COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON HOUSING, NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT, AND THE HOMELESS Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, June 5, 2024 PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBER KENDRA BROOKS COUNCILMEMBER MICHAEL DRISCOLL COUNCILMEMBER JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILMEMBER CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILMEMBER RUE LANDAU COUNCILMEMBER NICOLAS O'ROURKE BILL 240018 - - 240018 CHAIR GAUTHIER: The City Council Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless. The purpose of this public hearing is to hear testimony on Bill number 240018. Ms. Jones, would you please call the roll?
Chair Gauthier. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Present. Thank you, Ms. Jones. Joining us today are also Minority Leader Kendra Brooks and Minority Whip Nicholas O'Rourke. I note for the record that a quorum of the committee is present and this hearing is called to order. So good afternoon, everyone, and thank you so much for joining us today. This hearing is about the Landlord-Tenant Officer. Evictions carried out by the Landlord- Tenant Officer and their civilian contractors follow a harmful formula that traumatizes our 240018 neighbors and leaves them without lifesaving resources when they need them the most. There is no written contract between the Municipal Court and the Landlord-Tenant Officer. There is no public bidding process, no 7 written standard for how to perform evictions, no 8 direct notice to tenants about when an eviction will occur, no resources provided to tenants during an eviction, no accountability to Philadelphians, and no government oversight. It was within this context that the Landlord-Tenant Officer, civilian subcontractors shot Angel Davis, who is with us today, and Latese Bethea within a matter of months. Earlier this year in this very room, Angel Davis, who will never fully recover from being shot in the head, raised her head high and shared why she believes that we need to take immediate action to restore accountability over a public function that operates recklessly and opaquely. And I agree. That's why, as both the chair of this committee and a renter myself, I was proud to co-introduce the Angel Davis Eviction Accountability Bill. 240018 The Angel Davis Eviction Accountability Bill requires all civilians conducting evictions to obtain a license from the City of Philadelphia. City council already mandates licenses for many types of businesses to keep Philadelphians safe. Requiring private contractors who perform lockouts to similarly receive a license from the city will bring accountability to a public function that has proven itself to operate dangerously without oversight. Through its licensing requirements, the Angel Davis Eviction Accountability Bill brings the Landlord-Tenant Officer in line with other entities that conduct lockouts in Pennsylvania. Subcontractors will need to complete 184 hours of basic eviction officer training in the safe use of firearms, crisis intervention, cultural diversity, and de-escalation. Licensees must also participate in five hours of dangerous dog training provided by the Pennsylvania Academy for Animal Care and Control and 29 hours of annual continued education. After completing training and obtaining 240018 their license, the Angel Davis Eviction Bill 3 requires subcontractors to carry proof of insurance and visibly display their license while conducting evictions. And subcontractors involved in an incident of violence or use of force during an eviction will be unable to renew their license for a year. Incentivizing them to summon law enforcement when a lockout becomes argumentative. Setting standards in these areas promote the safety and well-being of everyone involved with evictions. It builds public trust in our business and our government. And it sends a powerful message to tenants across Philadelphia that city council will not sit on our hands and let a dangerous, unregulated, and unaccountable eviction process continue. I want to thank Minority Leader Kendra Brooks for her leadership on this issue. We would not be here today without her. I also want to thank my fellow co introducers of this legislation, Minority Whip Nicholas O'Rourke and Housing Committee Vice Chair Rue Landau. And thank you to a veto proof majority of our 240018 colleagues for co-sponsoring this legislation. Majority Whip Isaiah Thomas, Councilmember Mark Squilla, Councilmember Nina Ahmad, Councilmember Mike Driscoll, Councilmember Jeffrey Young, Councilmember Curtis Jones, Councilmember Jim Harrity, and Councilmember Anthony Phillips.
Lastly, thank you to everyone who will offer witness testimony today, most especially Angel Davis. I look forward to this fruitful discussion and working together to implement the safe, accountable, and compassionate eviction process that our communities deserve. And with that, do any committee members want to offer opening comments? Minority Leader yeah.
Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Minority Leader Kendra Brooks, and I would like to thank you all for joining us today in this hearing. I want to make a special thank you to Chair Gauthier and Minority Whip Nicholas O'Rourke, Vice Chair Landau for co- introducing this bill with me and the many colleagues who joined us in co-sponsoring and the veto-proof majority that we have. This hearing 240018 comes at a critical moment for thousands of Philly families who rent their homes. When I talk about renters, I'm talking about nearly half the population of Philadelphia. And of those renters, more than half are rent burden. Meaning they are making tough choices every month whether to forego basic necessities like food and medicine in order to pay the rent. Many of these folks are seniors or people with disabilities who live on fixed incomes. Many of them are single mothers with children. The majority of the renters in our city are struggling to keep up with rent, and the threat of eviction cast a dark shadow over their day-to-day lives. On March 29th of last year, a private contractor hired by the for-profit law firm serving as Philadelphia's Landlord-Tenant Officer, or LTO, shot Angel Davis while attempting to remove her from her home. Angel suffered permanent physical, mental, and emotional damage, and she is on a long road to recovery. And despite debilitating injuries, she has expressed deep desire not just for her own 240018 healing, but for real change, for the reckless, for the nonprofit system that put her in danger and that continues to endanger the lives of Philadelphians every day. And speaking out about her experience, Angel is not just standing up for herself, she's standing up for the thousands of Philadelphians who are struggling to pay their rent and live with the fear of being evicted. So I want to thank Angel for her courage and her perseverance. After Angel was shot, people all over the city started asking questions about how evictions are conducted here in Philadelphia, and Chair Gauthier and I immediately called for a public hearing to investigate the practices of the private entity that conducts the majority of the lockouts in Philadelphia. What we learned in that hearing was shocking. We learned that Philadelphia is the only municipality in the State of Pennsylvania where private for-profit law firm known as a Landlord-Tenant Officer is tasked with carrying out evictions. They are driven by a profit 240018 motive. The Landlord-Tenant Office has been evicting tenants as quickly as possible with little regards to people's safety, dignity, and medical needs. Elderly tenants and tenants with disability shared stories of armed contractors showing up at their doors, often unannounced, giving them only minutes to gather their 10 children, pets, medical equipment, and belongings before being permanently locked out of their homes. The Landlord-Tenant Office have been sending armed contractors all over the city to remove people from their homes. But the public has almost no 16 information of who these contractors are and what they're trained or authorized to do. Their identities and backgrounds are kept secret, even when journalists try to investigate the concerns raised by renters. The Landlord-Tenant Officer did not require any licensing or any formal training or any insurance, and had a lack of standards and oversight that almost proves fatal. Under these conditions, violence and trauma are inevitable. Within four months of 240018 Angel's shooting, LTO contractors opened fire on a tenant's dog while serving an eviction in Olney and shot 33-year-old Latese Bethea in front of her child while attempting to evict her in Kensington. These incidents of violence are not an exception to the rule.
