could be a lot of time -- you know, some valuable time in between that and could -- INSPECTOR FEENEY: And there could be a policeman nearby who could be much faster than the alarm company.
Right, mm-hmm, okay. That was my general thought too, but I was wondering what you thought. Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Do you have a question? Go ahead, Councilman 33 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 Green.
Thank you. The Seattle police did a report; it's on of the PowerPoint. For 2003, they responded to 24,000 burglar alarms; 325 were valid and 46 suspects were sort of caught at the scene, and the cost per arrest was 31,444. If you look at of the PowerPoint, which is Salt Lake City and what their ordinance does, they did something similar to Councilman Greenlee's question, which is, required alarm companies to essentially be the first response. The volume of alarm- related police calls, which free up officers, dropped by 90 percent during the first nine months. The average private guard response times to alarm activations has been much faster than the previous police response. They've actually -- the alarm people have caught people on the scene. 34 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 The average police response time for other high-priority calls -- and given the large number of false calls, it seems to make sense to me. The average police response time from other high-priority call service dropped from five minutes to three minutes. So in terms of responding to other high- priority calls, it really increased the police response time. And I've mentioned this before: The apprehension rate of burglars caught on site increased. And this is not in here, but it costs the average homeowner in Seattle $5 more a month for this service to be provided by their alarm companies versus being -- as a first response versus being provided by the police. Just given these facts, does that -- is it something that the Police Department would look at with us? INSPECTOR FEENEY: Yeah, absolutely. You know, this is new 35 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 material to me. It's counterintuitive, but, you know, we would be certainly happy to look into it, and we'll contact the people in Salt Lake and see how they did their study and if there's a benefit here.
Great. Do you know what percentage of police dispatch are for alarm activations; in other words, of overall dispatchers? INSPECTOR FEENEY: I believe it's 5.8 percent, sir.
And how many police are notified of an alarm activation? How many units are sent usually? INSPECTOR FEENEY: For A burglar alarm, it's a minimum of two.
A minimum of two? INSPECTOR FEENEY: Yeah. Now, you may have other units respond that 36 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 happen to be in the area.
Most of this cost data assumes only one car is sent for the City of Philadelphia that we've provided, so -- INSPECTOR FEENEY: Right. (Indiscernible.)
And that would essentially double the City's costs. INSPECTOR FEENEY: Right. This would be the number of hours that the call was, you know, alive, so to speak.
So 52,000 hours is for two people. INSPECTOR FEENEY: Yes.
So essentially, it's really 104,000 man hours. INSPECTOR FEENEY: Well, that's correct, yes, it would be. At least a minimum of that.
A minimum of that. 37 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 INSPECTOR FEENEY: It would be at least two cars responding.
Okay. And then -- so that's really 50 full-time police officers a year is what -- DEPUTY COMMISSIONER GAITTENS: Excuse me. Deputy Commissioner Jack Gaittens. The original figure we had said was 26,345 hours. When you double that, the 52,690 is based on two.
Two. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER GAITTENS: Now, there are instances where, if it's a robbery alarm, you may have seven or eight officers respond. So we're saying that the minimum would be two. And looking at that figure, it's approximately $1.4 million in straight-time salary. And if you include another, say, half a million dollars in fringe benefits, the total cost is approximately $2 million a year just from responding to that, assuming 38 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 it's only two officers.
Assuming only two, and that's full-time 5 police officers a year responding to 6 false alarms. 7
Point of 8 information. 9 DEPUTY COMMISSIONER GAITTENS: 10 That is correct, yes. 11
What is 13 the protocol when the officers go on 14 the scene in terms of -- okay, if you 15 have two or three cars and it's 16 determined that there's no incident, 17 it's a false, alarm, what's the 18 protocol? How much time are we really 19 talking about from scene arrival to -- 20 DEPUTY COMMISSIONER GAITTENS: 21 Well, it depends on the location how 22 long it takes. 23 For burglar alarms, the average 24 response takes about 17 minutes, and for 25 robbery, the average is about 13 minutes 39 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 of the amount of time that they actually spend out there. The first car on location would determine what the situation is and let police radio know. If they find out that it is a tripped alarm, a false alarm, they would just let radio know FAL, false alarm. Any other cars would resume. If they get on location and they see a widow is broken, a door is pushed open, they would notify a supervisor, they would contain the premises, and then do a search once a supervisor arrives on the scene, which obviously then would take a lot longer.
