COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON HOUSING, NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT AND THE HOMELESS City Hall Room 400 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, May 22, 2024 PRESENT: COMMITTEE CHAIR JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILMEMBER CINDY BASS COUNCILMEMBER KENDRA BROOKS COUNCILMEMBER MICHAEL DRISCOLL COUNCILMEMBER CURTIS JONES, JR. VICE CHAIR RUE LANDAU COUNCILMEMBER NICOLAS O'ROURKE COUNCILMEMBER MARK SQUILLA BILL 240245 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 - - - COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Good afternoon, everyone. Please take your seats, we're going to get started. I now note that the hour has come and this hearing is called to order. This is the public hearing of the City Council Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless. The purpose of this public hearing is to hear testimony on bill number 240245. Good afternoon to all the committee members. Ms. Jones, would you please call the roll?
Councilmember Squilla? (No response.) 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245
Chair Gauthier? COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Present. Thank you, Ms. Jones. I note for the record that a quorum of this committee is present and the hearing is called to order. I'm pleased to chair this very important meeting of the committee on Housing, Community Development and the Homeless. Today we will discuss making our city's nationally acclaimed eviction diversion program the permanent law of the land. I want to start by taking us back to the EDP's origins four years ago. Pre-COVID Philadelphia had an eviction addiction. Even if you won your case, being taken to landlord tenant court became a scarlet letter for thousands of renters every year, trapping them in a -- in a spiral of housing insecurity. Landlords had to wait months for restitution because the municipal court couldn't keep up with the caseload and the entire city footed the bill 25 for the societal cost of rampant evictions such as 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 higher rates of homelessness, unemployment, and health problems. So when the pandemic struck and someone's home became even more critical to their safety and well-being, we knew we had to act. Councilmember Brooks and I joined forces with then Councilmember Helen Gimm and our community partners, many of whom are here today and the eviction diversion program was born. Since then the eviction diversion program has received national praise, including from the White House and Governor Josh Shapiro, for creating a successful eviction alternative. When coupled with rental assistance, the eviction diversion program is one of our city's most effective anti-displacement programs ever. And it is a racial justice program, too, because an overwhelming majority of tenants who face eviction are single black mothers. Eviction diversion is a win for tenants who have the opportunity to remain in their homes or make a graceful exit without being damned to a lifetime of housing insecurity. It is a win for landlords who avoid 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 expensive legal fees and turnover and vacancy costs, while also having the opportunity to receive restitution months faster than they would otherwise. It is a win for the municipal court which can hear cases sooner and focus on situations where judicial intervention may be required. And it is a win for our neighborhoods, which remain stable and welcoming to residents from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Thanks to the eviction diversion program, we have an average of 10,000 fewer evictions every year than we did pre-pandemic. That's 10,000 families who would otherwise undergo one of the most traumatic and destabilizing experiences possible because a safe, stable, and affordable home is a bedrock of a successful life in healthy communities. As rent and housing costs continue to soar, the eviction diversion program remains just as important for the safety and vitality of our neighborhoods as it was in 2020. We cannot stand by and let the eviction floodgates reopen when this program expires at the end of June. That's why I'm proud -- that's why I was 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 proud to cointroduce a bill that would make the eviction diversion program permanent, alongside Minority Leader Kendra Brooks, Minority Whip Nicholas O'Rourke, and our committee Vice Chair, Rue Landau. I also want to acknowledge our co- sponsors, Majority Whip Thomas, Deputy Majority Whip Bass, Councilmember Ahmad, Councilmember Jones, Councilmember Lozada, Councilmember Harrity, Councilmember Driscoll, and Councilmember Squilla. Thank you all for recognizing that as rent and housing costs continue to soar, eviction diversion remains critically important for the stability of our neighborhoods. Lastly thank you to everyone who is here today to testify, provide public comment, or just listen. We appreciate and value your partnership and your participation. And I want to note for the record the participation of Minority Leader Kendra Brooks. Do any of the committee members have opening remarks?
Vice Chair Landau. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: Thank you very much. And thank you all for being here today. I just wanted to take a second to recognize the importance of this moment for me. When the 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 eviction diversion bills were originally passed, I was working for the city of Philadelphia running the Fair Housing Commission. And was working at night with the staff of so many of our council people here, working with them to help create the bills, to help craft them, to, to make sure that the six bills that we had at the time were, were working in the right way. And as a former community legal services lawyer, represented tenant -- low-income tenants for 10 years. And then as somebody who ran the Fair Housing Commission, I know firsthand how much this is a racial and economic justice issue for the city of Philadelphia. And I also know, as I've been doing this for so many years, how rents in Philadelphia have increased exponentially while oftentimes habitability of housing has not. And while we're still working on all of these issues. To me and to all of us here, this necessary pause in this process, this just pause that creates a time where landlords and tenants can just get together for a moment and see if they can work out issues before a complaint is filed in municipal court, which would be a mark on people's 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 evictions records for -- forever, that this is the way -- this is the right and just way to create a system that is humane and equitable throughout Philadelphia. And as we continue on with this pause we will always also make sure that we're tackling as many of the other issues as possible so people can live in safe, affordable, accessible housing anywhere in the city of Philadelphia that they want to live. Thank you. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you, Vice Chair. And I also want to note for the record the participation of Minority Whip O'Rourke.
Ma'am? COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Minority Leader Brooks? Oh, I'm sorry. Councilmember --
I yield to her and then -- COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Okay. And then -- and then you. Go ahead.
Good afternoon. Nearly four years ago, our city made a historic stride in eliminating evictions and making the eviction process more fair to renters and small 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 landlords. During the height of a global COVID pandemic, a small coalition came together to ensure that we kept Philly residents safe in their homes. And I was proud to be a part of that coalition and help lead those efforts in setting up our eviction diversion program. And it was a piece of a visionary legislation that has only became more popular over time. While it was an honor to be a part of those efforts, what I have seen over the last four years brings me even more pride. Our eviction diversion program was implemented and the residents began using it and it was praised by housing advocates, municipal officials, the governor, and even President Joe Biden's administration. The legislation saved thousands from evictions and has been touted as a national model. It elevated Philadelphia as a leader on this issue. And to this day, our city still gets inquiries about how other cities can set up their own eviction diversion program. We have recently seen President Biden also make housing affordability a key plank in his reelection campaign. Right here in Philly the 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 data's showing the success of the program continues to grow. Because of this program an astounding 45 percent of renters who are facing eviction are able -- are able to reach an agreement with their landlord outside of court and avoiding getting life threatening eviction filing on their record. Even as eviction started rising dramatically in other cities over the pandemic, we were able to keep Philadelphia's eviction rate temporarily low. The Princeton eviction lab has found that we have 10,000 fewer evictions every year than the annual average before the diversion program. In every council district we have seen hundreds and thousands of families use the programs as more and more Philadelphians are educated on it. As small landlords and renters are able to go through the process, we are making a real positive difference for working families. Not many policies grow in popularity but our eviction diversion program sure has. Over the next three years -- over the last three years, we have seen the support grow in this body as well. Councilmember Isaiah Thomas 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 signed on to make sure the program was extended, and Council President Kenyatta Johnson helped grow support and ensure that it was properly funded and I thank them for their support. The program was extended three times with the support growing from our colleagues each time. That's why today, as we come together to vote to make this program permanent, I am proud that the permanent extension of the eviction diversion program is sponsored by of my 12 colleagues. In addition to myself, Councilmember Gauthier, and Thomas, we are joined in support by Councilmembers O'Rourke, Landau, Ahmad, Jones, Lozada, Harrity, Driscoll, Squilla, and Bass. Now I have to tell you in my time in council, this has not been an easy feat and I'm grateful for all of their support. But a near unanimous support for the program -- for the program is receiving because Philadelphians are directly benefiting. One thing I've learned from the data we have collected over the past few years is that the program is most effective when it is paired with rental assistance. And in fact, eviction filings 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 for cases with rental assistance were five times lower than those without. So as our housing crisis intensifies, we must make sure that rental assistance is available for renters and small landlords who need it. And we built on program success by including $50 million for rental assistance in our next budget. I want to thank all my colleagues for prioritizing this piece of legislation and I look forward to everyone testifying today. Let's get this done. Thank you.
COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you, Minority Leader. Councilmember Jones.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm speaking today for some of the senior members of council and I'm not talking about Cindy Bass because she only has longevity but not age. She's been around but she's not old enough to be old yet. But what I will say, she was around when we passed the mortgage foreclosure diversion program and fought for that. She understood, like I understood in my district, that it was a ownership problem at the time. But to my newer colleagues, they showed us 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 it wasn't just ownership, that it was rental. And during the pandemic, raised the alarm that said, if we don't do something now, we will have a tsunami of evictions. And we leaned into it and figured it out, but they were so right. Had we not put our thumb in the dike of the damn we would have -- we would have been overrun. And it's cheaper to keep people in their homes than to put them in homeless shelters. So I want to thank my colleagues for that. I want to say that this is a continuation of those efforts back in the day. Marian Tasco, Member Bass, was the first person that kind of came up with the foreclosure diversion program which in some ways helped be the forecursor to this program. So I'm thankful to all of you for continuing to keep the flame alive. And I don't think in our current situation when we start to hear about stats of how much affordable housing costs that this is going away. So thank you all for your continued diligence. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you, Councilmember, for your support through all of this and for the experience that you bring on this issue. And you're absolutely right. The mortgage 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 diversion program was absolutely a model for what we're doing now with eviction diversion. Minority Whip O'Rourke, please.