They are the outcome of an unjust, unaccountable system that routinely endangers the lives of black women and their children, as well as our seniors, people with disabilities, and other people who lived on fixed income in the time of skyrocketing rents. Today, we will be voting on the Angel Davis Eviction Accountability Bill at the heart of this bill is public accountability. Removing someone from their homes is a grave public function and one that demands public input and oversight. This legislation for the first time requires city license and standards for those who do evictions in Philadelphia and is part of a broader effort to bring our eviction system in line with best practices of other cities. We introduced the bill in January, and 240018 since then we've been working with the courts and the administration to change this dangerous reckless system, and we cannot wait any longer. During the past year, many Philadelphia leaders have tackled this problem. State Senators Sharif Street and Nikil Saval proposed a state law that would stop private entities from conducting evictions and bring Philadelphia in line with every other municipality in the state. State Representative Rick Krajewski introduced legislation to require training, advance notice, and accountability for eviction. But unfortunately, those efforts were being blocked and are being blocked by Republicans in Harrisburg. So it's our responsibilities as members of Philadelphia City Council to step up and protect the people from the violence of our current system. The Angel Davis Eviction Accountability Bill is one part of a larger campaign to protect Philly families from predatory, unfair practices in our housing system. It's a campaign that doesn't end until every single person can count on safe, stable 240018 home, and a green safe neighborhood. In November of last year, I released a plan for Philly families which outlines several research-based solutions to build towards this goal. Since then, we've been putting together, putting that research into action with legislation and budget priorities that fight back against private entities that are profiting off the people's property, poverty, and destabilizing our neighborhoods. Last week, we celebrated the final passage of our bill to make eviction diversion permanent in Philadelphia. And this legislation keeps thousands of families in their homes, prevents displacement and reduces the number of life altering eviction violence. We also celebrated the passage of priority bill 19 legislation, which helps to protect community gardeners from the threat of being sold off to speculators and developers. And as for the budget Chair Gauthier, Vice Chair Landau, Minority Whip O'Rourke, and I have set clear priorities around housing, expanding rental assistance, building new 240018 affordable housing to replace UC townhomes, and funding built to last a successful and popular home repair program. These changes will directly benefit Philly's working families by putting safe housing within the reach and making our neighborhood a safer and greener place to live. And with the Angel Davis Accountability Bill, we are fundamentally changing the for-profit eviction system that has traumatized so many Philly families and standing up for the dignity and safety that renters deserve. And I have provided all members of the committee with a copy of our platform for Philly families. And I just want to thank you guys for taking the time to do this. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much, Minority Leader. Minority Whip, do you have opening comments?
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon and thank you to everyone who has come out today. I actually can't stay for the entirety of this hearing, though I want to, but I want to say a few things 240018 before we actually step out. The first thing I'd like to do is just to say thank you to Ms. Davis. I think we should thank also her counsel, as well as all of those who have continued to put their pedal to the metal to keep their hand on the plow as it relates to making sure that we hold these LTO contractors accountable is obviously a tragic situation that has caused this. But the courage and the bravery that you have exuded Ms. Davis, obviously means the world, and it could definitely change the way that we operate in this city. All of you have helped bring this critical issue to light in a new way. But I'm sorry that it took such a severe harm to actually get to this point. Most of us here are familiar with the struggle for accountability for police violence, which is still ongoing after more than a century of effort. So if we're having these issues with public employees who for what it's worth, are trained and certified to do their job. Seeking accountability for profit private contractors is an even greater challenge given the deeply 240018 dangerous outcomes that tenants face with evictions. We need to be crystal clear on who the folks executing these evictions are, that they are competent, that they are trained in this work specifically, and to make sure that they are professionally liable for their actions. As legislators, we can intervene through regulation, and this bill aims to make sure that we don't have a Landlord-Tenant Office that's just completely unregulated. Why is it important to reform the LTO? Because it's a for profit private agency that makes money from every eviction that they do. It is a profit driven motive. And what will business ventures like that, or any business venture really do if there's absolutely no 18 regulation? To me, it's an obvious answer. They'll do whatever they can get away with to make more money. Evictions are tough, almost always traumatic. So the least that we can do is set a regulatory floor for the unfortunate practice. The reason the Landlord-Tenant Office exists in the first place is because the deep 240018 corruption of Phillies form a constable system, a public system. Constables were all too willing to extort and straight up rob folks that they were evicting, and that was rightfully seen as a public failure. It's lost on me why effectively privatizing a public task was seen as a solution in that era. But until state lawmakers actually moved to change how this works or abolish the office completely. We were doing everything in our power to set actual standards, which for at least our office is the point to measurably and materially improve the lives of working people, or inversely, to measurably and materially reduce the suffering that we experience on every single day. So here's what this bill would actually do. Philly sheriffs have to complete 800 hours of training before they can act on an eviction. LTO contractors currently require zero training hours to work. This bill would require contractors to complete 184 hours of training oriented around crisis intervention and firearm safety. It's not even a quarter of the time that our public officials require, which is why I'd 240018 recommend opting to call on the sheriff's office anyways. Contractors will need to undergo dangerous dog training and keep up with 29 hours of continued education on these topics annually. A valid license will need to be displayed at evictions and they'll need to have proof of professional liability insurance as well, because it's too easy to pull a trigger when there's every opportunity that you won't be directly liable for the outcome, and we've got to eliminate that in the city.
