New Housing Funds Available To Acquire, Preserve Affordable Rental Developments
The Philadelphia Division of Housing and Community Development has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to finance the purchase of rental units for affordable housing.
This housing is aimed at tenants with incomes below 60-percent of the median income.
There will be a Zoom briefing on the RFP Wednesday August 30th at 1pm.
Any questions about the RFP process can be submitted to Mirta Duprey at mirta.duprey@phila.gov by September 6th.
RFP applications must be submitted by midnight September 21st.
PHA Increases Signing Bonus for "Emergency Housing Voucher" HCV Participants
The Philadelphia Housing Authority is increasing the signing bonus for rental property owners who are approved to house tenants referred by the City of Philadelphia Homeless Services.
PHA says rental owners approved for a PHA HAP contract will receive a $750 signing incentive along with enhanced security deposit assistance.
There's More New Housing Construction In Philly Than In The Suburbs
With three new apartment buildings being crammed into downtown Narberth, you’d think the suburbs are still the hot housing construction markets.
But the Philadelphia Inquirer finds that’s not necessarily the case.
BREAKING NEWS: Landlord-Tenant Office Resumes Evictions August 21st w/New Safety Guidelines & Substantially Higher Fees!
While HAPCO Philadelphia commends the Landlord-Tenant Office for resuming evictions, HP says the fee hike for evictions from $140 to $350 further injures rental owners. HAPCO Philadelphia’s members should not be footing the increased cost for the LTO’s new expenses.
The LTO says lockouts will now be performed by a team of two officers, one of which will undergo new safety training. The LTO will also swear-in new Pennsylvania constables from outside Philadelphia.
There is also a Landlord Safety Affidavit which now has to be completed. You can get a copy below.
Below is the official statement from the Landlord-Tenant Office:
8/18/23
“After training addressing use of force and de-escalation tactics, the Landlord and Tenant Office of Philadelphia Municipal Court will resume evictions in the city on or after August 21, 2023.
New protocols and procedures in the performance of future evictions have been designed after input from numerous stakeholders. They are intended to eliminate violence in the eviction process and to increase the safety of tenants, city residents and deputy LTO officers during execution of court orders.
Over the past half century, the LTO has performed hundreds of thousands of evictions in Philadelphia in a safe and professional manner. It has done so without cost to taxpayers, relying solely on service fees paid by landlords.
By updating its protocols and procedures, the LTO is seeking to build on its record of outstanding service to Philadelphia Municipal Court while simultaneously ensuring that evictions are conducted in a safe, effective, and respectful manner. The new protocols and procedures are as follows:
1. Evictions will be conducted in teams of two Landlord Tenant Officers, at least one of which will have received all training required for certified Pennsylvania Constables.
2. New Deputy Landlord Tenant Officers with experience serving as Pennsylvania Constables will be sworn to service in Philadelphia by the President Judge of Philadelphia Municipal Court in accordance with applicable Pennsylvania law.
3. In the future, schedules showing dates and times of evictions for the following week will be shared via email with any tenant action group or other interested stakeholder wishing to receive it and with all tenants who make inquiry of the office. At the request of tenant advocates, the date and times of evictions will also be placed on the Court’s docket. Tenants may learn the date and time of their particular eviction, therefore, either from their counsel, by checking the court docket, or by calling the LTO, whose contact information is provided to tenants together with service of the writ of possession giving the tenant notice that an eviction is imminent.
4. Landlords will be required to submit information to the LTO office in the form of an affidavit before future evictions will be scheduled. The information will require disclosure of known issues that otherwise might not come to light until an LTO eviction is in process. All such issues will need to be addressed in a reasonable manner prior to eviction scheduling. Pending applications for alias writs must be updated to include the affidavit before being scheduled.
5. All deputies will be reminded to cease and desist from evicting, as the personal safety of officers permits, if unexpected issues arise. Postponed evictions will only be rescheduled after the issues presented are resolved.
6. Total LTO fees for an eviction will increase from $145 to $350 to cover added expenses related to hiring additional staff, training, and insurance costs, etc.”
Mike Neilon
Bellevue Communications Group
610-613-2664
HAPCO Philadelphia Expected To Testify Against Ban Of LTO Program
Lawmakers in Harrisburg opposed to Philadelphia's Landlord-Tenant Officer system are holding an August 29th hearing aimed at shutting down the program.
HAPCO Philadelphia and rental coalition partners are planning to testify before the PA House Housing & Community Development Committee.
HP contends that doing away with a cost effective program that has worked successfully for nearly 60 years based on a handful of incidents makes little sense.
HAPCO Philadelphia supports enhanced training of Landlord-Tenant Office deputies, rather than abolishing the program outright.
Below is the spin being put on the issue by Democrats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
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From the Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus
HARRISBURG, July 20 - After the third eviction-related shooting since March in Philadelphia, members of the Philadelphia House Delegation today said the organization is determined to help end the practice of private contractors performing eviction services in the city to avoid more violent incidents.
"The imminent threat of being displaced from home can put anybody into a rage and despair mode. If you add to this scenario people without the proper training, carrying guns to handle evictions, the outcome can be fatal," said Delegation Chair Morgan Cephas, who is organizing upcoming hearings in August about the evictions with state Rep. Mike Sturla, chair of the PA House Housing & Community Development Committee.
"Philadelphia's landlord-tenant officer has temporarily stopped evictions, but this is a turning point: evictions must be handled by public officials and our delegation will be working to introduce legislation to regulate this process. We are ready to establish policies that would support critical demands in this system, like proper protocol and de-escalations practice to protect the safety and integrity of the tenants," she added.
State Rep. Rick Krajewski, who will be introducing a bill addressing the subject, explained that the mercenary mentality of private contractors working for the city's landlord-tenant officer serves no public good.
Krajewski indicated that his bill would eliminate sudden lockouts by notifying tenants in advance, among other provisions. The legislation also aims for transparency during the evictions.
"This is the third shooting since March by these security contractors who operate with little transparency and as if they are above the law," Krajewski said. "Housing should be considered a human right and not regulated with lethal force. We must end this farce of private entities executing evictions in Philadelphia and enact commonsense reforms that allow tenants to be notified in advance and provide clear, transparent accountability to these proceedings."
The latest incident in a series of related violent events occurred on Tuesday when a woman was shot by a private contractor during an eviction in the Port Richmond area during an eviction.
Mandatory Landlord-Tenant Mediation in PA? MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
Pennsylvania’s court system is contemplating changes to rental property owner and tenant law when it comes to disputes.
HAPCO Philadelphia urges its members and all rental and investment property owners to MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD ON MANDATORY LANDLORD-TENANT MEDIATION!