Thank you, madam chair. Not a whole lot to say today. I just want to state for the record that so many folks have been politicized by what's going on in the world currently. I think I've had a few moments where I have seen my politics shift and change. And one of the key moments, actually, was a few more years back, at the start of the pandemic, where so much was revealed about the way this world works, this country works, the way this commonwealth, this city works. And it became very, very clear, you know, why we say housing is a human right. And to be able to, to see the beginning of this work and for so many to who have been advocating for it, it's an honor because I wasn't a part of this -- a member of this body -- when this effort went underway. But I was finding myself with a number of -- 2 or 300 other young adults and folks of various ages sleeping on the steps of the United States Capitol as we continued to raise awareness 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 about the injustice of having folks who are houseless and among other things, just out in the open, as we were trying to figure out how to navigate a pandemic. And so I'm so honored to be a part of today's committee hearing as we see material wins come to fruition to make sure that folks have shelter over their heads which I think is always a righteous and sacred work. So thank you, Madam Chair, and all of those for your work on getting us here. I'm grateful to be with you all today. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much Minority Whip. Ms. Jones, will you now read the title of the bill?
Bill number 240245, amending chapter 9-800 of the Philadelphia Code entitled Landlord and tenant to modify requirements and authorizations related to the city's residential eviction diversion program including associated changes to the landlord and tenant relationship. And to make certain technical changes all under certain terms and conditions. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: The clerk will please call the first panel of witnesses to 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 testify on the resolution. And we do, today, have a hard stop at 4:30 p.m. so we're asking that people be somewhat concise in their testimony.
All right. Excuse me. Yes. On the first panel we have Mark Dodds, interim deputy director of the Division of Housing and Community Development; Nancy Geist Giacomini, mediation manager, Eviction Diversion Program, CORA Good Shepherd; Abraham Pardo, vice president of Housing and Diversion Services, Urban League. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Mr. Dodds, please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good afternoon. Mark Dodds, interim deputy director, Division of Housing and Community Development. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Please proceed with your testimony.
Good afternoon, Chair Gauthier and members of the Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless. I am Mark Dodds, interim deputy director of the Division of Housing and Community Development. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on bill 1 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 number 240245. We support passage of this bill. The bill would maintain the city's eviction diversion program in its current form but would remove the current ordinances sunset position, making the program permanent. The mayor is dedicated to making the city government one that Philadelphians can see, touch, and feel. She also has ambitious housing goals which focus not just on new construction but on housing preservation as well. The eviction diversion program is critical to both of these efforts. It represents a hands-on effort by the city to help landlords and tenants in every council district avoid the costs and disruptions of the eviction process, while at the same time adding homes for almost 8000 households each -- saving homes for almost 8000 households each year and stabilizing income streams for landlords of all sizes. As you know, several of you were involved in the initial effort. The eviction diversion program began in earnest in 2020. Since that time the program has proceeded through several legislative and programmatic iterations in 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 response to available resources, stakeholder feedback, and lessons learned through assisting tens of thousands of landlords and tenants. The program has operated in its current form since January 2023. In the current program, all landlords are required to participate for 30 days before filing an eviction. During that 30- day period, landlords and tenants are provided with some combination of financial assistance called targeted financial assistance, mediation, housing counseling services, and negotiation resources. The data we have available points to a highly successful program. Overall, EDP is helping to cut eviction filings by almost 40 percent per year. This significant decrease is especially notable in light of unfortunate reality in most cities where eviction rates are up, not down, and certainly not down by such a large amount. Additionally, data indicates that each component of the program contributes to its success. Where mediation is involved, approximately 70 percent of landlords and tenants who participate reach an agreement. Targeted financial assistance is available to many 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 landlords and tenants participating in mediation but it is also highly effective on its own. About 40 percent of successful outcomes are reached based on TFA alone. Importantly, it is not only landlords and tenants who resolve their cases through EDP that benefit. Fewer eviction filings mean that municipal court judges are able to spend their time focused on cases that really need a judge's attention rather than on ones that could be resolved pre filing with a simple payment plan or a small amount of rental assistance. EDP has garnered Philadelphia national attention. The New York Times described the program as a notable success for both landlords and tenants and EDP has been lauded by the White House as a national model. We at the Department of Planning and Development are proud to house and operate EDP but EDP would not be successful without the tireless work of our partner organizations. On the targeted financial assistance side, PHDC provides skillful implementation, ensuring that the majority of payments are made within 30 days. For parties 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 involved in mediation or needing other support, Philadelphia Legal Assistance, Community Legal Services, CORA Good Shepherd Mediation Services, including their team of volunteer mediators, and dozens of city funded housing counselors and NACS provide responsive and compassionate assistance.
We are also grateful for our strong partnerships with the first judicial district and landlord associations. Their support and coordination have been critical to the program's success. Throughout EDP's evolution, we have worked to continually improve and adjust the program so that it works as optimally as possible for all parties and stakeholders. We are committed to continuing that effort if the program becomes permanent. EDP doesn't require -- EDP does require significant resources and as legislation states, it is not council's expectation that the diversion program will continue if there is insufficient funding available to operate the program. We currently have funding on hand to operate EDP at current levels for FY25. Continued funding particularly after FY25 will need to be part of 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 the annual budget negotiations. Evictions not only destabilize families, they destabilize communities as well. Stable lives in neighborhoods create the resilient social fabric that empowers people to come together to make their communities safer, cleaner, and greener, and provide a solid footing for every individual to pursue economic opportunity. That concludes my testimony and I am available to answer any questions you may have. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much. And I just want to commend DHCD for how quickly they stood this program -- how you stood this program up in the midst of a crisis and also around the great success that, you know, we had in getting the TFA funds out of the door. It truly has been remarkable. And we do get your point about making sure that this is in the budget every year. Ms. Giacomini, I hope I'm not butchering that too much. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
I am not Nancy Giacomini, who is out sick. Oh, yes, she was out 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 sick this morning. But my name is Sue Wasserkrug. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you.
And I'm the director of mediation at CORA Services. No, it's fine. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Please proceed.
Thank you. Well good afternoon and thank you for this opportunity to speak in support of bill 240245. As I mentioned, I'm Sue Wasserkrug, the director of mediation at CORA Services, and I'm here to share with you Nancy's testimony since she's out sick. She is our mediation manager and landlord liaison for our eviction diversion work. She actually started with the program as a volunteer mediator on day one. So she's got -- and I hired her very shortly thereafter when I realized I could not do it all myself. CORA Services is a nonprofit resource center that has served the Philadelphia community for over 50 years. The aim of our eviction diversion work is to support both tenants and landlords as they work together to create mutually beneficial solutions and to strengthen their 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 rental relationships. EDP has proven to be effective, as you've heard, and sustainable for landlords and tenants to resolve residential rental disputes without the need for court intervention. And the great results, some of which you've heard, nearly half of all renters who entered the program did not have an eviction filed against them. Nearly 70 percent of all cases with a completed mediation reached an agreement. And Philadelphia is one of just a handful of jurisdictions in the country where eviction filings have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, and this is in large part due to EDP. Eviction diversion begins when a landlord completes an online application. Because of the novelty and complexity of the program we offer an easily accessible landlord liaison support throughout the process. We at CORA Services review 500 to 600 EDP applications weekly while managing nearly as many related calls, texts, and emails from landlords and their agents. We schedule and process anywhere from 50 to 80 mediations per week. Nearly all of those are handled by trained volunteer mediators. We 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 trained a new batch just this morning. And what we hear in our role as the landlord liaison is not just buy in from landlords but actual gratitude. Even the most reluctant landlord, property manager, agent, or attorney will agree that at a minimum -- at a bare minimum this program helps the court manage caseloads and reduce dockets. I'd like to share with you some feedback that we receive from -- mostly from landlords and property managers. This is from a property manager who told us, the mediations have turned out to be a wonderful experience and issues are resolved where tenants would otherwise have been evicted. And a small landlord said to us, my husband and I were wondering if the eviction diversion program is still running. We have another tenant that could use the help. We have had great success with this program. Thank you. And from a landlord who received the targeted financial assistance, I just wanted to say thank you again and let you know that I really appreciated all the support. The water department 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 was about to put me in collections for the tenant's outstanding balance. Because of you, that didn't happen. And finally, from one of our volunteer mediators, this mediation was wonderful. The housing counselor worked their magic and the property manager was able to get approvals and consent for an agreement. So in closing, EDP equips landlords and tenants to resolve their disputes together. In mediation we call this a win-win. An eviction diversion, as Chair Gauthier has stated, we call this a win-win-win. Tenants win by avoiding the trauma of eviction proceedings, landlords win with timely negotiated agreements and financial assistance, and communities win by supporting a party driven conflict resolution process that makes a real difference in our efforts to combat housing insecurity, homelessness, and social inequality. Thank you so much for your support. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you for your testimony and for your work.