Beyond liability insurance, contractors will not be able to renew their license if they have been involved in a use of force incident in the past years. So we're being mindful about their actions and how they've demonstrated their performance on the job. This is a start, one marked by the legal limits on council's powers here. I'll be frank and say that I really don't think this goes far enough to protect tenants from a private for-profit system of evictions. But I know we all believe that these measures will make a material difference as we 240018 continue to look into how evictions work in Philadelphia. I'm upset that this is something that we allow to take place in private realm at all. But again, I thank you again to Ms. Davis for being here, for continuously coming out and putting yourself out there for this. And thanks again to any and everyone who has been focused on organizing around this important issue. If we went on this, when we went on this it is another example of government working well and for the betterment of people's lives. Thank you, Madam Chair. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you, Minority Whip. Ms. Jones will you now read the title of the Bill?
Bill number 240018, amending title 9 of the Philadelphia Code entitled Regulation of the Businesses, Trades, and Professions by providing for the licensing of persons responsible for performing tenant evictions at residential properties under certain terms and conditions. CHAIR GAUTHIER: The clerk will please call the first panel of witnesses to testify on 240018 the resolution. The committee is somewhat time constrained today because of the city's budget negotiations. So because of that, we're going to give each witness four minutes to present their testimony. We are going to time you and ask you to summarize when we get to the end of that time. So please call the first panel.
Good afternoon. My name is Bethany Nikitenko, and I am a partner with the Law Firm of Feldman Shepherd in Philadelphia. I represent Angel Davis, who was shot in the head during a violent eviction from her apartment on March 29th, 2023. Ms. Davis was shot by a Deputy Landlord-Tenant Officer who decided that he was authorized to use deadly force to carry out a civil eviction proceeding. This outrageous incident occurred because of the absence of rules, procedures, and training to protect the safety of persons subject to eviction. I applaud the city council's efforts in developing legislation to prevent the abuses that have occurred in the past, including the incident involving Ms. Davis with training 240018 and licensing requirements that will hopefully prevent or minimize the use of force during eviction proceedings. I am here to support Bill 240018, the Angel Davis Eviction Accountability Act. The legislation requires training and persons conducting evictions in Philadelphia should have, including training on the use of force, defensive tactics, safety, crisis management, and effective communication, among others. The bill requires the LTO contractors to visibly identify themselves when removing persons from their homes, a basic safety standard that was not followed previously. The legislation creates a system of public oversight and regulation over a process that has long been opaque, reckless, and unaccountable. Given the experience of my client, I want to speak in depth about one component of this new ordinance, which is the requirement that every applicant for a license as an eviction officer provide proof of current professional liability insurance coverage of $2 million per incident and $4 million per year. Such insurance 240018 would provide a source of compensation to victims who are harmed by the negligent and or reckless conduct of an eviction officer. With this insurance requirement in the proposed ordinance, someone like Ms. Davis, who has suffered serious and permanent injuries because of an unnecessarily violent eviction will have the opportunity to seek sufficient compensation for past and future medical expenses, past and future lost wages, physical pain and suffering, and other losses and damages caused by an eviction officer's negligent conduct. The insurance requirement will also prevent the victim of a violent eviction from becoming a public charge dependent upon taxpayers to pay for hundreds of thousands of dollars in hospital bills and medical and therapy services made necessary by the unreasonable conduct of a private for-profit eviction officer. The Deputy Landlord-Tenant Officer who shot Ms. Davis does not have his own insurance policy. The current policy held by Ms. Shuter, which is $1 million per incident and $2 million 240018 per year, is woefully insufficient for a force of armed officers carrying out hundreds of eviction proceedings per year. Someone who is catastrophically injured could incur past and future medical expenses and lost wages of more than $2 million. This does not even consider the cost of recovering a settlement or verdict through the court system. The likelihood of more than one incident occurring in one year is not unreasonable. Given what happened in 2023 and the rising tide of evictions. The proposed minimums are easily justified given the potential harm and the number of evictions being carried out every year in Philadelphia. The City of Philadelphia and other governmental entities across the country have long attached minimum insurance requirements as a requirement of doing business. In my judgment, such coverage offers to assure adequate compensation for serious injuries at premiums that should be affordable to licensed applicants. The Landlord-Tenant Office has long put profits, above all else, to horrific results for 240018 Angel Davis and others by requiring training, identification and insurance while creating a system of oversight and accountability.