Okay. So what happens when there's a false alarm? Does the police officer fill out paperwork, or does that happen once it's reported back FA, back to dispatch? INSPECTOR FEENEY: Well, if it's unfounded, the original officer would make out an incident report, a 40 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 7548. If it's founded, there would be a report to follow from the Detective Division.
Okay. So in the amount of time that you've estimated, that does not include the time for filling out the 7548. INSPECTOR FEENEY: No. He would do that when he's back in service normally.
Okay. INSPECTOR FEENEY: And that's where the 17-minute figure is for unfounded alarms.
Not related to the paperwork also. INSPECTOR FEENEY: Right.
Okay. So then there's paperwork at the police level and then paperwork at the Finance Department level to enter that in, so the total cost of false alarms in terms of just the paperwork is, you know, we don't know, but five or ten minutes? 41 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 INSPECTOR FEENEY: It would take a few minutes to fill out a report, yes.
Okay. How long does the average robbery take? INSPECTOR FEENEY: You know, Councilman, we tried to research that. I did it personally, I've had Research and Planning do it. I did see a quote in Seattle that it takes approximately two minutes. I saw another quote that says less than three. I couldn't get any cited source, you know, the result of any real study; it was just repeating what I was picking up from what other departments said. But no one had -- I couldn't find any study that anyone actually did. But that seems -- to my mind, that's about right, less than three minutes for a robbery.
Okay. Do you have any statistics on how many arrests result from non-false 42 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 activations or from police arresting somebody on the scene of a crime? INSPECTOR FEENEY: No. That's not a statistic we keep upfront. We would have to -- you know, we could do that going forward and start trying to track that.
Okay. INSPECTOR FEENEY: But up to now, there's no nature code for that.
Thank you. For Finance: How many alarm companies operate in Philadelphia?
We keep a list of alarm companies. It's over 800 at present, but some of those are actually not active at the moment. I'd say there are about 50 we're in regular contact with.
And how many unregistered alarm users are out there; do you have any idea?
I wish I knew. I'm sure it's substantial, 43 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 unfortunately.
What are the licensing requirements for alarm companies in Philadelphia? And I ask this because a lot of the other jurisdictions have specific licensing requirements, and that's how they get control of how things get through to the Police Department.
There's nothing specific. I believe L&I did try to make them comply with the requirement to get a business-privilege license when the initial ordinance was enacted in 1992.
And is there any information on the breakdown 44 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 between the number of residential alarm activations and, say, commercial or robbery alarm activations which would result in, you know, seven or eight cars going versus two? INSPECTOR FEENEY: No, we don't count them separate; it's just a burglar alarm or a robbery alarm is, you know, the way we separate them.
Okay. Is there any information on how many alarm users have one activation a year, two or three, et cetera?
I'm working on trying to provide that information. We register alarm users at the beginning of each month, meaning they could start their year any month of the year and run for, you know, twelve months. So it's hard to do a figure based just on a calendar year as a result. But I'm working on trying to extract a sample that would give us some basis for making a determination about 45 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 approximately how many fall into each category.
Okay. And from the Finance Department's perspective, can you describe the process of how an alarm activation is identified as false, the alarm user is identified, and then billed for the activations?
The determination about the disposition of the incident is made by the police officer at the scene, recorded into the Police Department's computer as FAL, for false. Each day, my office receives an electronic file that gets transmitted at approximately 3 o'clock in the morning, and that data, of all of the calls from the previous day, is searched against our registry of users. If the alarm registration number was supplied when the call came in, then there's usually a quick match. 46 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 We have programs that chart a match based on address and name as well, and then anything that cannot be matched has to be handled manually by my staff.
And what are the costs in man hours of enforcing these provisions of the current code in your office in dollars?
Well, I have three full-time staff persons. I'd have to get you a dollar figure for that. And I have a person who spends about half her time going to court on these cases. And then there's some additional staff who do -- part of their day involves alarms. But I could get you a figure at some point of the dollar amount.
