Affordable Home Buying & Renting A Thing Of The Past?
Hapco Philadelphia has been telling city council, the media, and the public for years that affordable rental housing in Philly is an endangered species.
For renters, buying their first home meant making an investment in the future. But skyrocketing home prices in recent years has derailed that dream for many tenants.
And that means there is a record number of renters looking for affordable rental housing, housing that’s quickly evaporating as it’s turned into expensive, market-rate units.
News Media Seek Hapco Philadelphia Expertise On Issues Facing Landlords
Hapco Philadelphia continues to be the go-to source for local and national news media, politicians, and the public on topics affecting the rental property community.
In this latest media coverage, President Greg Wertman is interviewed about the City of Philadelphia’s proposed tax credit for landlords who install fire escape ladders.
The proposal is City Council’s reaction to the deadly Fairmount rowhome fire in a Philadelphia Housing Authority rental property.
Philly Eviction Court Packed During Latest Pandemic Surge
Hapco Philadelphia is quoted in Philadelphia Inquirer coverage as pandemic rental aid is ending and the courtroom is filled with landlords, tenants, and lawyers.
President Greg Wertman has urged rental property owners since the pandemic began to apply for any and all emergency rental housing monies to avoid winding up in eviction court.
But as those COVID rent dollars run out, Philly’s eviction court has little room for social distancing as many cases that pre-date the pandemic end up before a judge.
Deadly Fires In Philly & NYC Rental Housing A Symptom Of Broken Society, OpEd Claims
With rampant construction of new rental housing all over Philadelphia, why are whole families being wiped out by a fire in ancient PHA housing?
Non-working smoke detectors in an overcrowded row home in Fairmount. Automatic fire doors failing to close in a old high-rise in the Bronx. These are considered affordable housing in cities where market rate housing is forcing small Mom & Pop landlords out of the affordable rental market. As a result, families live in cramped apartments because it’s all they can afford.
Philadelphia Inquirer opinion columnist Will Bunch says it’s more than just a problem with rental housing stock, it’s a broken society.