Hapco Philadelphia members have been the primary providers of affordable rental housing in Philly for decades.
And despite City Council’s best efforts to tax, fee, and regulate our members out of the low-to-moderate-income housing market, HP members continue to provide low- and moderate-income housing opportunities, as well as market-rate rental units.
What concerns us about the recently proposed Eviction Expungement bills in Harrisburg is the likelihood that a bad tenant’s past will be hidden from future rental property owners. That restricts our sector of the economy from the protections given to other businesses seeking quality of credit history.
The bills in the PA House and Senate would seal a tenant’s eviction record under certain circumstances, making it tough for rental owners to tell good renters from bad ones. It essentially punishes good tenants by putting them on the same level with problem tenants.
Good renters shouldn’t be punished for being good. Whereas, bad renters should be punished for being bad.
It’s one thing to give good tenants a second chance. It’s quite another to keep moving bad tenants from one property to the next.
And as always, these proposed bills would hurt Mom & Pop rental owners the most, as it only takes one bad renter to put a small owner underwater.