Okay, 'cause the cost-recovery figures we have simply relate to the Police Department at the moment and not Finance.
So if you 47 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 could get us that information and provide it to the Chair.
Thank you very much. I have no more questions. I will say, anybody who would like it can get a copy of the PowerPoint presentation my staff put together, which, I think, is excellent, and I want to thank them for their hard work on this. Thank you.
I have Councilman Kelly and then I'll recognize Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have a question, and it has to do with, of course, the chart 48 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 which is in this PowerPoint presentation by Councilman Green, and that's on 6. Maybe Commissioner Gaittens or, Chief Inspector, you can answer this. Since 2001, there has been a decrease in activations. Do you know how -- why that's -- why that's been decreasing? Is there any reason for that? Is it something that you're doing that...
I think it might have something to do with the fact that the ordinance has been on the books for, you know, 13, 14 years, and people have begun to understand and appreciate the purpose of it, which is to recover the cost for providing police response, that the failure to monitor their alarm systems and prevent false alarms is going to cost them some money so they have begun to do that. 49 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263
Are these the people that are on the fourth call? In other words, they're being hit now with a fine or whatever, and this is getting them to get serious about calling in?
I think that's probably what happened. I can't tell you that, you know, a hundred percent, but I believe that people who were fined in the past found that distasteful and preferred to do what was needed to prevent fines from occurring.
Most of these activations, are they commercial establishments or are they private residences?
I do not have a way to separate residential from commercial.
Can I have a 50 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 point of information on that?
Is that information that is captured on the form when people first sign up for the false alarm registration?
Many of the individuals who are registered do not actually execute the form. The form is a convenience that we have for individuals who want to, but we get lists from alarm companies of new users. We've determined who has an alarm system based on calls that the police receive without any form having been obtained.
Could you go back to the alarm companies and ask them for that breakdown by the customers in the City so that we have that data, even if it's just raw numbers versus tied to our database for the time being?
I suppose we 51 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 could try that. I do have one other thought about how to do it, which might be, you know, quick and dirty, but it might produce an estimate, which would be to look for indicators in the name field of businesses, like "Co." or "Inc." or "Corp.," you know, words that identify it as a business. I could try to do that as well.
Yeah, we'd be very interested in that information. We really would. All right. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Councilman Greenlee. I wanted to acknowledge that Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown has joined us.
Just very quickly. Thank you, Madam Chair. I know my burglar alarms 52 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 company, when an alarm is set off, they call to see if you're there. Do most companies do that? And I don't know if there's any way to figure how much that cuts down, but I'm just wondering -- INSPECTOR FEENEY: Well, if we get a call from the alarm company, we do cancel -- we then cancel that. It doesn't happen that often.
Really? INSPECTOR FEENEY: Yeah. I had the statistics here, but it's very --
I think our company, they don't call the police until they check.
Councilman, that is standard procedure for most of the alarm-company monitoring stations.
They don't want to dispatch police if they can determine that they're not warranted.
Right. 53 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 That's what I figured, but --
So they call the site, and some of them have a backup number to call a cell phone number or some other location where the person can be reached.
Or a couple other people in the area, that kind of thing. Okay. I was just wondering. I figured that was kind of standard, but I wasn't sure. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. I had a couple questions before we close this out. This is a resolution 19 and we won't be voting on it, but is there any correlation -- I'm look at your statistics -- about who has alarms, and some of those being poorer communities, high-crime areas. Is there any correlation, or are we looking at that data in terms of, you know, these 54 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 high-crime areas. I may have an alarm, you know, someone goes through my ally. Have we looked at that data? INSPECTOR FEENEY: We haven't separated it out, no. We could do it by district; we could look at, you know, what districts have the most alarm activations. We could do it that way.
I'm very concerned about adding costs to people who are already struggling in paying for their alarm, so I want to see if there's a correlation between high- crime areas. And, you know, if I happen to live on a block that, you know, has high crime, I take the burden of having this alarm, and then I potentially get all these fees. For me, I'd be interested if you could submit that to the Chair. 55 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 I see the zip codes and that's why my concern, because, for instance, in the 19120 zip code, if I were to look at the median family income in there, it would probably be on the lower scale of the City, but it has the highest number of registered false alarms, which I know those folks in that area are making a substantial payment in terms of trying to keep that up as one of their monthly expenses. So if we could have that by police districts and since now a lot of what this administration is doing is based on police districts in high crimes area, I'd like to look at that date. INSPECTOR FEENEY: I'll take care of that right away.