This legislation will go a long way in addressing the issues that led to the shooting of Angel Davis. Thank you for the opportunity to offer my comments to this important issue to City Council. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much for your support of the bill, for your comments and for everything that you've been doing to fight for Ms. Davis and anybody else who has been harmed by this system. We appreciate you.
Thank you. CHAIR GAUTHIER: I was going to note, Councilmember Squilla's attendance, but never mind. Do any of the committee members have questions or comments for the panelists? Sorry. Can you come back? Go ahead.
What happens to a tenant if an incident takes place and an LTO contractor does not have enough insurance to cover the medical needs, the loss of income or other damage, and who pays?
That's an interesting 240018 question. You would have to pursue a lawsuit against the Deputy Landlord-Tenant Officer and Ms. Shuter. My impression is that Ms. Shuter may be judgment proof because she's married and as a result, all of her assets are joint marital assets. You could sue the deputy Landlord-Tenant Officer, but I doubt that, that person would have sufficient funds to cover the damages. This is a working individual like many of us, so that individual may be judgment proof. Additionally, that individual may be married and all of their assets are joint marital assets because so essentially the person will become a public charge. They will be relying on Medicare or Medicaid to cover their hospital and medical bills. They may get some disability payment, but this is woefully insufficient given the potential nature of the catastrophic injuries that they have suffered.
Thank you. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Will the clerk please 240018 call the next panel to testify?
Sherry Thomas, Rita Eichmann, Seamus Brennan. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Good afternoon.
Council, good afternoon. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Sherry Thomas please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Sherry Thomas. Thank you for this opportunity to submit testimony regarding this important legislation to introduce oversight of those conducting evictions in Philadelphia. I submit this testimony in my capacity as the director of housing at the Legal Clinic for the Disabled, otherwise known as LCD. LCD is a direct legal services agency serving low-income individuals living with physical and mental health disabilities and a partner in the Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project. Last year, the acts of the Landlord- Tenant Office gained widespread attention after multiple incidents of violence against tenants when unidentified officers discharged their firearms multiple times when conducting 240018 evictions. When these happened, we already knew firsthand and from our client stories that there's very little transparency around the lockout process, no meaningful notice for the eviction, no identification of officers, and no 8 oversight. The Landlord-Tenant Office has long operated opaquely. Very little information is known publicly about how the office operates, including who is employed there, how they hire, what training personnel undergo, and what protocol officers are required to follow. Currently, there is no complaint or grievance process and no 16 discipline process that has been shared with the general public. For years we had heard at LCD of officers not knowing how to handle people with disabilities. Rushing them to get out of the home in 10 to 15 minutes, forcing them to leave behind important medications and assistive equipment such as commodes, walkers, and extra oxygen tanks. The incidents from last year confirmed something advocates working in this 240018 area of Landlord-Tenant law have known for a long time. That lockouts need greater transparency, oversight and regulation. In response to these incidents, LCD, along with my colleagues, testified in hearings last year calling for both transparency and accountability. This bill, Bill number 240018 before us today, works to provide both of those things. Transparency and accountability can mitigate the harm that comes from an inherently violent process carried out by a private entity that is motivated by profit. Although private, the LTO carries out its function as part of a court process. It only makes sense that they hold a responsibility to the communities in which they work, while also being regulated in their operations. Responsibility to the community looks exactly like what is contained in this bill, training and de-escalation, training and use of force, crisis management, and cultural diversity, just to name a few. This bill ensures that officers conducting lockouts come into the 240018 process with a baseline of understanding. Right now that baseline, at worst, does not exist, and at best it is unclear. Requiring officers to register with the city with their identifying information and certifying about any prior involvement with use of force or violent incidents also goes to transparency that has long been overdue in this area. Additionally, the bill's requirement for each officer to carry liability insurance, as well as provisions for suspension or revocation of licenses, are good steps towards accountability. As I stated earlier, evictions are inherently violent and prone to violence if not handled properly. Ideally when there will be no 18 future incidents where these provisions will need to be invoked. However, there are no guarantees and by requiring insurance and introducing some risk to not performing the job properly. Landlord-Tenant Officers may be held accountable and victims may be given some chance of recovery. While this bill fills in crucial gaps, we still believe that codes of conduct and best 240018 practices are necessary. Best practices and oversight create expectation and predictability.
Since the LTO, although private at this time, is viewed as an extension of the court system, predictability and oversight can enhance public trust in the courts. Overall, requiring a baseline of knowledge and skills, identifying officers, conducting lockouts, and requiring insurance moves us towards the transparency and accountability we are looking for. It's time for Philadelphia to take the shortcomings of the eviction process seriously. Too much harm has already occurred at the expense of people in crisis and in vulnerable positions. We are at a crucial time when we can course correct. LCD supports this bill. Thank you. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much for your testimony and for all of your work serving tenants in the city.
Thank you. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Mr. Brennan, can you please state your name for the record and proceed 240018 with your testimony.
