House Reps. pursuing additional protections for PA renters

House representatives in the commonwealth are taking action to address what could be an impending wave of evictions connected to the COVID-19 pandemic following the expiration of federal protections last month.

On Tuesday, the House Democratic Policy Committee held a hearing on tenant eviction mitigation legislation “aimed at helping renters stay in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Local Rep. Maureen Madden (D-115) and Committee Chairman Mike Sturla (D-96) hosted the event, while Madden and Rep. Michael Schlossberg (D-132) co-sponsored the legislative package.

The proposed bill package, the Tenant Eviction Mitigation Program, would include requirements for landlords to create a payment plan option for tenants who may have lost income due to a statewide emergency like the pandemic, prohibit those landlords from charging late fees on rent payments who lost income during such statewide emergencies, and create a landlord-tenant mediation and counseling program to resolve issues prior to an eviction.

According to a release from Madden, the representative requested the hearing over concerns for those facing hardships and a fear of losing their homes in the midst of the pandemic.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry reported a 13% unemployment rate as of June 2020, an increase of 8.7 percentage points over last year’s figures. Over the course of the year, the department noted that “total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were down 620,300,” with the largest change reported in the leisure and hospitality industry, which lost 215,500.

Being that the Poconos employs over 35,000 workers in hospitality and leisure, it is easy to see how unemployment due to COVID-19 could devastate the area, especially following the end of federal eviction moratorium protections that expired at the end of July.

“We are on the brink of a housing crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic and we need to do everything we can to keep people in their homes,” Madden said. “Our constituents are undergoing record levels of unemployment and hourly work reductions, and they now have to face the grueling reality of paying rent. While we work to protect our essential workers and our most at-risk people, it is our responsibility to ensure they are safe in their homes.”

During Tuesday’s proceedings, Gale Schwartz, associate director for policy and strategic initiatives for the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, stated that the pandemic could usher in an “eviction tsunami” that may very well extend beyond the end of COVID-19.

“Half of low-income renters work in the industries hardest hit by unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Schwartz said in a statement. “The number of COVID-19 cases is rising in the US rather than declining, leading to great uncertainty of when the economy will begin to recover. Once the economy begins to recover, early reports show that jobs will not return at the same rate they were lost. The economic impact of the pandemic looks to be long-lasting, putting more households at risk of eviction and homelessness.”

Schwartz and the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania urged the General Assembly to make more rental assistance programs like Madden’s available “to stem the tide of increased evictions as a result of COVID-19.”

Regional Housing Legal Services staff attorney Bob Damewood expressed support for the proposed legislation, though he also cautioned the committee to consider some potential problems with administering the payment plan and eviction mediation bills.

“All the programs in the world, including a payment plan requirement, will fail if tenants cannot pay their rent,” Damewood said. “While this bill could help many tenants, but we urge you to pair it with increased and flexible funding for rental assistance.”

Damewood also noted that the success of the mediation bill would be dependent upon a well-designed program to administer the assistance, with consultation from landlords, tenants, mediators and more, and ample funding for tenants’ legal representation.

Not all participants were absolutely in favor of the bills, however. Wilkes Barre landlord Thom Greco submitted testimony that asserted the rights of landlords were being overridden by those of tenants, and requested that the committee take their livelihoods into consideration as well.

“What I suggest is a carve out that if their financial position has been the same or better - they can be evicted - how do you define their financial position - if they continue to receive their social security checks and food stamps without reduction and they stopped paying rent - then we can evict them,” Greco wrote in a statement dated August 7, 2020, adding that it would be acceptable to allow such matters to be challenged at local magistrates.

Madden and Schlossberg’s proposed protections for renters are materializing just as federal safety nets have expired, and state offerings are set to do the same at the end of the month.

While President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Saturday that he claimed would extend the moratorium, the initiative actually functions as a request to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to consider whether a new ban is necessary.

The measure does not allocate any funding either, rather, it gives Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson the task of identifying funding to help provide temporary assistance to renters and homeowners.

With the federal government dragging its feet on new protections for renters and homeowners, politicians in Pennsylvania have been aiming to address the matter from a state level.

In early July, Governor Tom Wolf signed an executive order to protect renters and homeowners from eviction and foreclosure until the end of August, provided they were not already receiving assistance from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency or a federal foreclosure moratorium program.

“I am taking this action to help families know they will have a roof over their heads and a place to live while all of us fight the COVID-19 pandemic,” Wolf said in a statement. “It takes one more burden off of people who are struggling and ensures that families can remain in their homes so they can protect their health and wellbeing.”

Wolf signed off on legislation in May that secured $150 million for rental assistance and $25 million for mortgage assistance through the PHFA with Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds. The program provided up to $750 per month for up to six months for beneficiaries, and while it did help prevent plenty of families from losing their homes, not everyone was covered.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Vik Patel, an attorney in the Housing Unit at Community Legal Services, noted that “we’ve heard of landlords who will not participate in the program and landlord attorneys who are advising their clients not to participate” in Wolf’s moratorium program.

Beyond that, Patel pointed out that in 43 out of 67 commonwealth counties, the Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment exceeds the $750 offered in assistance. In Monroe County, the National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that a two-bedroom rental would set a family back $1,050 each month.

In a Wednesday interview, Madden said that her proposed legislation will hopefully assist those that have not been helped by these other means, and that measures similar to her proposed mediation program have seen notable success in other parts of the country.

“They shaped some legislation around a study in Palo Alto that said that these mediation programs where these landlords and tenants have come to an agreement for a repayment plan; the repayment plan has been adhered to 97% of the time,” Madden said.

In addition to the landlord-tenant mediation program, Madden noted that the opportunity for a renter to sit down with a counselor and review their income and expenditures could provide a path to a brighter financial future. Nixing penalties and late fees for payments could also go a long way toward protecting tenants from falling behind in their finances.

Though it remains to be seen if what will happen to Madden and Schlossberg’s proposed bill package if and when it comes up for a vote, politicians and advocates for renter protection are already commending the pair for promoting the protective measures.

“I thank Representative Madden for requesting this important hearing about her legislative package,” Sturla said. “I agree we must do everything we can to lessen the rent burden and prevent evictions during this pandemic.”