(a) Nonpayment of charges.--Except when required to prevent or alleviate an emergency as defined by the commission or except in the case of danger to life or property, before any termination of service to a landlord ratepayer for nonaccess as defined by the commission in its rules and regulations or nonpayment of charges, a public utility shall:

(1) Notify the landlord ratepayer of the proposed termination in writing as prescribed in section 1525 (relating to delivery and contents of termination notice to landlord) at least 37 days before the date of termination of service.

(2) Notify the following agencies which serve the community in which the affected premises are located in writing not less than ten days before the proposed termination of service:

(i) The Department of Licenses and Inspections of any city of the first class.

(ii) The Department of Public Safety of any city of the second class, second class A or third class.

(iii) The city or county Public Health Department or, in the event that such a department does not exist, the Department of Health office responsible for that county.

(3) Notify each dwelling unit reasonably likely to be occupied by an affected tenant of the proposed termination in writing as prescribed in section 1526 (relating to delivery and contents of first termination notice to tenants) at least seven days after notice to the landlord ratepayer pursuant to this section and at least 30 days before the termination of service. If within seven days of delivery or mailing of the notice to the landlord issued pursuant to this section the landlord ratepayer files a complaint with the commission disputing the right of the utility to terminate service, the notice shall not be rendered until the complaint has been adjudicated by the commission, but the landlord ratepayer shall continue to pay the undisputed portion of current bills when due pending the final decision of the complaint.

(b) Voluntary relinquishment of service.--Before any discontinuance of service by a public utility to a landlord ratepayer due to a request for voluntary relinquishment of service by the landlord ratepayer:

(1) the landlord ratepayer shall state in a form bearing his notarized signature that all of the affected dwelling units are either unoccupied or the tenants affected by the proposed discontinuance have consented in writing to the proposed discontinuance, which form shall conspicuously bear a notice that the information provided by the landlord ratepayer will be relied upon by the commission in administering a system of uniform service standards for public utilities, and that false statements are punishable criminally;

(2) all of the tenants affected by the proposed discontinuance shall inform the utility orally or in writing of their consent to the discontinuance; or

(3) the landlord ratepayer shall provide the utility with the names and addresses of the affected tenants pursuant to section 1524 (relating to request to landlord to identify tenants) and the utility shall notify the community service agencies and each dwelling unit pursuant to this section and section 1526.

(c) Rights of tenants.--Under the voluntary relinquishment discontinuance procedures of subsection (b)(3) the tenants shall have all of the rights provided in section 1527 (relating to right of tenants to continued service) through section 1531 (relating to retaliation by landlord prohibited).

(July 2, 1993, P.L.379, No.54, eff. 60 days)

1993 Amendment. Act 54 amended the section heading and subsec. (a).

Cross References. Section 1523 is referred to in sections 1521, 1524, 1525, 1526, 1527 of this title.