Well, Councilwoman, it is -- on Councilman Green's handout is the distribution of false alarms by police district for the year 2007. I mean, simply having an alarm system is not 56 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 going to cause you to have false alarms.
Yeah, I'm just trying to gauge as to what are the types of false alarms that we're having. You know, is it people tripping it on alleyways, people who have driveways, you know, those types of things.
No. Generally, it's user problems. Either a person who's using the system is not familiar with the code, they're a visitor or, you know, a family member who is not on the property regularly. In businesses, it's frequently new employees who haven't been trained by the employer. But most of the reasons for false alarms is user error.
Thank you very much for your testimony today. I 57 5/19/08 L&I COMMITTEE - RES. 080263 think this is something that we look forward to working with both Finance and the Police in coming up with a bill 5 that can lower the number of false alarms for police to respond to and also make sure the City's costs are fully recovered in this regard regardless of what we can do on the lowering the number side. So thank you very much for your testimony, and I look forward to working with you to come up with something to try to solve this problem. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. INSPECTOR FEENEY: Thank you. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER GAITTENS: Thank you.
Thank you. Our next panel on the next bill -- if the clerk can read the bill, please.
Bill No. 080165, an 58 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080165 ordinance amending Subcode A (The Philadelphia Administrative Code) of Title 4 of the Philadelphia Code, entitled "The Philadelphia Building Construction and Occupation code," by amending the fee schedule for various construction-related activities, and amending Section 14-1706 of the Philadelphia Code, entitled "Schedule of Fees," by amending the fees for the issuance of real estate certifications, all under certain terms and conditions. (Witness comes forward.)
Thank you. Identify yourself for the record, please, and begin your testimony.
My name is Michael Fink. I'm from the Department of Licenses and Inspection. Good morning, Chairwoman Sanchez. I am Michael Fink, Director of Construction Services for the Department 59 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080165 of Licenses and Inspections. Today I'm here to provide testimony on Bill No. 4 080165, which, if enacted, will amend provisions of the administrative and zoning codes related to the fees the department charges for the issuance of certain construction permits and real estate seller certificates in order to cover its costs to administer and enforce provisions involving these activities. The department proposes to increase the fee for construction permits that are issued for one- and two-family dwellings from the current minimum of $25 to $50 to adequately cover the costs involved with the permit issuance, plan review, and inspections of this activity to ensure compliance with safety codes. This $50 fee is comparable to fees charged by other urban municipalities in the country: In particular, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, 60 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080165 which charge similar fees of $50 and $40 respectively for the administration and enforcement of a regulatory program geared toward the issuance of construction permits involving one and two families. We have conducted a survey of eight other large municipalities in addition to Baltimore and Pittsburgh to compare our fees for this activity with theirs and found that our proposed fee increase is equal to or less than the fees charged by many of these municipalities. The proposed fee increase would generate $236,850 in additional revenue for the City. With regard to the increase in the fees related to the processing of real estate seller certificates from the current $50 to $100, we propose the change in order to align the fees that are charged for this service with the fees charged for the automated process of real estate certificates. 61 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080165 The issuance of real estate certifications is mandated by Pennsylvania Law Act 652 of 1961, which requires the current property owner or seller to obtain a certification statement from the City and provide it to the buyer prior to settlement, which indicates the legal zoning classification of the property as well as if the department has any recorded code violations related to the property. Act 652 does not prohibit municipalities from charging a fee for the issuance of the certificate. The fee increase for the processing of seller certifications that is proposed mirrors the fees charged by the City of Pittsburgh, which is the only other comparable municipality in the Commonwealth that is subject to the same requirements for the issuance of real estate certification statements. We estimate that the proposed increase in fees for this activity will 62 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080165 generate $313,330 in additional revenue for the City. Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on this bill, and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Are there questions from the committee? This is a rhetorical question. Does that mean we're going to process this quicker for people?
Are we going to put the money back in there and process these permits quicker fer people?
We are processing these permits for single families much quicker than we have in the past ten years.