Thank you, Councilwoman. My name is Shamus Brennan. I'm the housing attorney at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, where I provide a range of housing support. Thank you. As I was saying, I'm Shamus Brennan. I'm the housing attorney at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania. There I provide housing support through advice and representation to people living with HIV and other people who are in vulnerable communities. I'm glad to be here today to testify about the experiences my clients have had with the landlord-tenant system and the ways I think that this legislation can improve that situation. I think the most important thing to know is that the current system operates as a vacuum of information. Even under the heightened scrutiny that's prevailed in the last year, there has been a continuation of lack of notice, unexpected evictions, incorrect information being provided by the Landlord-Tenant Officer, evictions being performed more than six months after the last 240018 warning was given. These give rise to a great risk of conflictable situations and put people living in rented homes in danger. Because of these surprise evictions, I want to take a moment to illustrate it with the client experience. One of my clients was living in a large complex in North Philadelphia near Central High School. He was unaware that eviction proceedings had been initiated against him. He didn't receive notice. When I looked into the situation, the landlord had served themselves, had taken a default judgment. The Landlord-Tenant Officer filed an affidavit of service saying that they had given him notice that an eviction would be performed. They didn't say where they gave that notice. They didn't put a name on that affidavit of service. It was just as most Deputy Landlord- Tenant signatures are illegible. And six months later, there was a knock on the door, and he was out 20 minutes later, without having had an opportunity to participate in the system. Had that situation gone differently, it could have been a very tragic situation. A knock 240018 on the door during a fall, after you've not heard from your landlord in six months, why would you expect that's someone who's there to serve a court order. That step, that serving of a writ of possession is critical. And this legislation helps give the Landlord-Tenant Officers a reason to care about doing it well. Giving them, the deputy officers themselves, an incentive to do their job well rather than to do their job fast is critical to making this system better. We can't have someone looking over every deputy Landlord-Tenant Officer's shoulder on every eviction they serve. They need to have an interest in doing their work well and regulating them so that they can is an important first step. I think also the other situation is unavoidably, evictions are violent. They are a governmental use of force. And so knowing that the people who are performing them are trained and have some skills to deal with an inherently dangerous situation is critical. And finally, the third element that I think this legislation addresses well is 240018 accountability. Right now, because as the previous witness testified, there's a real chance that these judgments are never going to be collectible if ever taken in the case of an injury. Having some reason, some a year that you can't work in this job is a very serious accountability measure to ensure that people take precautions. Another client experience that I want to share, and I spoke about this the last time I testified, was a senior client who is a double amputee, and she was being evicted in January. She did not have properly fitted prostheses through a prolonged back and forth with the court, with the landlord's attorney, with the Landlord-Tenant Officer herself. We were able to give that person notice of when that eviction was going to be served. I can't help but think what if that client had not been represented? What if she'd been doing this on her own?
She wouldn't have been able to navigate that system to threaten to go to a judge to get the timing of the lockout. She was struggling to pack her things. She was 240018 struggling to prepare. Had she been put on outside of her apartment on a January day that the average temperature was 32. I can't help but think what would have happened to her. And so I thank the Council for their effort to find solutions to this very difficult problem and for giving us the opportunity to share these experiences. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much for sharing your clients' experiences and for all of your important work. And I really liked how you termed what we're doing here today. We're giving the LTO some big reasons to care. So thank you very much. Let's see. Ms. Eichman?
Yes. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Yes. Good afternoon. Thank you for this opportunity to testify regarding the proposed landlord-tenant regulations of eviction officers in Philadelphia. I am Rita Eichman, a staff attorney with the Tenants Rights Project at the Senior Law Center. The Senior Law Center, we seek justice for older 240018 adults by using the power of law, educating the community, and advocating on local, state, and national levels. We are the only nonprofit organization in Pennsylvania whose mission is dedicated solely to providing legal services to older people and one of very few in the nation. We provide free legal assistance to thousands of older people each year, including victims of elder abuse and financial exploitation, older homeowners facing life crises and homelessness, grandparents raising grandchildren, and older individuals facing injury and neglect in guardianship. Our Tenants Rights Project provides representation and advocacy to tenants facing various landlord-tenant issues, including eviction, diversion, ejectments, fair housing commission complaints, and evictions. Long before Philadelphia, Landlord-Tenant Eviction Officers were thrown into the national spotlight for the shooting of tenants and their pets during three separate evictions from March and July of 2023. 240018 Philadelphia's lack of oversight for Landlord-Tenant Eviction Officers caused many problems for our clients. Older tenants are faced with a myriad of problems when lockouts occur. One older tenant we spoke with was unable to gather all their medication when he was locked out after an eviction. After the lockout, he asked the landlord to let him back into the property to get his medications, but the landlord did not respond. This posed a serious danger to his health. We also received calls from tenants who were not represented by attorneys that had been locked out because they had no advance notice that the eviction was pending. One tenant we spoke with came home one day and had been unexpectedly locked out. It turns out that in February of '22, the tenant had signed a judgment by agreement with a payment plan. The tenant did not have a lawyer when she entered this agreement. The court judgment said the tenant could stay in the property if they paid according to the payment plan. The tenant was then served with a writ of possession 240018 on March of 2022, saying that she had to be out in days. 4 The court routinely authorizes writ of 5 possessions to be served on tenants, even if they 6 are making payments as agreed under the payment 7 plan, but the tenant does not usually have to 8 move at that time. In fact, her landlord told 9 her to ignore the writ because she was making 10 payments. However, one year later, in April of 2023, the tenant was locked out without warning because she had supposedly in the mail, received an affidavit of breach six months before the lockout. Unfortunately, she did not receive it. The writ of possession filed against the tenant more than 12 months prior to the lockout was the last and only notice warning her of the lockout. Hardly a warning at all. Additionally, pets, which are very important to many of our older tenants we serve, have also been affected by these evictions. We have had cases where older tenants were locked out and their pets were locked in the home without food and water available to them. We 240018 also had a case where a tenant was locked out and their dog was removed to an animal shelter. When the tenant made it to the shelter to retrieve their dog, they were informed that the dog had already been killed by the shelter. This was devastating to our client. The incidents I described above are surely acts of violence, but not to the degree of the violence inflicted by the Landlord-Tenant Eviction Officers on several tenants last year. In response to those shootings, evictions were suspended until August of 2023.