CORA has been such an instrumental part of this program. Abraham Pardo, please state your name for the 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 record and proceed with your testimony.
Yes. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Abraham Reyes Pardo. I serve as a VP of Housing for the Office of Diversion -- Housing and Diversion Services at the Urban League of Philadelphia. The Urban League of Philadelphia is a multi-generational civil rights and social justice organization which was founded in 1917. I'm here to provide testimony in support of bill 230245 for the extension of the nationally recognized eviction diversion program. I've had the privilege of being part of this project since it was first incepted in 2020. Leading my team of housing counselors through its different iterations. Last year, the Urban League of Philadelphia proudly served percent of the 20 landlords and tenants who participated in the eviction diversion program. A reaffirmation of our commitment to this initiative. The program's primary goal is settling disagreements between landlords and tenants outside of court without an eviction filing. And thanks to the consistent 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 efforts of city council, the program also provides direct financial support for struggling landlords and tenants. According to the eviction lab at Princeton University, Philadelphia's Eviction Diversion Program is the main reason the city has consistently seen fewer than 20,000 filings -- than the 20,000 filings it typically had in the years leading up to the pandemic. At a time when eviction filings are reaching or exceeding pre- pandemic averages in other cities. The program has also allowed us to keep close track of the market conditions, something that is particularly relevant at a time when the use of technology is drastically influencing the availability and pricing of rental units in our city and beyond. I'm referring specifically to the more than lawsuits against some of the 20 country's biggest property management companies who are being accused of colluding to raise rental prices and not by cutting deals with each other but by using a particular piece of software. Despite the efforts of the federal government to regulate the marketplace through antitrust laws, 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 software like RealPage has made algorithmic price selling accessible. Our communities need our support to continue advancing the fair housing agenda. Time and resources can be managed and invested in the more specialized cases moving through the court system as minor cases involving missed payments are a better fit for the eviction diversion program. Perhaps the best way to sum up the benefits of this program is by sharing a message from one of our participants. Hello Ms. Walker. I just wanted to say thank you for all your help with the rental assistance. My landlord just received the payment and now I get a month to catch up with my water bill and other payments. I am no longer behind on my rent. I just want to say that I'm thankful and grateful for being able to stay in my home. Please continue to help the struggling people in our community. Thank you. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much for your work and for your testimony, we truly appreciate you. Are there questions or 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 comments from members of the committee for this panel? Minority Leader Brooks or Minority Whip? Okay. Thank you so much for your testimony.
I just want to say something real quick. One second. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Yes.
I'm so sorry. I just wanted to say as somebody who was on the administrative side of so many of these issues, thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do. I know it was such a heavy lift to get it started and to keep it going but we thank you so very much. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: The clerk will please call the next panel of witnesses to testify on the resolution.
Mercedes Peterson, Sanae Williams, Ebony Tillman, and Tiana Woods. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. Good afternoon.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, members of city council. My name is Mercedes Peterson and I'm 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 here to ask you to support the continuation of the eviction diversion program. After the loss of my job last summer I was able to pay my rent through my unemployment. After several months of applying for jobs, I was hired in November of 2023 for one, started in January 2024. I attended the first day of my job but fell seriously ill and was hospitalized the next day. I was in and out of the hospital for 11 days and lost my new job. My rent fell behind and 12 my landlord sent me an eviction notice. 13 After finally being released from the 14 hospital, I had to worry about paying my rent. 15 Thinking I would be put in the streets didn't help 16 my blood pressure. But after speaking with my 17 housing counselor in the diversion program I felt 18 hopeful. He listened to my back story, informed 19 me of the steps that followed, and helped me come 20 up with an action plan. This helped alleviate my 21 stress so that I could focus on my health and 22 recovery and start working again. 23 With the help of my counselor, we were 24 able to negotiate a payment agreement that worked 25 for both me and my landlord and all parties were 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 satisfied with the outcome. I'm glad to say that just a few days ago I made my final payment and I'm now current on my rent. A place to live is something we all aspire to have. A roof over our head is security. When unfortunate events such as health issues or loss of a job happen, bills still have to be paid. But through mediation, tenants like me have a chance to save our homes instead of getting steam rolled through the eviction process. Please support struggling tenants by continuing the eviction diversion program. Sometimes people are down on their luck but a helping hand goes a long way. Thank you so much. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you for your testimony and for sharing your story and I'm sorry that you had to go through so much, but also, I'm glad and congratulate you on finishing your payment. Will you state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony?
Hello? Okay, cool. My name is Woods and I am here to speak on keeping the eviction diversion program. So good afternoon. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 My name is Tiana Woods. I'm a renter in the Olgon section of Philadelphia. I'm also a member of Renters United of Philadelphia. I'm here to support this eviction diversion program and to argue for it to have more funding. I want this program to stay because it would be beneficial to others in my predicament. I am a mother of three and I work about 84 hours a week taking care of my 86-year-old grandfather who also stays with me, he's also a veteran. The place that I was staying at had plenty of issues and I was unprivvy to the actual process of withholding rent. So I ended up getting and -- I ended up getting a letter about my eviction hearing. However, I attempted to go through the eviction diversion program but I never got through. So I ended up having a judgment by - - a judgment by agreement placed on me and I have -- that's all I dealt with now. However, from hearing the stories of, of others if I were to have been able to been a part of this program, I knew that it would have alleviated some of the issues. So yeah, I'll continue from my paper. My landlord tried to 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 evict me and unfortunately I wasn't able to use this program because he did not do his due, due diligence. But like I said earlier, the program would have helped me to pay back the rent and to prevent the eviction from being filed. If I had been able to use this program then we would -- then we could have avoided going, going through the court system altogether and having this permanent scar on my record which now could prevent me from having stable housing for my kids and in the future. I did try to look for housing elsewhere but due to having the JBA, I was denied several times, so there's that. I'm sorry. As someone stated earlier, a majority of the people who have evictions are single mothers. I am one myself, as I stated earlier, and due to that, we should not have to worry about being displaced or becoming homeless just because they lose a job or fall behind on a month's rent. For me, I pick up odd jobs overnights, like, I work 12 hours in the morning and then I work 8 hours overnight, as well, because I have to make ends meet for my family and I. If we had 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 been evicted then we would have had nowhere to go and it would have risked the health and wellbeing of our -- of our whole family, particularly the children and my grandfather. So yeah, this is why we need to continue programs like the eviction diversion program and make them even stronger so that all tenants can get assistance -- so that all tenants can get the assistance that they need for their families to keep their human right to housing. I think this program does need more funding to provide financial assistance to tenants and to make sure that there are staff to provide housing counseling. So thank you. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you for sharing your story and I'm sorry to hear that you had to deal with so much with the judgment and with finding housing. Can you just expound before we move on, why weren't you able to make it into the program? Do you know why?
When I received the letter, I did call and for one day I sat on the phone for 2 hours straight and every time my phone reached 30 minutes and 0 seconds, the phone would hang up. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Okay. So I'm sorry for that but certainly just describes the intense demand for the program. And so we'll have to, you know, make sure that we make some adjustments moving forward. Next, can you please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony?
Hello guys. My name is Ebony Tillman. I am a member of Renters United Philadelphia and I am a mother and a hairstylist and a new business owner of Ynobe Hair Beauty Studios. My first name spelled backwards Hair Beauty Studio. Thank you. And I'm working on building my income for me and my daughter. I went through the eviction diversion program at the end of last year when I fell behind on rent because I did not have enough clients at the hair salon. I'd been searching for rental assistance options already. Through the eviction diversion program, I met with a mediator and my landlord and a lawyer and together we made an agreement for a payment plan and I was able to get targeted financial assistance to pay a couple months of my back rent. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 To have support from the eviction diversion program and to be able to get assistance is a weight lifted. It is a relief because I have an 11-year-old daughter, I am a single mother, and it is horrible feeling -- it is a horrible feeling to think that this place where we have shelter and water and our belongings is at risk of being taken away. Knowing that you have a child looking up to you and depending on you to make things happen, you feel hopeless when you think you might lose your home. When you're having a hardship and the place where you live is being threatened to be taken away and you don't have support to hire anybody or get assistance, that sinks you down. Having that extra support from the eviction diversion program is appreciated through hard times. It is very important to continue the eviction diversion program so that mothers and families like me can stay in our homes and not have to worry about being displaced. I ask that city council and Mayor Parker continue this essential program with at least 50 million in funding so that others can get help with back rent 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 like I did to prevent eviction. Thank you guys for your time. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much for sharing your story and for advocating for this program and assistance to continue. Are there questions or comments from members of the committee for this panel? Minority Leader? Councilmember?
Thank you for your perseverance. Like we were just sitting and that 30 minute and a second disconnect, I don't know how many times I would have been able to have that kind of patience and perseverance in a system that, you know, I'm thinking everything's stacked against me. So even though you didn't get in, thank you for continuing on and it just is a profile in courage. So thank you.