Many of these permits are issued without a plan 63 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 review so they're issued the same day; and in some cases, they take two days because they're issued out of our district offices, so when the inspector comes back from the field, he can actually process the permit and have it ready for the applicant the next day. When it involves a plan review such as an addition or structural changes to the interior of the property, those are done within business days. 13
Bill No. 080301, an ordinance amending Section 9-613 of the Philadelphia Code, entitled "Junk Dealers," by prohibiting junk dealers from transacting business with respect to certain items, making certain technical changes, and providing for penalties, all under certain terms and 64 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 conditions. (Witnesses come forward.)
Thank you. Our panel consists of Commissioner Verdi, Miss Debra McCarty. We'll proceed with the commissioner first. MS. McCARTY: Good morning, Councilperson Quinones-Sanchez and members of the Committee on Licenses and Inspections. I'm Debra McCarty, Deputy Commissioner for Operations for the Philadelphia Water Department. I'm here to testify on Bill No. 080301. The Water Department is pleased to support this bill, which prohibits junk dealers from handling, storing, buying, selling, picking, or otherwise processing any utility cover in the City of Philadelphia. Last year, the theft of over 500 of our utility covers cost the Water Department and its customers approximately $50,000, including funds 65 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 spent for manhole cover locks. Unfortunately, this is an international problem, with thefts of 50,000 stolen each year in Beijing, China; 20,000 in Bogotá, Columbia; and a wide range of thefts in the United States cities of Chicago, Long Beach, and even Greensboro, North Carolina. While the dollar-value of these manhole covers for scrap is less than $15 per cover, the danger to public safety is significant. Missing covers can cause injury to pedestrians and damage to motor vehicles. The Water Department thanks Councilman Greenlee for introducing this bill and supporting its passage. This concludes my testimony. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today and would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
We'll go to the next testimony. COMMISSIONER VERDI: Good 66 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 morning, Chairwoman Sanchez and members of the Committee. I'm Dominic Verdi, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Licenses and Inspections. Today I am here to provide testimony on Bill No. 080301, which, if enacted, will amend 9-613 of the Philadelphia Code to establish a definition for utility covers and prohibit junk dealers from possessing such covers in any manner during their business transactions. The Department of Licenses and Inspections is the local agency that is charged with the responsibility to license persons who are engaged in the business of selling materials classified as junk and to take action when warranted against a licensed entity for violations of 9-613 of the Philadelphia Code. In accordance with our authority, we will take appropriate action as prescribed under the penalties 67 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 provisions of this section, which includes license suspension and the issuance of a cease-operations order against the licensed entity that is found to be in possession of prohibited materials, as mentioned in Bill No. 8 080301, should this bill be enacted into law. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on Bill No. 080301, and I would be happy to answers any questions at this time.
Is there any questions of the Administration before we allow our next witness?
Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner Verdi, I just want to know one thing: Do you periodically inspect these junk dealers now? In 68 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 other words -- COMMISSIONER VERDI: Periodically, in most cases, Councilman, there's fire inspections conducted of these locations. In relationship to issues that -- we have been called in the past either from the Police Department, from the Streets Department or other City agencies where they have found materials belonging to the City that were found at these junk locations.
So, in other words, it's reported to you that -- COMMISSIONER VERDI: There may be a complaint.
And, actually, by them having possession now, if we pass this bill, they would be -- what's the penalty on that? COMMISSIONER VERDI: I'm not quite sure of the penalty, but in this case, there would be a hearing -- just similar to other issues that happen 69 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 with licensed owners or licensed businesses, there would be an administrative hearing. There may be, based upon the consequences, an intent to cease operations, which would bring them before the L&I Review Board, or there may be an immediate cease- operations based on the amount.
Mm-hmm. COMMISSIONER VERDI: I'm sure it's just -- similar to other areas that we enforce, it's based upon the severity of the licensed infraction. If there's one manhole cover found that, for some reason, got through to the system, there may be a warning issued or a CVN issued. If the Streets Department or any other agency goes in or our agency goes in and finds 10,000 pounds of manhole covers, it would probably warrant an immediate cease-operations and a call to the police for the further prosecution.