When the evictions resumed, it required that eviction officers have some additional training, that officers would perform the lockouts in teams of two and the tenants' attorneys would be notified weekly which of their clients potentially faced eviction with a date and time the lockout is scheduled. While these remedial measures helped, more measures are still needed to ensure transparency, accountability, and oversight to best serve tenants dealing with these potentially life ruining situations. We applaud the sponsors 240018 of this bill for stepping in to address many of the issues by implementing the bare minimum of core training requirements that all Philadelphia Landlord-Tenant Officers need to complete to maintain a license. This legislation sets a higher standard for these officers that will also give the City of Philadelphia greater accountability and oversight. The requirements of at least 100 -- CHAIR GAUTHIER: If you could next 12 seconds maybe and summarize your testimony. 13
The requirement of 189 14 hours of training and the insurance minimum of $2 15 million per incident and $4 million per year 16 payout reinforces accountability and oversight. 17 Senior Law Center stands here today strongly 18 supporting this legislation. By setting a 19 standard of acceptable behavior, we will ensure 20 the process that has necessary oversight, transparency and accountability. Thank you for your time. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you for your testimony and for your work. Any questions or comments from members of the committee? Thank 240018 you all so much. Will the clerk please call the next panel to testify?
Hi. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Please state your name for the record and proceed.
Good afternoon, Chairperson Gautier and members of the Housing Neighborhood Development and the Homeless Committee. My name is Sarah Adamo and I am the legislative affairs manager of the Department of Licenses and Inspections. Today, I am here to provide testimony on Bill number 20018, introduced by Councilmember O'Rourke for Councilmember Brooks, which, if enacted, amends Title 9 of the Philadelphia Code entitled Regulation of Businesses, Trades and Professions by providing for licensing of persons responsible for performing tenant evictions at residential properties, all under certain terms and conditions. This bill, as amended, proposes to create a license requirement for individuals that act as eviction officers. The license may 240018 only be issued if the applicant provides proof of completion of the required training, proof of professional liability insurance, certification of compliance with applicable Commonwealth laws, and certification that the applicant has not been involved in any acts of violence or use of force in the performance of an eviction in the past 9 months. 10 Additionally, standard licensure 11 requirements apply such as first obtaining a 12 commercial activities license and being current on all city taxes. While the administration is supportive of the spirit of this legislation and sympathetic to the events that precipitated this discussion, we believe that the Department of Licenses and Inspections is not the appropriate department to enforce such legislation. L&I's core mission is to enforce the city's codes for safe and lawful construction and use of buildings. Enforcement of this legislation would fall outside of that mission. Furthermore, one of the recommendations of the recent joint task force on regulatory 240018 reform of the Department of Licenses and Inspections was that city council must cease passing legislation intended to be enforced by the Department of Licenses and Inspections that does not align with its core mission. Additionally, in order to administer this license, major enhancements to eclipse and training of L&I staff would need to be funded through a budget increase. Lastly, even if provided with the appropriate resources, the department lacks the expertise to effectively enforce this legislation. We believe that further discussions are needed to determine how and by whom this ordinance can be effectively enforced. The administration is happy to continue working with council to address some of these issues and concerns this summer to ensure we achieve the legislation's intended goals. Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony for the Department of Licenses and Inspections. I'm happy to answer questions at this time. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you for your testimony. Any questions or comments? 240018 COUNCIL MEMBER BROOKS: Minority Leader. COUNCIL MEMBER BROOKS: Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Ms. Adamo, can you point to me where in the bill does it require the Department of License and Inspection to enforce this legislation?
Currently in the bill, it defines enforcement agency as the Department of L&I, or other such agency as the mayor may designate.
So it doesn't say just L&I. It says other agencies as designated by the mayor?
So there are multiple other agencies that could be in charge of enforcing this. Am I correct?
And then also this bill was introduced in January, and it does not take effect until nine months after it passes. It has given us time to set up some parameters as to who could serve to do this at 240018 the mayor's designation. Am I correct?
Right now we're well over a year since Angel Davis and Latese Bethea and these incidents happening. So are you testifying today that the administration cannot enforce this legislation or simply that the Department of License and Inspection cannot enforce this legislation?
I'm testifying that the Department of, it's outside of the core mission of the Department of Licenses and Inspections, and further conversations need to be heard through the administration and with the court to determine how to appropriately administer.
So just to be clear, since this legislation does not necessarily require license and inspection to do this, that allows the mayor to designate another department or agency that's responsible for this enforcement that we can discuss over the summer - -
Yes. 240018 COUNCIL MEMBER BROOKS: -- to your own words, to take care of this. So this not necessarily License and Inspection.
That's it. Thank you so much. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Vice Chair Landau.
Good afternoon and thank you for being here. I got a couple of questions about what you've proposed, what seems to be a burden on L&I to enforce this law. But I have some questions that include, there likely will be just one Landlord-Tenant Officer selected right? So that's one license. Please explain to me the training that would have to be done to staff to understand the elements of what would be needed for one license by one entity that was going to perform this duties.