Thank you. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: The clerk will please call the next panel.
Nathan Tulchinsky, managing partner, Overbrook Management Group and Overbrook Capital; Abe Silber, founder and owner of Two River Development. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Good afternoon. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good afternoon -- good afternoon. My name is Abraham Silber and I'm the founder and owner of Two River Development. Thank you to Chair Gauthier, Vice Chair Landau, Minority Leader Brooks, and members of the committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless for hosting this hearing and for giving me an opportunity to share my thoughts on the eviction diversion program and the targeted financial assistance pathway. Two River Development is a vertically integrated affordable housing developer, proud to have roughly 200 of Philadelphia's most vulnerable citizens as its tenants. Our clients are a diverse mix in every respect. We work with almost all of the city voucher programs, including PHA, HUD Vash, and various office of Homeless Services and Department of Behavioral Health programs, to name a few. In addition, we have extensive relationships with various nonprofits, some of 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 whom administer their own voucher programs. A significant portion of our tenant base are also private payers with no government assistance but who also require the most affordable of housing. We have tenants as young as and those 7 well into their 70s. We take seriously our work 8 as a partner to the department -- as a partner to 9 the Department of Corrections in providing reentry 10 housing to returning citizens. As such, I feel 11 credentialed to stand before you and opine on the 12 efficacy of this program for both landlords and 13 tenants and thus our city in its current form. 14 In addition, I must stress the 15 importance of securing funding for TFA, alongside 16 any bill that makes EDP permanent. It is no 17 secret that EDP and TFA are not popular in the 18 landlord community but I do not share this 19 sentiment. I have not always felt this way. Prior to the addition of the TFA pathway, I thought the eviction diversion program had become the greatest existential threat to privately held affordable housing that the city of Philadelphia had ever seen. This city cannot solve its housing crisis 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 without the cooperation of the private sector and the legislation made the cost of providing this housing too high to be economical. However, after the introduction of TFA, my opinion of the program changed drastically. Why? Simply put, the program works. Out of the over 75 TFA applications that have been funded on behalf of tenants to my organization, not one, and I repeat, not one of those tenants has been subsequently evicted. Does this mean that all were able to get completely back on track and remain as tenants? Unfortunately, no. In certain circumstances, tenants did fall behind again, but because of the clarity of the program they understood that should they choose to stay there likely would be an eviction on their record and they voluntarily vacated. A key intent in the crafting of the EDP program was to avoid evictions on tenant's records and that part is working. Voluntary terminations are the minority, however. Most of these 75 tenants do remain. Much more frequently, TFA has proven to be the lifeline that those of us in the affordable housing business know tenants need to get back on 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 track. A sick child, an unexpected layoff, or even a flat tire can financially derail a tenant and be the first in a series of steps towards eviction in a pre TFA world. Most evictions begin with a relatively small outstanding balance and the design of TFA is fantastic at nipping that problem in the bud and giving people a second chance. Most people are by their nature good and the vast majority of them take that second chance and run with it. In summary, it is of the utmost importance that this committee, and hopefully all of city council, understand how critical targeted financial assistance and the funding that it requires are for the maintenance of affordable housing in Philadelphia. Thank you again for the opportunity to speak on this important matter.
COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you for your testimony and for changing your mind from thinking this is an existential threat to becoming a supporter. We appreciate you. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Hi, my name is Nathan 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 Tulchinsky. Hello, my name is Nathan Tulcinsky and I'm the managing partner at Overbrook Management Group and Overbrook Capital. Thank you, Chair Gauthier, Vice Chair Landau, Minority Leader Brooks, and members of the committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless for hosting this hearing. My organization owns and manages approximately 200 homes in the Philadelphia market, primarily focusing in North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia neighborhoods, including, but not limited to, Allegheny West, Strawberry Mansion, Nicetown, Carroll Park and Cobbs Creek. We feel our greatest impact is the ability to offer our residents affordable housing that is mechanically and aesthetically above the quality that is usually seen in the various neighborhoods that we operate in. We are able to do this largely because of the different subsidies that are offered to our tenants via organizations like the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Today I'd like to champion the efforts of everyone involved in the eviction diversion program and TFA for the positive impact it has 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 made on the housing crisis in Philadelphia. Although, I'll be clear to note, programs like EDP would make it very difficult to invest in affordable housing space without some form of subsidy like TFA to accompany it. Guiding tenants out of delinquency while simultaneously providing landlords the lifeline of continued payments to maintain debt, property maintenance, and safety of these homes is an absolute necessity. TFA is providing tenants with a second chance, while also preventing future delinquency. Creating trust with tenants and landlords in the neighborhoods that we operate in has historically been a very difficult task. Private landlords generally resort to the most expedited forms of evictions to rid themselves of nonpaying tenants, then subsequently result in destructive landlord tenant relationships that are virtually impossible to recover. That tenant, eventually, if the eviction is successful becomes homeless or displaced into the vicious cycle of homelessness, it continues. If that isn't debilitating enough, the ability to rent in the future with an eviction on record ultimately places individuals in 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 homeless purgatory. It is our belief that the data will show giving tenants and landlords the ability to participate in the eviction diversion program accompanied by TFA, there will be an overwhelming decrease in homelessness, followed by a continuous trust and cooperation between landlords and tenants that will ultimately result in more affordable housing for the citizens of Philadelphia. Thank you. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you for your testimony and for also being a model for landlords. And we hear you both loudly and clearly about TFA and we're hoping the powers that be hear as well. Any questions or comments from the committee? Minority Leader. Thank you so much for your testimony.
Thanks. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: The clerk will please call the next panel.
Katherine Hicks, president NAACP, Philadelphia Branch; Lonnese Bodison, senior director of programs, Maternity Care 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 Coalition; Sherry Thomas, director, LCD Housing Initiative Legal Clinic for the Disabled; Adam Weintraub-Barth, senior attorney, Tenants Right, Senior Law Center. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Good afternoon, Ms. Hicks.
Good afternoon. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Okay. Katherine Hicks, I'm the Philadelphia branch president of the NAACP. Good afternoon. As president of the Philadelphia branch NAACP, I stand in support of bill number 240245, removing the sunset date from the eviction diversion program. I want to thank Councilmembers Brooks, O'Rourke, Gauthier, and Landau, who co introduced the bill along with Councilmembers Thomas, Ahmad, Jones, Lozada, Harrity, Driscoll, Squilla, and Bass, who co-sponsored this important and very necessary bill. I want to thank all who have taken the time to be a part of this very important bill for the eviction diversion program. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is committed to addressing housing inequities and discrimination and to advocate for equal opportunity and access to affordable housing. The NAACP has been around since 1909 advocating for civil rights. The eviction diversion program has proven to be an invaluable resource in assisting both landlords and tenants during challenging times. By providing counseling, resources, and support, the program has effectively helped to prevent evictions and maintain stable housing for renters. Making this program permanent would ensure that landlords and tenants continue to receive the necessary assistance they need to navigate difficult situations and avoid eviction. This is not only -- this not only benefits tenants by providing them with necessary support to stay in their homes but it also benefits landlords by offering resources to mitigate potential financial loss. Documented studies have determined that black women with children make up 70 percent of the evictions in Philadelphia. Black Philadelphians are more 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 likely to be renters. 3 percent. Black and brown renters are more likely to face eviction in recently gentrifying areas of Philadelphia, including those areas that are historic communities of color. As a group, black Philadelphians experienced almost three times as many evictions as white Philadelphians. Here are some key points why this program should become a permanent tool for landlords and tenants in Philadelphia. One, it promotes stability. The eviction diversion program provides stability for both renters and landlords by offering solutions, resources, and counseling to resolve disputes. This helps prevent evictions and ensures that individuals and families can remain in their homes. Two, it prevents homelessness. By offering support and resources to renters facing eviction, the program helps prevent homelessness. It provides an opportunity for individuals and families to address their financial difficulties, find alternative housing options, or access the 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 necessary counseling and support services, if there is not an equitable resolution. Three, it maintains housing market stability. The program benefits landlords as well by providing them with a structured process to address issues with tenants who are struggling to pay rent. By offering the resources and counseling, the program helps landlords find mutually beneficial solutions that can preserve the tenant landlord relationship and maintain stability in the housing market. Four, cost effective approach. The eviction diversion program can be a cost-effective alternative to the traditional eviction process. Rather than going through lengthy court proceedings, the program offers a streamlined process that focuses on resolution and prevention. This can save both tenants and landlords from incurring legal fees and other associated costs. Five, encourages communication and collaboration. The program promotes open communication and collaboration between renters and landlords. By offering mediation services, it encourages both parties to work together to find 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 solutions that are mutually beneficial. This can help build stronger relationships and prevent future disputes.
