In Pa., a freeze on evictions amid coronavirus. What that means for tenants and landlords.

The letter stating that her eviction hearing was postponed came as a true help to Helen Brown.

Brown, who works in housekeeping at a hotel, said she’s seen her schedule cut from about 30 to 25 hours per week. She owes her rent for March, which is $800. Now, with the court proceeding pushed back, she has more time to save up.

“I was happy I got it,” said Brown, 63, of York. “Because I didn’t have the money at the time.”

Meanwhile, Cathy Krout, a landlord in York with two rentals, had already won an eviction against a tenant who hadn’t paid in five months — a situation that predated the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus. Then, she learned that she couldn’t go forward with the lockout.

Krout lives on a fixed income and relies on the rent to help pay her bills. She said she’s a nice person and understands that life happens. But she gets upset when people take advantage of her kindness.

“People just think, ‘All landlords are rich,’” Krout said. “No, we’re not.”

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has put a freeze on evictions for non-payment through at least April 30 in response to the new coronavirus, which causes a disease known as COVID-19.

To some renters, the development represents a sort of reprieve, ensuring that those who've lost hours or been laid off won’t be thrown out during a global pandemic. Yet smaller landlords including Krout worry that the move could put them in a precarious financial situation.

READ:Coronavirus updates: Pa. up to 5,805 cases as stay-at-home order goes statewide

[ The York Daily Record's coverage of coronavirus is being provided for free to our readers. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing at ydr.com/subscribe. ]

York Mayor Michael Helfrich said police will enforce the court's temporary ban on evictions. People who've been living places including rooming and boarding houses, recovery homes and hotels for at least two weeks, he said, will also be protected.

"Now, we do want everybody that can, to pay their rent. Because you're going to have to pay it sometime down the road here,” Helfrich said at a news conference on Wednesday outside York City Hall. "If landlords don't have the money to keep up with their properties, they could lose the properties, and then you still may lose your house — you still will have housing insecurity.”

RELATED:Pa.'s coronavirus stay-at-home order extended to entire state

Brown said she began seeing her hours reduced several weeks ago. She said she must come up with additional money for late fees and court costs.

If her eviction hearing hadn’t been delayed, Brown said she would’ve had to forgo paying other bills to cover rent.

“I have to pay it,” she said, “because that’s where I live.”

Krout — she's not Brown's landlord — said she’s an understanding person. One of her tenants, she said, was laid off due to the coronavirus and promised to pay after receiving unemployment compensation.

Meanwhile, Krout won a more than $3,300 judgment against her other tenant who hadn’t paid rent in five months.

Though Krout has someone who’s interested in the home, she can’t proceed with a lockout or show the property. She said she’d prefer the house to remain empty than having a person living in it for free and running up bills.

She’s raising three boys — 14, 15 and 16 — and is struggling herself. “If somebody doesn’t pay me rent, I can’t pay my bills,” she said. “We’re both going to lose.”

“To some people, this is like a free ride,” Krout said. “This is how they’re looking at it.”

ALSO OF INTEREST:A neighborhood gathers each morning on a lake to say the pledge, sing patriotic songs

Besides the pause on evictions, the coronavirus is affecting some landlords in York County in a different way: filling vacancies.

Steve Konarzewski, a landlord with fours rentals, said he’s currently managing two vacancies and has seen interest in them drastically drop off.

In the past, Konarzewski said, he’d typically have 20-30 people who were interested. He said he’s only received three inquiries between the two rentals.

“Right now, we went from one of strongest economies ever to, basically, from the way things are looking, things possibly not seen in this era since probably the Great Depression,” Konarzewski said. “It’s a scary time for investors, lenders, tenants, landlords — everyone across the board.”

Konarzewski doesn’t believe in kicking people out because they lost their job at no fault of their own — he said his first option would be to come up with a plan with the tenant. But if the government helps renters, he said, he believes it should assist landlords, too. He said he still has to pay expenses including the mortgage, property taxes, electricity and water.

“If everyone works together and is as honest as possible,” he said, “we can make it through this together.”

Contact Dylan Segelbaum at 717-771-2102.