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CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
A BILL TO
REPEAL AND REPLACE THE PROPERTY STANDARDS ACT, AND TO CONSOLIDATE TENANT RIGHTS AND PLOT MARKET LEGISLATION INTO A SINGLE UNIFIED ACT
The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:
PART I - PRELIMINARIES
1. Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Property Standards Act.'
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored by Speaker of the House xXTheoryXx.
(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Senator TrueDarkLander.
(5) This Act rescinds the following acts:
(a) Property Standards Act
(b) Tenant Rights Act
(c) Tenant Vibes Act
(d) Plot Regulations Act
2. Reasons and Intent
(1) Tenant rights legislation is currently spread across two separate Acts - the Tenant Rights Act and the Tenant Vibes Act - creating confusion and inconsistency in enforcement.
(2) The Plot Regulations Act amends the Property Standards Act directly; consolidating it avoids having related property law split across multiple documents.
(3) A single, unified Property Standards Act is easier for citizens, landlords, and the courts to reference.
(4) This Act carries forward all substantive provisions of the rescinded Acts without alteration, resolving overlaps and removing redundancy.
3. Definitions
(1) For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) Landlord. Any player or government body that owns a plot or region and rents it to another player.
(b) Tenant. Any player renting a region from a landlord.
(c) Rented Region. Any plot, apartment, store, chestshop space, or other designated region made available for rent.
(d) Inactive Tenant. A tenant who has not logged onto the server for 5 or more consecutive days.
(e) Written Notice. A message delivered via in-game /mail, /msg, or forum private message that is timestamped and retainable as evidence.
(f) Government. The DCGovernment and any department acting on its behalf.
(g) Building Inspector. A staff member or authorised DCT officer conducting an official property compliance inspection.
4. Jurisdiction
(1) The Department of Construction and Transportation shall retain jurisdiction to establish regulations outside of this law and to evict properties in accordance with these laws and regulations. These regulations will be listed under Department policy and displayed on the relevant rules and laws page node.
(2) The Department of Interior shall retain jurisdiction to establish regulations outside of this law and to evict wild regions in accordance with these laws and regulations. These regulations will be listed under Department policy and displayed on the relevant rules and laws page node.
(3) Property zoning will be defined by staff according to this law.
PART II - ZONING
5. Residential Zoning
(1) Plots beginning with 'R' are residential plots (e.g. 'r001').
(2) Residential plots may only have houses built on them.
(3) Players cannot have houses with more than three visible floors.
(a) Basements and rooftops are not entirely visible and are therefore exempt from this rule.
6. Commercial Zoning
(1) Plots beginning with 'C' are commercial plots (e.g. 'c001').
(2) Commercial plots may only have businesses, offices, shops, apartment buildings, and other commercial buildings built on them.
(3) Commercial plots are height limited to 60 blocks, unless otherwise approved by the Department of Construction and Transportation.
7. Industrial Zoning
(1) Plots beginning with 'I' are industrial plots (e.g. 'I001').
(2) Industrial plots may only have factories, warehouses, and production facilities built on them.
(3) Industrial plots are height limited to 60 blocks, unless otherwise regulated by subordinate laws.
8. Skyscraper Zoning
(1) Plots beginning with 'S' are skyscraper plots (e.g. 's001').
(2) Skyscraper plots inherit the zoning laws concerning commercial plots, except the height limitation.
(3) Skyscraper plots are height limited to 200 blocks and must be taller than 60 blocks.
9. Black Market Zoning
(1) Plots beginning with 'bm' are black market plots (e.g. 'bm001').
(2) Black market plots are exempt from certain laws as directed by staff.
(a) Such laws include the possession, sale, and advertising of illicit items.
10. Government Commercial Spaces
(1) Government Commercial Spaces includes several types of government-owned rentable areas.
(2) Business Districts. Plots beginning with 'cbd', 'nbd', or 'wbd' are Business Districts.
(i) Plots beginning with 'cbd' are Central Business District plots.
(ii) Plots beginning with 'nbd' are North Business District plots.
(iii) Plots beginning with 'wbd' are Willow Business District plots. The Department of the Interior has jurisdiction to create themes and regulate the usage of Willow Business District plots in order to promote specific trades and professions.
(3) Market Stalls. Plots beginning with 'revstall' are Market Stalls.
(4) Newsstands. Plots beginning with 'revnews' are Newsstands.
(5) Food Trucks. Plots beginning with 'FT' are Food Trucks.
(6) Only the Department of Construction and Transportation shall create rentable regions that fall under these naming conventions.
11. Apartments
(1) There are no naming conventions for apartment region names.
(2) Apartments must not contain Nether portals and/or chest shops.
(3) Water drops from water source blocks must not drip into other rent regions.
(4) Lava drops from lava source blocks must not drip into other rent regions.
12. Farmland Zoning
(1) Plots beginning with 'F' or 'Wl-F' are farmland plots (e.g. 'Wl-F001').