Addresses root causes. The program goes beyond addressing the immediate issue of eviction and focuses on resolving the root causes of financial difficulties faced by renters. Helping renters access the support they need to overcome financial challenges and improve their long-term housing stability. Overall, making the eviction diversion program a permanent program would be a proactive and compassionate approach to addressing eviction related challenges and fostering stability for both landlords and tenants. The Philadelphia branch NAACP will continue to be an advocate for this bill and for this program. Thank you. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you for your testimony and for rightly characterizing this as a racial justice issue and for expounding on the many, many benefits of the program. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good afternoon. My name 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 is Lonnese Bodison, senior director of programs at Maternity Care Coalition. Thank you for inviting us here today to offer testimony on this innovative and effective program that has benefited so many members of our community. Maternity Care Coalition works with hundreds of families a year across Philadelphia, providing home visiting, childcare, doula and lactation services, community and parenting education, and behavioral health support. Maternity Care Coalition believes in an equitable and just future for all families and is committed to challenging the structures that create barriers to equity. Year after year across the communities we serve, our home visitors, doulas, and teachers share that parents continuously report housing insecurities as a top stressor. Before families could fully recover from the economic strain created by the COVID pandemic, inflation swept in at rising rates resulting in a higher cost of living for families barely earning a livable wage. As a result, our community faces rising rental costs and stagnant wage rates. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 Through family goal planning we hear details of the futures our parents want for themselves and their children. Our parents are striving to meet their goals through employment and by accessing resources designed to eliminate factors adversely impacting their social determinants of health which is why they engage in our services. Even with these best efforts, families are still struggling. Each time Maternity Care Coalition has spoken about this issue before this committee, we stress a critical fact. Housing instability has adverse impacts on maternal and child health outcomes. Housing security is critical for healthy birth outcomes, beginning at pregnancy through early childhood. Pregnancy and the first few years of a baby's life are some of the most crucial for lifelong development. Hardship during early childhood can significantly affect brain development. Research shows homelessness can lead to physical health problems for infants, including low birth weights. Parents and babies experiencing housing 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 insecurity have high rates of trauma and are at greater risk of parent child separations. Studies show that homeless and housing unstable children are more vulnerable to mental health problems, developmental delays, and depression than children who are stably housed. Frequent moves, living in doubled up housing, eviction, and foreclosure are also related to elevated stress levels, depression, and hopelessness, all of which impact the parent and the child. Children's health, particularly infant health, is inextricably linked to perinatal health. The importance of housing stability for Philadelphia's families, one of the key benefits of this bill, begins at pregnancy. Codifying into law Philadelphia's eviction diversion program is an important step towards ensuring families' basic needs are met. Unfortunately, far too many infants and toddlers in Philadelphia experience homelessness and housing insecurity. Philadelphia's eviction diversion program aligns with recommendations made by the city's Maternal Mortality Review, which emphasizes the need for stable and secure housing during pregnancy and perinatal periods. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 We must listen to the needs of our communities and leverage known solutions, such as this, to create a healthier, safer city for pregnant and parenting families in Philadelphia. Philadelphia families need stable housing to birth with dignity, parent with autonomy, and raise babies who are healthy, growing, and thriving. Maternity Care Coalition strongly supports an ordinance to make the Philadelphia eviction diversion program, a national model, permanent. Thank you for having us. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much for your testimony and your very important work.
Please, please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Sherry Thomas. Is this on now? Sherry Thomas. Good afternoon and thank you for this opportunity to address the committee in support of bill number 240245. Having heard council members remarks prior to this hearing beginning, I do believe I might be preaching to the choir but nonetheless I will go on. My name is Sherry Thomas and I am the 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 director of the housing initiative at the Legal Clinic for the Disabled. LCD is a direct legal services agency which provides free legal representation for low-income Philadelphians and in the surrounding counties, for those living with physical and mental health disabilities. We are also a partner in the Philadelphia eviction prevention project, providing legal representation to individuals and families facing eviction. LCD has supported the eviction diversion program since its inception, recognizing that any process which can avoid an eviction filing is a worthy endeavor. Our clients survive with physical and mental health disabilities. Many of them are on fixed or limited incomes, so avoiding an eviction filing is incredibly important because it keeps a record clean. A lot of them live in homes that are specially fitted to them and accessible to them. So, one, it's important to keep them in the home. But if that is not possible, it is important to keep the record clean so that this subset of our population is able to access more options. In 2020, when we experienced an 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 unforeseeable pandemic, people found themselves in impossible situations. Prior to the pandemic, low-income Philadelphians had felt the crush of rising rents, lack of affordable housing, long wait lists for subsidized housing. But during that pandemic, that crush had extended to other parts of our population that are not considered low income. That may have just been on the cusp of financial hardship. At that time, the city council recognized the injustice which would occur if eviction filings were to continue at a rapid pace against people who found themselves unable to pay rent due to circumstances beyond their control. Fast forward to today, in 2024. We are officially out of the pandemic, but the issues I mentioned earlier still persist. So that program which made sense in 2020 still makes sense today. And Legal Clinic for the Disabled is in support of permanence of that program. First, the program coming with financial assistance is incredibly important. None of us are immune to life circumstances. We all saw that in 2020, none of us could have foreseen it. Loss 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 of a job, onset of an illness, unforeseen medical expenses. These are all reasons that our clients have come to us saying this is why they have fallen behind on rent. What the program provides with this targeted financial assistance is breathing room and an opportunity for people to make things right, as well as take care of those other curveballs that life throws their way. Second, the program provides a way for parties to reach a resolution without the eviction filing. We know that filings are currently permanent, they are forever searchable, and they cause undeniable harm. It does not matter if you won your case. It does not matter if your case was withdrawn against you. There's still a record showing that at some point in the past, your landlord has taken you to court and that record follows you everywhere. The program provides a way to avoid this filing and connects people with resources that are otherwise not available to them. As I mentioned, for people with disabilities, both physical and mental health conditions, they're already limitations on income and there are already 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 limitations on what type of housing is accessible to them. With an eviction filing, those options shrink undeniably. Lastly, the program provides tenants with a warning system.
In Philadelphia, prior to beginning an eviction action, your landlord is supposed to provide you notice and wait through the notice period before filing their lawsuit. This notice period is to give the tenant time to either pay what is owed or to move out of the property. As an attorney who practices in the Philadelphia municipal court, I've seen countless times where complaints are filed prior to the expiration of a notice period even sometimes on the same day or the next day. Which essentially causes permanent harm of an eviction filing, giving no ability for the tenant to remedy the issue before this mark is put on their record. Sometimes, if the tenant has waived that notice in their lease, there's no advance warning at all. In contrast, the eviction diversion program does require notice of eviction diversion rights and a waiting period of 30 days before 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 filing for eviction. This advance notice that your landlord may be getting ready to file a complaint gives time to plan and to prepare. This could include searching for a new property, or it could include, include getting your money together to come up with a plan. The program's notice of rights and waiting period serves another purpose. It is a warning system, also, for tenants who have landlords who are bad actors. I cannot tell you how many people do not exercise their rights to live in a safe and habitable property for fear of retaliation. They fear that if they ask for repairs or begin withholding their rent to incentivize repairs, their landlord will file to evict them. Unfortunately, I've seen that this fear is founded. With the waiting period in the eviction diversion program, tenants who receive notice that is in retaliation have time to possibly prevent a wrongful eviction filing. Overall, the program is a significant way to prevent harm for low-income renters especially building in safeguards and room for resolution. It can be the difference between 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 being homeless or relegated to substandard housing for the rest of their lives. As we saw in 2020 with a pandemic, none of us are immune from things going wrong and this program gives everyone the opportunity to set things right. This program made sense then, it makes sense now. And LCD is in support of permanence of the eviction diversion program. Thank you. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: Thank you so much. I need to take over for a minute as Vice Chair but thank you so much. Does anybody have any questions? Any comments?
There's one more. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: Oh, one more. I forgot. Thank you. Please state your name for the record.