So first of all, evictions are very much outside of the area of expertise for L&I. So the fact that you're expecting one license is news to me. But whether there's one 240018 license or a thousand licenses, we still need to create the license in our system. We need to create a license application, update our website, provide training to our staff on how to answer questions when asked. So anything that goes into creating one license or 1000, we still need to go through all those steps.
The goal of this would be to choose a Landlord-Tenant Officer entity that would have a license and would have to carry enough insurance to just perform the duties that are outlined previously, but are also further delineated in a new law that includes training and everything. I still fail to see the complicating factors that would make it so that L&I couldn't just assess this one entity and approve it.
So there are factors in the legislation such as confirming that training, they've met the necessary training requirements. It also gives us the ability to promulgate regulations for additional training. It's just so far out of our area of expertise, given that really our core mission is building safety and 240018 the use of buildings. It's just very much outside of our area of expertise. We can set up a license for instance, if someone else were to approve the entity, we can issue a license. But working through those specific things are very much outside of L&I's core mission and expertise.
When a landlord comes to you seeking a license, and I know it's online, right? But when they want a license for their property, they have to show that they have a certificate of rental suitability first, right?
And you look at the certificate of rental suitability. If it's a legitimate one, you give them a license, right?
To me, I just do not see the complicating factors here that would cause L&I not to be able to perform this. What I see is simple duties, we're not even talking thousands of landlords. We're talking one entity that is performing these tests. I hear you. I know what you're saying. But what I am 240018 questioning is how this could be complicated to the degree that it wouldn't be able to happen within the required time of the law. Thank you.
Sure. CHAIR GAUTHIER: I guess I'm confused, too. Doesn't L&I provide licensing for a number of different types of businesses? How is it different?
So there are a couple ways that it is different. And there are trade licenses associated with contractors, which, of course, are associated with building safety. Then there are business licenses. And in some cases, those licenses are also associated with a safety component, such as high rises. They trigger a high-rise inspection that allows L&I to check for fire safety issues. Then there are licenses like a food license or a streetery license, where essentially L&I is the one confirming that taxes are paid, and another agency, Health Department or Streets Department, has done their work to confirm that the business is in compliance, and all we do is issue the license. So in that case, we're not 240018 really checking that the streetery or the restaurant is compliant. These other departments are doing that work, and we're just issuing the license. CHAIR GAUTHIER: I don't understand why we wouldn't be able to incorporate this into our regular operation of licensing businesses on a regular basis, but I'll pass it over to Councilmember Jones. I think we all have concerns about the testimony and the prioritization of such an important issue. I would have expected just the administration to come to the table with a little bit more, but thank you. Will the clerk please call the next panel to testify?
Jennifer Coatsworth. Abraham Pardo, Sarah Kim, Eisenhard. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Sarah Robinson, on behalf of Jennifer Coatsworth. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, Madam Vice Chair, and members of the committee. My name is Sarah Robinson. I am the staff attorney for policy at the Philadelphia Bar 240018 Association. I'm here to communicate the testimony of our Chancellor, Jennifer Coatesworth, who unfortunately could not be here today. On behalf of all members of the Philadelphia Bar Association, we would like to thank the committee for this opportunity to voice our support of Bill number 240018. Additionally, we would like to express our heartfelt condolences to Ms. Davis and her family and the other victims in last year's shootings, as well as any others who have been unjustly harmed by the eviction process in reported and unreported incidents. To begin, I'd like to commend this committee on the full breadth of the legislative package, propose this session, promoting housing stability, and striving to bring overdue reform to the evictions in our city. I was before this body two weeks ago, providing testimony in support of continuing the eviction diversion program. And I am heartened by the passage of that legislation. Hopeful that support for this bill from the entire council will follow suit. 240018 We, along with many other panelists today, believe that housing is a human right. And in this moment in time, in our great city we have an obvious housing crisis. Unfortunately, I'm not just referring to the very real concerns of gentrification, affordability or habitability, but also the singular crisis created by allowing an unregulated for-profit eviction system to operate. As chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, I represent a diverse membership, consisting of over 8000 judges, attorneys, and other legal professionals. It is our mission to serve the legal profession as well as the public. By promoting professional excellence and respect for the rule of law. We are very proud that our members, some of whom you are hearing from today. Were on the front lines advocating for right to counsel in eviction proceedings and instrumental in developing the eviction diversion program. After the devastating events of last year, it was incumbent upon the association to maintain our involvement in this issue. Now advocating for reforms to eviction. Given our 240018 broad constituency, the Philadelphia Bar Association is uniquely positioned to serve the community as a convener. Historically, we bring stakeholders around the table to resolve issues that are important to the community as a whole. And to our profession and clients in particular. And so late last summer, we convened a stakeholder group tasked with responding to the immediate needs arising from the incidents of last year and developing long term recommendations to reform and modernize the Landlord-Tenant Office. Although that stakeholder group is on a brief hiatus, their meetings were highly productive. A temporary response plan was implemented, a collaborative policies manual was developed, and critical conversations took place. All under the guiding oversight of then supervising Judge Matthew Wolf. But there is more work to do, and we know that it takes all branches of government working together to truly enact meaningful change. Which is why I'm so pleased that this committee is bringing forth this bill. This 240018 legislation gives concise, common-sense solutions to several elements of a controversial matter. We agree with this committee that at a bare minimum eviction officers who are armed must be licensed and should be trained to perform their duties. We know our city can do better and the Angel Davis Accountability Act is one vehicle to enforce necessary reform. I hope that my remarks are helpful to council as it works to improve the civil process and continues to prioritize the safety of Philadelphians. Once again, thank you for this opportunity. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much for your testimony and for your work.
Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Hi, so, my name is actually Rachel Garland and following in the trend, I'm here to present testimony on behalf of my colleague Sarah Kim, who had a lovely baby Parker four days ago and is not here to present herself. So on her behalf, I wanted to thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on the 240018 crucial matter of eviction lockout procedures and their impact on the lives of low-income Philadelphians. Community Legal Services is deeply committed to ensuring the rights and welfare of our city's residents, especially those facing eviction. Each year, our housing unit works with over 3000 tenant households facing housing instability. Our mission centers around the hope that we will one day eliminate the need for evictions and that safe and stable housing will be a fundamental right for all. Until that vision is realized, we strive for a short-term future in which legal evictions are executed safely, respecting the dignity, and well-being of all parties involved. Currently, evictions in Philadelphia are performed either by the city Sheriffs or by Landlord-Tenant officers who are private contractors. The Landlord-Tenant Office is a private entity whose operations are not currently subject to public oversight despite public concern over reported violence during eviction lockouts. 240018 Community legal services supports the importance important steps taken by the proposed bill. The implementation of a licensing system with baseline training requirements for eviction officers is necessary to ensure that those entrusted with the responsibility to perform lockouts do so competently. The training requirements, particularly those focused on de- escalation and crisis management, can help make the facilitation of lockouts safer. And when eviction lockouts are performed improperly, the requirement for insurance coverage creates a crucial path to compensation for victims of excessive force. We support the measures introduced by this bill as progress towards a safer landscape for tenants and as we continue to advocate for comprehensive training, transparency and accountability in the process of eviction lockouts. We welcome city council support. Thank you. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much for your testimony and for all of your work and partnership. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. 240018
Hi, good afternoon. I'll be brief. Abraham Reyes Pardo, the VP of housing at the Urban League of Philadelphia. I'm here to provide support testimony in support of Bill 6 240018. The City of Brotherly Love is also a place of contrast and disparity. Housing inequity and the glaring lack of affordable housing are two of the biggest issues we face, particularly for black and brown residents. Within this backdrop, last year, a resident of North Philadelphia, Angel Davis, was shot in the head and critically wounded during an attempt to complete an eviction. Philadelphia employs a system through which the President Judge of the Municipal Court appoints a private attorney to execute evictions. The attorney then deputizes other individuals, often armed to evict residents, a practice that entrusts too much power in the hands of people with no proper public accountability. The Urban League of Philadelphia holds as a central tenant the idea that everyone has the right to fair housing. Since its inception in 2020, we have continued to provide 240018 support for struggling tenants by way of the nationally recognized Eviction Diversion Program, which provides a safe space for the escalation. Through the program, we have learned and collected the stories of the families we served. Like the time I found myself on the phone with a crying mother of two on a Friday afternoon, for what was later discovered had been a wrongfully executed eviction. My client felt like she was able to breathe once again, once we were told that a clerical mistake made by the property management office had caused the eviction, but unfortunately, due to the timing, we weren't sure. We will be able to summon all powers to gain access to the property before the weekend kicked in. Poverty is not a crime, nor does it justify a total disregard for basic human rights. It is clear that stories like Angel Davis's or my clients could have been handled in a different way. Through policy reform, we could prevent people being shot in the head because they are unable to pay their rent. Advancing legislation preventing the use of private 240018 contractors to perform evictions will be the safest path, but increasing the licensing requirements for these individuals will get us one step closer. Thank you. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much for your testimony and for your work. Are there any questions or comments? Thank you all.
Thank you. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Is there anyone else that wishes to testify on this bill? Seeing no 12 one else here to testify on this bill, this concludes the public hearing. We will now go into a public meeting to consider the action to be taken on the bill for today. Can the clerk please call, wait a minute. Let's take a quick second. We'll just pause for a few minutes until we get our quorum back. Will the clerk please call the roll?
Chair Gauthier. CHAIR GAUTHIER: Present. The Chair recognizes Vice Chair Landau for a motion on the amendment to Bill number 240018.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that bill number 240018, as amended -- no. Thank you again Madam Chair. I offer an amendment to Bill number 240018, a copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of the committee. I move that the amendment to Bill number 240018 be approved. (Duly seconded.) CHAIR GAUTHIER: It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to bill 16 number 240018 be approved. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.) CHAIR GAUTHIER: Those opposed? (No response.) CHAIR GAUTHIER: The ayes have it, and the motion carries. And the amendment to Bill 23 number 240018 has been approved. The Chair recognizes Vice Chair Landau for a motion on Bill 25 number 240018, as amended. 240018
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill number 240018, as amended, be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of council. (Duly seconded.) CHAIR GAUTHIER: It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill number 240018, as amended, be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of counsel be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of counsel. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.) CHAIR GAUTHIER: Those opposed? (No response.) CHAIR GAUTHIER: The ayes have it, and the motion carries. Bill number 240018, as amended, will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation, with a request that the rules of council be suspended to permit 240018 first reading at the next session of council. This concludes the business of the committee on Housing Neighborhood Development and the Homeless today. Thank you all very much for your attendance. Thank you. I know, it was like crazy. (The Committee was adjourned.) 240018 CERTIFICATE OF TRANSCRIPTIONIST I, MICHELE NIEHAUS, Legal Transcriptionist, do hereby certify: That the foregoing is a complete and true transcription of the original digital audio recording of the proceedings captured in the foregoing matter. IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of June, 2024. ______________________________________ Michele Niehaus