(2) Farmland plots may not be used for commercial purposes, nor industrial purposes other than agriculture, except:
(i) when a substantial portion of a plot is used for agricultural purposes, such plot may contain processing facilities, factories, or warehouse facilities unrelated to agriculture; or
(ii) when such use existed prior to the enactment of the Farmland and Ranch Zoning Clarification Act.
(3) Farmland plots are height limited to 40 blocks, unless otherwise approved by the Department of Construction and Transportation.
13. Ranch Zoning
(1) Plots beginning with 'fr' are ranch plots (e.g. 'fr001').
(2) Ranch plots shall consist of two sections:
(a) A single rectangular Residential Area defined as a subregion of the ranch plot (e.g. fr001-Residential); and
(b) A single Agricultural Area located outside the Residential Area.
(3) Ranch Residential Area Regulations.
(a) The residential structure must be entirely contained within the Residential Area.
(i) EXCEPTION: Basements and rooftops are not entirely visible and are therefore exempt from this rule.
(b) The Residential Area is height limited to 15 blocks above grade and must remain within a 20-block-by-20-block square floor space, unless otherwise approved by the Department of Construction and Transportation.
(4) Agricultural Area Regulations.
(a) The Agricultural Area is defined as the portion of the ranch plot outside of the ranch's corresponding Residential Area.
(b) The Agricultural Area may only be used for agricultural purposes.
(c) The maximum structure or crop height in the Agricultural Area is 10 blocks above grade, unless otherwise approved by the Department of Construction and Transportation.
(5) The separate Ranch Residential and Agricultural Areas are subject to the relevant regulations of their respective zoning type unless otherwise specified, but do not contribute towards plot limitations for that zoning type.
14. Urban Agriculture
(1) Agriculture is not permitted on Residential, Government Commercial Spaces, or Black Market plots.
(2) Agriculture is permitted on Industrial, Commercial, and Skyscraper plots if it is conducted underground or hidden.
(3) Agriculture is permitted on Farmland plots and Ranch plots.
PART III - PLOT RULES
15. Sale of Plots
(1) Plots may be sold back to their Landlord for 90% of the plot's in-game price, resold to another player, or auctioned.
(2) When a plot has been reported for eviction, the report will remain extant until resolved or the plot is evicted. Transferring ownership of the plot will not affect the date of eviction, unless otherwise provided by the relevant Department.
(3) If plot ownership is transferred while there is an active eviction report or a violation of this Act present on the plot, the original owner has a duty to disclose the report and/or violation to the buyer or recipient.
16. Completed Buildings
(1) A finished plot is defined as a plot with a completed building which is compliant with the building regulations and has a function or a finished interior.
17. Plot Limitations
(1) C Plots. A citizen may not own more than 20 commercial properties.
(2) R Plots. A citizen may not own more than 2 residential properties.
(3) I Plots. A citizen may not own more than 2 industrial properties.
(4) S Plots. A citizen may not own more than 6 skyscraper properties.
(5) BM Plots. A citizen may not own nor rent more than 1 black market property.
(6) Ranch Plots. A citizen may not own more than 1 ranch property.
(7) Farmland Plots. A citizen may not own nor rent more than 1 farmland property.
(8) Government Subsidized Commercial Spaces. A citizen may not own more than 2 of each type of Government Subsidized Commercial Space.
(9) Realtors. Any citizen with a Realtor job may exceed these limitations by 5 plots each:
(a) excluding BM plots, FR plots, and Government Subsidized Commercial Spaces and
(b) provided the plots exceeding these limitations are for the purpose of reselling the plot within 30 days of purchasing the plot.
(10) Plots located within towns are not subject to the above plot limits. Each town shall retain jurisdiction to create their own plot limits for plots located within their town.
18. Merged Plots
(1) For the purposes of ownership limitations under §17, merged plots will not be recognised as one plot; rather, they will be counted as the number of sub-plots which form the whole merged plot.
(2) For all other regulatory purposes, including but not limited to zoning compliance, height limitations, building regulations, and eviction proceedings, merged plots shall be considered as one unified property.
(3) The zoning classification of a merged plot shall be designated by the DCT.
(4) For a merged plot to be considered as one unified property under this section, any building or structure must have a physical presence on each constituent sub-plot within the merged area.
19. Plot Releases
(1) The releasing authority must release plots in a fair and equitable fashion that is controlled and factors in time zones.
20. Exemptions and Extensions
(1) The Secretary of Construction and Transportation has the power to issue and revoke exemptions and extensions for building regulation and legal compliance when satisfied that one or more of the following criteria is met:
(a) there is a compassionate and compelling reason requiring an exemption or extension;
(b) the exemption or extension does not undermine the intent of the eviction process;
(c) there is significant progress being made to rectify the breach; or
(d) it is in the interests of large-scale development.