Thank you. My name is Adam Weintraub-Barth. I'm senior attorney at Senior Law Center. I'd like to thank my colleague Sherry for giving me her seat and also for being a wonderful partner in the Philadelphia eviction prevention program, along with our colleagues at community legal services. I speak here today in support of the permanent extension 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 of the eviction diversion program. At Senior Law Center, we seek justice for older adults by using the power of the law, educating the community, and advocating on local, state and national levels. We're the only nonprofit organization in Pennsylvania whose mission is dedicated solely to providing legal services to older persons and one of very few in the nation. Our Tenant Rights project provides representation and advocacy to tenants facing various landlord tenant issues, including evictions, ejectments, fair housing Commission complaints, as well as those going through the eviction diversion program. Since the creation of eviction diversion in 2020, thousands of tenants have been able to stay in their homes or otherwise reach amicable agreements to avoid going to court. We strongly support the permanent extension of this program. The extension is likely to prevent thousands more evictions and keep tenants in their homes. Importantly, though, it will also save Philadelphia tenants countless unnecessary hours in court, hours of missed work, family and 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 personal obligations, and stress for tenants having to go to court hearings that were simple enough to resolve through diversion. As representatives of older adults, these incidental benefits of eviction diversion and successful outcomes from diversion are truly life changing and life saving for our clients. Older tenants are more likely to be disabled, frail, or in poorer health than younger tenants, and housing has an enormous impact on their health, safety, security, independence to age in place versus being institutionalized or homeless on the street. To put it simply, eviction diversion has been an incredible success for our clients. As is, most eviction cases result in a settlement and only a small percentage result in a hearing in front of a judge in municipal court. Eviction diversion enables the court to deal with fewer cases, allowing the court to devote its time to more complex and adversarial matters. We're further encouraged by the availability of rental assistance, the targeted financial assistance program available only through the eviction diversion program. We hope 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 that the council and mayor continue to provide funding for rental assistance available both through the diversion program and otherwise. And we hope that the funding keeps up with the rising cost of rent for tenants. Targeted financial assistance has provided an incentive for landlords, as we heard today, and for tenants to participate in eviction diversion and can be a lifeline for both parties. We've had many successes both directly representing clients in the program and also providing information and legal advice to clients as they navigate the program themselves. One of the positive aspects of eviction diversion is it allows tenants a level of anonymity with their problems. Their issues don't get raised in an open court, nor do their landlords' unproven allegations against them create permanent public records available for anyone to view. As a result, tenants who have previously made diversion agreements and remain in their units are somewhat reluctant to come out in the open and discuss their success stories over concerns that anything might rock the boat with 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 their landlord. Others who were able to negotiate an amicable move out through diversion expressed to us that the program allowed them to remain anonymous and get a fresh start in a new home without the stain of an eviction court filing.
For that reason, understandably, they wanted to close that chapter of their lives and keep it closed. While I exclusively represent tenants, my colleagues at Senior Law Center also represent and assist homeowners and landlords. Eviction diversion has been a success for both tenants and landlords. No one is forced to agree to anything and the eviction diversion staff assists parties in finding common ground to benefit everyone. I explain to my clients at the outset of representation in a diversion matter, as the mediators do in the mediations themselves, there is no finding of right or wrong in diversion. Rather, the goal is to see if we can work to find common ground and find an agreement that works for everyone. Landlords aren't obligated to do anything other than negotiate and discuss the 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 matter in good faith. Incredibly, an opportunity for both sides to simply discuss and work out their issues in good faith has saved thousands from eviction and will save thousands more. While we strongly encourage the city council to enact this legislation, I wanted to take a moment to mention that there are some frustrations our clients have endured in the program. We've seen cases where landlords send individuals to represent them in diversion mediations who are unfamiliar with the facts of the case and often don't even have settlement authority. Other tenants have been directed to the "direct negotiation pathway" where they're instructed to negotiate directly with their landlord or their landlord's attorneys and are often met with radio silence. Perhaps the worst and most frustrating situation is for the tenants who go through diversion, reach an agreement, don't breach it, and their landlord still files a case in court against them. We hope you'll consider these issues in the future, but we think there is no better way to work on improvements to the program than first 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 making the program permanent. We strongly encourage the enactment of this legislation to make the eviction diversion program permanent, and would also welcome the opportunity to work with the council to find ways to continue to improve the program in the future and help the eviction diversion program reach its full potential in benefiting both tenants and landlords. Thank you. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: Thank you so much. Thank all of you. It's the advocates and the lawyers and the support staff that are really not only making this a success but also benefiting from it as well, I know, because it actually gives you that moment before you get to court. One of my favorite things he just talked about was you have the anonymity of the unproven allegations. And that's the problem, right? Landlord alleges something, you could be the best tenant in the world. It could have even been a mistake. But once that complaint is filed in court it doesn't go away and the world thinks you did it. And even if the case is withdrawn, there it is in the docket, in the computer system, and 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 it doesn't go away. So look forward to, to making some, some moves on that, as well, as we try to make sure that we conceal eviction records in the future. But thank you all so much. Can't thank you enough for what you do and for being here today.
Thank you. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: Clerk, can you call the next panel?
Elizabeth Freed, the Honorable Annette M. Rizzo, and Jennifer Coatsworth. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: Please state your name for the record.
Good afternoon. My name is Elizabeth Freed and I'm a supervising attorney in the housing unit at Community Legal Services. Thank you for the opportunity to address the committee in support of such an important bill 21 today, making the eviction diversion program permanent in Philadelphia. As was I think mentioned earlier, CLS was part of the coalition that helped build EDP in 2020. And since that time, we have been working with the housing 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 counselors and the mediators in the program to ensure that they are trained and well supported in their work. CLS also works to ensure the coordination between some of these programs, between the eviction diversion program and between the Philadelphia eviction prevention project and right to council. And all these programs work in tandem to ensure that tenants are supported, no 11 matter where they are in the eviction process. And as you've already heard quite a bit today, EDP gives tenants the opportunity to resolve those more straightforward cases earlier on in that process with the support of housing counselors and mediators. Those cases that involve more complicated factors, legal defenses, those are then handled by the court system with the benefit of legal counsel for tenants through PEP and through right to counsel. All of these programs together with other investments by the city are creating the stability that will help us address our city's housing crisis. It was said earlier, I'm going to say it again, the diversion program has already 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 proven successful. It is a program that we've seen work. In 2023, landlords and tenants that participated in mediation through EDP reached agreements in 70 percent of cases. Again, I think that's a really critical figure to return to because it just shows what a successful program this can be when landlords and tenants are given the space to engage with each other prior to court. The program has also helped reduce eviction filings by 40 percent last year. Also, a very important figure to spend some time thinking about because this program has saved thousands of tenants from what many of our clients have described as a traumatic long court process with effects years down the road regardless of the outcome of the court case that can often make it very, very challenging as we've already heard today, for them to find safe and affordable housing in this city. And I do want to spend a little bit of time on targeted financial assistance as well. This is the rental assistance that was introduced in January 2023. It has just further strengthened 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 the EDP program. More than 40 percent of cases last year resolved through the help of TFA alone. This is funding that we know we have seen keeps people in their homes. It helps keep families safe. It helps keep families together. It can often protect people's very precious housing subsidies. So all very, very important things. TFA as we've heard, as well, also compensates landlords directly when tenants fall behind for any number of reasons. TFA can help avoid tenant turnover. TFA can help landlords avoid expensive, protracted court processes when judicial intervention really isn't necessary a lot of the time. So we do hope to see this funding expanded both in the 2025 budget and beyond to help even more tenants and landlords in Philadelphia. So in sum, CLS is so proud to see EDP recognized as a successful model in reducing evictions, benefiting both landlords and tenants as we've heard today. And we look forward to working collaboratively with our partners moving forward and city council to ensure its continued success in the future. Thank you. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. HON. RIZZO: Okay. Good afternoon and it's, it's great to be back in these chambers. My name is Judge Annette M. Rizzo.
Good to see you all in this hallowed hall. I'm very honored to be here and for all of you here. And when I look this way, I just have to say this off record. ) I'm going to shortcut my comments, actually, I'm going to go off script because I need to address some of the issues which are raised in some of the other speakers. So I'm here to help and support this wonderful body. It's really an honor. Yes, four years ago it started in the middle of a crisis and yet this eviction program was given life and a lifeline to so many and a voice to stabilize so many families, blocks, neighborhoods, and the city as a whole. It is a ballet of coordinating essential local, regional, and even national resources as we pull them in to put this pathway of critical dialogue now between 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 landlords, their reps, and of course, the tenants. And it has borne success. We hear it over and over. You can't say it enough. But we have seen this dance before. And what I want to hearken back and not have an historic travel log, the videos will be shown later. Some years ago, we were at the center 9 of a mortgage finance meltdown. It wasn't a 10 health crisis but I can assure you it was crisis 11 that not just affected Philadelphia but beyond and 12 even internationally. And so there was a call to 13 arms. And truly at the center of all of this was 14 the fact that we were trying to preserve those 15 distressed homeowners which themselves were on the 16 brink of or into homelessness. So I cannot believe the dialogue is the same and we are addressing it this time the right way, in a quick way, and I'm, I'm so grateful. But at the epicenter of my crisis that I dealt with were the courts. And the fact that this program has been structured to actually have pre complaint, pre filing basis to have that meaningful face to face whether it's telephonic or not, is so impactful. To bring the parties to 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 bear at that time as, as, as has been stated so eloquently that there's no record but early intervention for landlords and tenants is critical. And you have assembled under this program an amazing ecosystem of talented housing counselors who deal with all the demographics in this city, whether it is seniors, those who have language, impairments, those who are veterans. All of this is addressed on an individual basis under one hood. And it has proven success on that very, very micro basis and also on that macro. So its lifeline, its continuity, it's, it's stability to go forward as a permanent program with proper funding just makes me feel so overwhelmed with joy and such pride for the city. We lead not just by, I would say thought, but we lead by deed. And this has truly been proven with Philadelphia to be a national model, to be at the White House, all the things that have occurred before. We are the leaders in trying to stabilize housing in this city and we will forever be really the model for this, this country. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 I just say one thing that I find so interesting. When we started the mortgage foreclosure diversion program it was with a pilot sotto voce p, small p. Then we went boldly to a capital p. And the way we went permanent is we just removed pilot. So I think I like the auspices of this setting to really have eviction stabilized, confirmed by permanency of all of the working parts of this program. I salute you so much in being the leaders in this. And also former Councilmember Gimm, she was quite a partner in this from the early stages of discussion. So, yes, is it deja vu all over again? In part. But this truly has been taking it to another stage. So I can't thank you enough for your support. Knowing that the permanency of this program is really steadfast, needed, and only will improve. My one thoughts are continue outreach as best you can. That's always an improvement. Continued dialogue, collaborate with the courts.