And a 70 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 cease-and-desist order, probably. COMMISSIONER VERDI: Yes, Councilman.
Sorry. I can't find a copy of this bill in front of me.
Does this just prohibit the sale, or does it also prohibit the possession? COMMISSIONER VERDI: From my understanding, it basically says: "... prohibited conduct. No 19 junk dealer shall handle, store, buy, sell, sort or otherwise process any utility cover."
Any other questions from our committee? 71 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 (No further questions.)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning. I am Michael Axelrod, the President of HAPCO. In 1954, twelve real estate investors came together and founded our organization. We have steadily grown and now represent 2,500 owners and managers of rental properties in Philadelphia. HAPCO wishes to thank the committee for being invited to testify an affirmation of Bill No. 080301, an ordinance that makes it illegal for junk dealers to purchase utility covers. Crimes against all types of property -- residential, rental, and commercial -- continue to plague our city. If left unchecked, the effects will be the blighting of our neighborhoods and overall lowering of property values and an assault on the 72 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 quality of life in our communities. Particularly troubling is the trafficking-in of metals stolen from these properties, and Philadelphia, like all other major cities in our nation, suffers from the buying and selling of these illicit materials. Nationally and locally the crime has reached pandemic proportions. It has even attracted international attention. And I've included for you a copy of an article that appeared in the London Daily Telegraph two months ago. HAPCO applauds Councilman Greenlee's effort to help curb the looting of Philadelphia's real estate, and HAPCO urges Council to pass this bill. Thank you.
Just a comment. 73 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301
Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you for testifying. Just to add one thing to the record that I think is also the concern when we first started looking into this is the safety factor of people literally walking the streets. I mean, there are some blocks -- and I'm going to give credit to the person who first brought this to my attention. He's not shy but he's not testifying today. Jim Schryer, who is sitting over there, is a committee person in the 15th Ward, and he brought that -- what the number of these covers that are missing. Just in his particular area, there's like almost a whole block that was taken away. And that provides a real danger to people walking on the street, particularly at night, when they can't see. 74 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 So in Mr. Axelrod's case, it could be a problem with lawsuits, that kind of things. So it's a problem in a number of ways, and hopefully this will help cut down what is a real problem. And, again, I thank all of the departments and Mr. Axelrod for coming in and testifying, and you too, Mr. Schryer.
Thank you. Commissioner, if you want to stay there, I believe you're testifying on the next bill. Thanks to our witnesses. Thank you.
Thank you. And I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was sitting in my office listening to the testimony, and I was wondering why 75 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 we use the metal in the first place. Wouldn't there be -- and what made me think about it was the work we did on the rubber sidewalks. The material is thick enough and strong enough to be safe and less noisy and less valuable not only on the manhole covers but on the storm-water inlets. It seems to be -- I don't know if they're stolen or they're broken up 'cause trucks drive over them and that kind of stuff. Is there anything that's ever been examined to see if we could find another material to replace this? MS. McCARTY: We've begun, particularly given this recent -- in the past year, there have bee so many thefts, and, as the Councilman pointed out, you know, it's blocks at a time that are disappearing. We have not found anything out there yet that replaces the metal. You do worry about durability and strength 76 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 and --
Would you be willing to talk to the manufacturer of the sidewalk people -- MS. McCARTY: Sure.
-- to see if you could -- even if they could come up with a prototype for us, we could take all of our metal ones up and replace 'em and not have to worry about it; they're not going to steal the rubber. It just seems to be -- the material that I've held and had presented to us seems strong enough to be able to do that, and that's all recycled tires anyway. So I was wondering if we could make that -- MS. McCARTY: Right. If the strength is there and the durability, yes.
So what would -- MS. McCARTY: And you want it 77 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080301 to not blow away -- (Indiscernible; parties talking over each other.) COMMISSIONER McCARTY: Yes. If I could get the information, that would be great.
Thank you, Councilman Kenney. Thank you. Will the clerk please read the title of the bill, Bill No. 080085.
An ordinance 16 amending Title 9 of the Philadelphia Code, entitled "Regulation of Regulation of Business, Trades and Professions," by adding a new section, 9-630, entitled "Sale of Used Cars," providing for protection against sale of cars in need of substantial repairs, commonly known as "a lemon law," all under certain terms and conditions. (Witness comes forward.) 78 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080085
Thank you. I have scheduled Mr. Haver first and then our commissioner and then a Victoria Piersol, who's a consumer. She's not here? And Kevin Mezzacola. Let's start with Mr. Haver.