PART IV - TENANT RIGHTS
21. Private Tenant Rights
(1) When a player is renting from a private landlord, they are entitled to the following rights.
(2) Tenant Exclusivity. Once a region is rented, the landlord may not enter, modify, or interfere with that region except as permitted under subsection (4).
(3) Eviction Notice. A landlord must provide a tenant with at least 24 hours written notice before evicting them from a rented region.
(a) This requirement does not apply where:
(i) a building inspector has filed a compliance report against the region; or
(ii) the tenant has been permanently banned or deported.
(4) Rent Refund on Eviction. If a tenant is evicted, they must receive a full refund of any prepaid rent.
(a) This does not apply where the tenant has been permanently banned or deported.
(5) Landlord Entry Notice. A landlord must provide the tenant with at least 12 hours written notice before entering a tenant's rented region.
(a) This requirement does not apply where:
(i) the region contains chestshops;
(ii) the tenant is inactive;
(iii) the tenant has been permanently banned or deported; or
(iv) the tenant has provided the landlord with written permission to enter.
(6) Security Cameras. A landlord may not place security cameras anywhere inside a tenant's rented region without the tenant's written consent.
(7) Business Eviction Compensation. Where a rented region was the primary place of operations of a registered business, group, party, or organisation, the landlord may be required by a court to compensate the tenant for reasonable costs associated with relocating those operations.
22. Government Tenant Rights
(1) When a player is renting from the Government, they are entitled to the following rights.
(2) Eviction Notice. The Government must provide a tenant with at least 48 hours written notice before evicting them from a rented region.
(a) This requirement does not apply where a building inspector has filed a compliance report against the region.
(3) Rent Refund on Eviction. If a tenant is evicted by the Government, they must receive a full refund of any prepaid rent.
PART V - PLOT MARKET REGULATIONS
23. Auction Levy
(1) A levy shall apply to all eviction auctions held by the Department of Construction and Transportation, calculated based on the number of plots the winning bidder holds at the time of bid submission.
(a) Town plots, wild plots, and residential plots are exempt from both the levy itself and the plot count used to calculate it.
(2) The following levy schedule applies:
| Plots owned by winning bidder (exclusive of the plot won) | Levy (% of bid) |
| 0 | 0% |
| 1 - 4 | 5% |
| 5 - 9 | 10% |
| 10 - 14 | 25% |
| 15 - 20 | 50% |
| 20+ | 75% |
(3) A bidder subject to the levy must calculate and include the levy amount separately in their bid message. Bids missing or miscalculating the required levy are invalid.
(4) If such a bidder wins the auction, the Department of Construction and Transportation will charge the levy in addition to the bid amount. The property will only be transferred once the levy is paid.
(a) If the bidder cannot pay, the auction is void, a new auction will be held, and the bidder will be charged with Auction Levy Neglect under the Commercial Standards Act.
24. New Player CBD Plots
(1) Review. The Department of Construction and Transportation shall periodically review non-new-player CBD plots for suitability for conversion to New Player CBD plots.
(a) A plot is viable for conversion if it meets all of the following criteria:
(i) the plot is 100 or more blocks in area;
(ii) the current tenant has less than 6 hours of playtime in the last 30 days; and
(iii) the rental period is within 1 month of the review date.
(b) The DCT shall evaluate and rank viable plots by location and size, and report findings to the sitting Congress and President within 7 calendar days of commencing the review.
(2) Acquisition. Following the DCT's report:
(a) Congress must approve or reject pursuit of identified plots by resolution.
(b) Where approved, the DCT shall pursue acquisition under the Reveille Eminent Domain Act, citing Urban Renewal as justification.
(c) The DCT's fair offer shall be based on recent comparable auction listings for CBD plots of similar size and the plot's base rental cost.
(d) The DCT shall pursue acquisition of up to 3 viable plots per review cycle.
(e) Acquisition costs shall be drawn from the DCGovernment balance.
(3) Conversion. After acquisition:
(a) Plots of 150 blocks or under shall be directly converted to a New Player CBD plot without splitting.
(b) Plots over 150 blocks shall be split into 2 equal New Player CBD plots, with a dividing wall and pavement access for each part.
(4) Release. After conversion, the DCT shall:
(a) Post an announcement in the DemocracyCraft Discord #government-announcements channel confirming the availability and locations of the New Player CBD plots.
(b) Conduct a plot lottery via #realestate, at the conclusion of which:
(i) Winners are assigned a New Player CBD plot on a first-come-first-served basis.
(ii) Unclaimed plots shall be released for standard public rental.
PART VI - MISCELLANEOUS
25. Transition
(1) Citizens who own more commercial plots than permitted under §17(1) at the time of this Act's signage shall be granted a transitional exception to that limit.
(2) Such citizens may not acquire any new commercial plots until their holdings fall below the limit, at which point the standard limit applies.
26. Severability
(1) If any provision of this Act is found to be unenforceable or unconstitutional, only the offending provision shall be struck. All remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
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