This is as much a win-win for them as Sue Wasserkrug would say, as for the individuals, right? 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 We lower dockets, better administration. They get to the other matters at hand. Work with them, even if there's programs under the hood that even if a filing is made of a distressed tenant, that there could be programs even available under that format. There's more to be done but we have the right people in place to do it. The courts are, you know, though you don't want court intervention, please look to them as what could be other options in terms of it. So again, I salute and I -- it's an honor and privilege to be here and to see all that has come forward. Thank you. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much. I'm a Judge Rizzo fan, it means so much for you to be here. And I just want to thank you so much for not only your support of this program, but your, your efforts for housing justice, you know, more broadly, including everything that you did to help us get to a just settlement for the tenants of the University City townhomes. I admire you so much. HON. RIZZO: (indiscernible) of your leadership, yeah. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: I, too, am a member 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 of the Judge Rizzo fan club and one thing I want to thank you for is it's so frustrating and so difficult at times when you're representing so many low-income tenants in a system that is not set up for their success. That the system, until now, has been set up to create -- have as many evictions as possible. If folks couldn't pay or if for other reasons if they had to leave. But you taught me a term that you created in the mortgage foreclosure program that works for us now as well. That even through these mediation programs not -- going through the eviction diversion mediation program, not every scenario is going to work out fully beneficially for the tenant. But you talked about a soft landing. HON. RIZZO: Graceful exit. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: Graceful exit. HON. RIZZO: Graceful exit. That's right. Actually it's a national following now and it's -- but doesn't it fit the bill? Councilmember Landau, doesn't it fit the bill? VICE CHAIR LANDAU: Thank you. It is really that moment where there's not much else you can do. But as was stated earlier, you're not 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 going to have a mark on your record. You're not going to have an eviction filing even and you might even have bought yourself 30 days to get out and to start anew. But at least you have the graceful exit. HON. RIZZO: Right. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: Thank you so much. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Minority Leader.
Madam Chair. Whenever. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Seniority trumps.
No, no. I yield. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Council would you -- Minority Leader.
Thank you. Thank you so much for all your support. Yeah, it's really good to see you. I'm trying to -- I'm adding to the fan club, like, this has been an interesting journey, you know, and I really appreciate you taking this journey with us. So I just wanted to just chime in and say thank you as well. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 HON. RIZZO: It's so an honor to work with all of you and thank you. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Councilmember Jones. HON. RIZZO: Where have you -- I have been looking for you.
Here we go. So I'm one of your day one fans. Early in the kind of origins of the mortgage diversion program, we were feeling our way, we were building a ship while we were trying to fly it. And I remember your wealth of knowledge as to what we should do, what we can do. You explained to me early that we were separate pari passu organizations, cannot trump one another but we can work together. And you prove that. And so just for the record how many homes have you saved or the process saved now? HON. RIZZO: You know, I believe the stats at this time, and I still am involved with the program. I volunteer as well. So I think it's over 17,000, which that, that might be --
Amazing, amazing. HON. RIZZO: Yeah, yeah. Thank you. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 That, that is the fueling of a program we thought was only going to last a few years. And as we say, the rest is history as it is here. And I, I do appreciate that. It's sort of -- parts of it were a template, again, for this but much more has gone further with it --
Oh, yeah. HON. RIZZO: -- for the immediacy of it. So, yes, we had that relationship early on in building -- you're right -- building the plane as we were flying it. It worked.
What was amazing for me is a guy I went to school with who will remain nameless because this is public, came into my office he was, like, Mr. Prom King, captain of the football team kind of guy and voted most likely to succeed, came in during this process and shut my door and admitted that he was about to lose his grandparents' home. It humbled him, like, I wasn't used to him being vulnerable. And I looked at him and he just shook his head and said, this might save it. And it did. And so for those tens of thousands of people that you help, thank you. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 HON. RIZZO: Thank you. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: All righty. Thank you so much. HON. RIZZO: All right. Great to see you all. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: You, too. HON. RIZZO: As I should say in all of my comments anywhere over these years, may the force be with all of us. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good afternoon. Jennifer Coatsworth from the Philadelphia Bar Association. Good afternoon, Madam Chair. Madam Vice Chair, members of the committee. I also am a card-carrying member of the Judge Rizzo fan club and on behalf of the members of the Philadelphia Bar Association, thank you for the opportunity to testify today in favor of continuing funding for a program that has kept thousands of Philadelphians in their homes and made our city a nationwide model for its success, the Philadelphia eviction diversion program. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 My name is Jen Coatsworth. I'm a partner at Margolis Edelstein and as I stated, the chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association for 2024. One of our association's core missions is to foster an understanding of, involvement in, and equal access to our justice system. That's why we have been proud to support our partners at the city and the legal services community in supporting the eviction diversion program since its inception as a pilot in, in 2019. As the poorest large city in America, Philadelphia has long struggled to address its eviction crisis, which has overwhelmingly disproportionate impact on non-white Philadelphia residents. Even before the onset of COVID-19 and related economic challenges, the city averaged 19,000 eviction filings per year. In Philadelphia, households headed by black women with children are the most likely to face eviction driven changes to housing stability. And this continued during COVID-19 with 49 percent of eviction filings occurring in majority black communities and 78 percent occurring in communities of color. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 Through the eviction diversion program, EDP, and its agency partners, including community legal services, Philadelphia Legal Assistance, the Senior Law Center, Legal Clinic for the Disabled, the tenant union representative network, and others, tenants gain access to free, crucial tools for staying in their homes. That includes pro bono legal services for low-income tenants, an in- court help center, a tenant helpline, financial counseling, a website, and community education, and more. Perhaps most importantly, through this program, tenants and landlords get the gift of time. A 30 day pause in eviction proceedings with the opportunity to come to a resolution to help -- with the help of a trained volunteer mediator. Tenants get to stay in their homes while the process plays out and both tenants and landlords save the cost and stress of going to court and eviction filings don't bog down our overburdened court system. Plus, through remediation, an array of disagreements can be resolved including property damage and repairs. And which once addressed can directly and indirectly improve the 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 health, safety, and quality of life for residents, neighbors, and entire communities. The proof of this program's success is clear. Since its inception, EDP has helped thousands of low-income residents avoid homelessness. It has been nationally recognized as a model by the Urban Institute and called one of the best designed diversion programs in the country by Princeton University's eviction lab. According to the eviction lab, eviction filings in Philadelphia are down by 40 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels and 70 percent -- 70 percent of parties participating in diversions -- in the diversion program are able to reach an agreement. Our bar association represents more than 8,000 judges and legal professionals -- judges, lawyers, and legal professionals, including attorneys who represent both landlords and tenants. Since EDP was created, we have held yearly CLE programs to train and recruit volunteer mediators. We also strongly advocated for the passage of right to counsel for all tenants facing eviction and have worked to convene stakeholder group to develop recommendations for reforming and 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 modernizing the landlord tenant office.
Both of these are important companion initiatives to the EDP in addition to other amazing legislative proposals that this body has put forth to combat the housing crisis. Continuing to fund EDP is common sense. It has a proven track record of success and provides both landlords and tenants with necessary support navigating the complex and often fraught emotional process. Importantly, the program has saved thousands of tenants from becoming associated with an eviction record, which can be a serious barrier to obtaining safe and affordable housing in the future, even if the courts rule in favor of the tenant. Moreover, the program has relieved stress on our court system which unlike other large cities, did not experience the tidal wave of eviction cases once pandemic era moratoriums ended. We hope that this testimony and the written comments we are submitting today are helpful to the council as it works to determine the future of this program. We're grateful for the opportunity to support this legislation, and we stand ready to 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 help continue to support the eviction diversion program and to assist the city in whatever way we can. And I'm happy to answer any questions. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much for your testimony and we greatly appreciate your support and partnership. Thanks to all of you. We will now move on to the public comment list. We ask that all commenters limit your testimony to two minutes and if you've submitted written testimony, please summarize it. Ms. Jones, please call the names of the first three public commenters.
Andy Toy. Stephen Chintaman. Ed Stickell. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Good afternoon and thank you so much for being here today. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your comment.