Good morning, Madam Chair and members of Council. Thank you very much for this opportunity to testify. My name is Lance Haver, and I'm the Director of Consumer Affairs for the City of Philadelphia. I'm here to testify in support of Bill 080085, the used-car lemon law. I understand that there may be some people who do not understand the need for this bill. All too often, many people believe that the Pennsylvania lemon law covers used cars; it does not. The Pennsylvania law only covers new cars. In some strange way, the current law only provides protection for 79 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080085 consumers who are in the fortunate position to be able to buy a new car. Consumers who have fewer resources, under the current law, have less protection. This bill limits the disparity between protection offered those who can afford a new car and those who can only afford cars previously owned. The number-two complaint our office receives after contractors is used cars. The number of people we have to tell that the lemon law does not pertain to a used car is overwhelming. The second reason why some people may not see the need for this bill is the State law that requires dealerships to clearly post if a car comes with a warranty or is sold as is. What I believe those who question the need for this bill fail to understand is that even a car sold as is is still supposed to be a car; that is to say, there is an implied warranty 80 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080085 that comes when a dealership calls what they're selling "a car" and not a collection of used parts. To call something "a car," it must at least function as a car when it is sold. It must be roadworthy and able to pass inspection. If it cannot be safely driven, it is not a car but a collection of parts and should be sold not as is but as parts. No store would be allowed to sell a toaster that doesn't toast, a coffee-maker that doesn't make coffee, or a washing machine that doesn't wash. Why should a used car dealer be allowed to sell a car that cannot be driven. By requiring a consumer to have a licensed mechanic evaluate the car within 72 hours, the bill protects dealerships from consumers who simply are suffering from buyer's remorse or, for whatever reason, are attempting to return a car that has met the requirements to be sold as a car. 81 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080085 I believe our office will be able to handle all of the complaints and make sure that the consumer has gone to the right mechanic who is licensed to do inspections and that we can evaluate that, and then, if the complaint is legitimate, forward it to Licenses and Inspections for the appropriate actions. I recognize that, like all new laws, there may be some problems in implementing this. I believe that we will have to look at it and make sure that we continue to improve our services to the consumers and the citizens of Philadelphia, and after a year, look and see how the bill is being implemented and see if we can improve that implementation. Bill 080058, if passed and signed into law, gives consumers who do not have the resources to buy more expensive cars some protection that until now had only been available to wealthier consumers. In essence, the 82 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080085 bill says to a used car dealership one thing: If you say it is a car you're selling, it must be able to operate as a car; and if it does not, then the dealership must either refund the money or fix the car. Thank you very much, and I'll be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you. About how many calls do you estimate your office gets?
We think we get ten calls a week; I looked it up. There is a large number where we currently cannot help people because people buy cars and it says "as is." In my previous life, when I did not feel the limits of the law, we would have picketed these dealerships, but now I feel a responsibility to inform people that, unfortunately, there is no law that protects people when a car is sold as is and they're just without luck. 83 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080085 There is a State law that requires the Attorney General to make sure that cars that are sold are roadworthy, but until this bill was introduced, the City had no ability to take any action against dealerships that were continually selling cars that were sold as is but were not roadworthy.
This seems like -- I guess my question is why we wouldn't mirror the State law so that we would just have the ability to -- so there would be one regulatory standard in Pennsylvania and we'd have the ability to do essentially the local enforcement of that law. Or why aren't we enforcing the State law if we have the powers to do it today?
Well, in my opinion, we don't have the powers to do it today, which is what this law is, 84 5/19/08 - L&I COMMITTEE - BILL 080085 and we have worked as carefully as we can with the automobile dealerships to try and adopt the same language, as you will see in the amendments. So we are taking the language from the State law and putting it into City ordinance and giving Licenses and Inspections the ability to remove a business-privilege license. I'm sorry, Councilman, if I failed to get you the amendments. It's my fault, I'm sorry. But do you see the six categories? And that language is, again, adopted from the State law.