Good afternoon, distinguished council members, and thank you for your courtesy and accommodation. My name is Ed Stickell, and I moved to this glorious city five years ago when I decided that I did not want to 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 grow old and die in a place I had lived over two decades. At that time, my good friend Ron said to me, you need to spend some time to find someplace you're really going to enjoy and appreciate being in. And following his advice I conducted an international search. And at the end of that, I find myself here in Philadelphia. Now, how did I end up in Philadelphia? After looking at Edinburgh and Copenhagen and Sydney and Taipei and all around the world, I came to the conclusion that Philadelphia is where I wanted to be. And why was that? It is because, because of the charm and the character. And where did the charm and the character of a city come from? From the people who live in it. And I can also state without equivocation that Philadelphia is as cool today as it was 30 years ago, and I know this because I've been coming to this city off and on for 30 years. Now, back in those days, I lived in Manhattan and admittedly in those days Manhattan did have the edge on Philadelphia in the cool department. However, that was then and this is 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 now. And New York has lost every ounce of cool that it ever had. How did it lose its cool? They forced out cool kids with their insane rents. And many of those cool kids live in this city right now because this was a place where a lot of them came to. I just lost my train of thought. Anyway, the charming character and the coolness and this, this city is just a marvelous place that I have totally fallen in love with. And how people end up in places that are charming and have character and are cool is through stable communities. Stable communities are the bedrock of a city of quality. The absolute foundation. Where people can put down roots and know that they're going to be someplace for decades and where they can raise their kids and that stability will produce results across the board. Housing is a foundational -- in fact, I would say it is the foundational issue. I am quite well aware that this council is attacking many of the issues that are plaguing this city right now. Many of the members of this council are concerned with crime. I know our illustrious mayor has made crime a centerpiece of her 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 administration. Well, stable communities have less crime. If you want to get control on the crime situation you need to promote stable communities where people feel safe and where they're invested. I know that many members of this council are committed to addressing the addiction epidemic that is plaguing this city and this commonwealth in general. Again, housing is a foundational issue. If you want to address addiction, you need to address housing. People need to come from stable neighborhoods. They need to know that they have stable neighborhoods to be in. They need to know they're not going to be displaced and being batted around, hither, thither, and yon. I know that many members of this council are concerned with education. Foundational issue is housing. You cannot build good schools unless you have stable housing with people who are going to be there for a while and will invest their time and their energy into their schools. That's how you get good, quality education. And I could go through the entire list of all the issues and concerns that plague this city and many, many others, but 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 it all goes back to housing.
So I am very appreciative of the members of this council, Councilmember Brooks and Councilmember Gauthier, Councilmember O'Rourke, and Councilmember Landau and all the others who have worked so mightily on building this foundation -- this foundation stone that we need to create stabilized housing in this city which will help us solve all the other problems facing us. I thank you very much for your attention and your courtesy and hope you have a blessed afternoon. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you for your comment and for ranking us more highly than New York and Copenhagen. Good afternoon, Steve. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your comment.
Stephen Chintaman, vice president of the Pennsylvania Apartment Association. Good afternoon, Chairwoman Gauthier, Vice Chair Landau, and members of the committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless. My name is Stephen Chintaman and I am 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 the new vice president of Government Affairs for the Pennsylvania Apartment Association, representing over 287,000 units and 316 property management companies across the commonwealth. Locally here in Philadelphia, we represent over 38,000 units and 49 management companies. I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to testify today on Bill 240245, which would make the city's residential eviction diversion program permanent. I would also like to thank Minority Leader Brooks and her staff for their leadership on this matter. The Pennsylvania Apartment Association and its members appreciates this legislative body's commitment to cross collaboration in ensuring we create a program that finds equilibrium for both landlords and tenants. It should be known that the PAA's apartment owners and managers do not seek opportunities to evict residents. We are an organization that is committed to working with stakeholders and government in addressing housing instability across the commonwealth and the nation. We were proud to join the White House Eviction Reform 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 Summit that sought to build a sustainable model towards eviction reform. The PAA opposes this legislation as we believe there are regulatory concerns with the current eviction diversion program. We hope that the council would consider the following recommendations. Creating a program that only applies to tenants who qualify for assistance and participate due to a nonpayment of rent issue. Amending the program to allow for a seven-day prescreening period to determine whether the tenant qualifies for financial assistance. Amending the program to allow landlords to receive funding through the targeted financial assistance program with reimbursement within 30 days. Identifying a permanent and sustainable funding source for the eviction diversion program. Many of the states and local governments that still currently operate an eviction diversion program are in similar position as the city of Philadelphia with federal stimulus dollars reaching sunset and/or exhaustion by the end of the current fiscal year. In order to make these programs permanent, long term funding solutions 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 will need to be implemented -- COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: And I'm going to ask you to wrap up in the next seconds or 5 so. 6
-- and I'll just end by 7 saying that the PAA would welcome any opportunity 8 to continue to work with this committee and all 9 stakeholders who will be impacted by any potential 10 changes due to this bill. We appreciate your time 11 and consideration. 12 COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you for 13 your comment. 14 Ms. Jones can you call the name of the 15 next public commenter? 16
We have Ali Zane and Ms. 17 Cecilia Thompson. 18 COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Please state 19 your name for the record and proceed with your 20 comment.
Ali Zane. Esteemed members of city council, thank you for having me. My name is Ali Zane and I am here today on behalf of the housing committee of the Philadelphia Democratic Socialists of America. Philly DSA is proud to be 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 a community co-sponsor of the Our Philadelphia Neighborhoods policy platform. And we call on city council to extend and invest in the eviction diversion program by passing bill number 240245. When landlords are unresponsive, when the heat and elevators don't work, and buildings are literally falling apart, Philadelphia renters are coming together to exercise their legally protected right to organize. Renters across our great city, including tenants in Brith Sholom in West Philadelphia, are organizing for safe, affordable, and dignified housing. Unfortunately, when renters exercise their rights they risk retaliatory eviction. Renters facing such retaliation can seek relief with the Fair Housing Commission. However, because of current municipal court rules, renters must race to file an FHC complaint before their landlord gets to eviction court. As it has been said by many people today, the eviction diversion program gives the gift of time. Time to file an FHC complain or time to make the rent work or time to make a graceful exit without the black stain of an eviction record. This time is especially important for renters who 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 work long hours or those who care for children or disabled family members. When we organize tenants in Philadelphia, one thing we hear all the time is that rents are unaffordable and they're only getting higher. According to the national Low Income Housing Coalition, a worker in Philadelphia needs to earn three times the minimum wage to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment. For renters on government assistance programs like SSI, affordable housing is almost impossible to find. That is why it is critical for city council to invest more funding in the targeted financial assistance program, in addition to making EDP permanent. In conclusion, Philly DSA urges this committee to pass bill number 240245 and save the eviction diversion program. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you so much for your comment and your advocacy. Cecilia, thank you for being the most dedicated community advocate. You're here almost every single day for one reason or another.
I got a little bit of 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 time now. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Please state your name for the record and proceed with your comment.
Sure. My name is Cecilia Thompson. I want to thank members of the committee for having this hearing. My testimony is for those families who have to care for people with disabilities when they have to lose their job or quit their job to care for those families. A few months ago, I had to help a family who had asked the landlord for that renter's certification. He refused to give it to her. So her rent got behind because you need that certification to get the programs. Long story short, he had -- he, he had intended on evicting her and this was a woman who was waiting for the state to supply a one to one to her 22-year-old that, that was a paraplegic. Long story short, when he did go through the program, his thing was he thought the money was going to take forever and a day to get to him, that's why he didn't want to be bothered. Come to find out it, it didn't take long. I think it 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 took, like, maybe 30 days or, or something like that. But my point is that when the family has to cease working to care for their loved one and they have to temporarily get on either SSA or SSI, that's a stressor that they shouldn't have to endure. As a parent who does care for a loved one with severe autism, that's a stress in itself, let alone you have to worry about roof over your head and, and, and those type of things, so. When individuals have to go to these diversion programs, hopefully there will be assistance for those families who either permanently or temporarily have to be on government assistance, again, to care for those -- their loved ones with disabilities. Thank you for the opportunity to speak this afternoon, and I am in strong support of this initiative being a permanent initiative. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Councilmember Jones?
Yeah. Madam Chair, I will be brief because I know we have a hard stop. But I'd like permission to work with the apartment association to talk about what post 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 these -- moving out of this legislation, out of committee might mean in future. And if you bless me to do that, I would take that on. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Sure thing. We're always willing to have those -- to have those conversations, yeah.
And then number two, Brith Sholom, which is in the fourth councilmatic district, needs these protections. And it's not just Brith Sholom, it's the Pavilion, it's -- I can name five or six developments that are teetering, tottering on these kinds of eviction issues that need that gift of time. And I think that's the most profound articulation of what this program means, so. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Thank you, councilmember, and thanks to you both for your comment. We truly appreciate you.
Thank you. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Seeing no one else here to testify on the bill, this concludes the public hearing. We will now go into a public meeting to consider the action to be taken on the bill heard today. Can the clerk please call the 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 roll?
Vice Chair -- excuse me -- Vice Chair Landau? VICE CHAIR LANDAU: Present.
And Chair Gauthier? COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Present. The Chair recognizes Vice Chair Landau for a motion on the amendment to bill number 240245. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: I, I, I --
I move. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: I move to -- I move to --
Turn your mic up. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: Sorry. It's an amendment? Amendment? COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Uh-huh. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: We are doing an amendment. Okay. I got you. I got you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I offer an 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 amendment to bill number 240245. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of the committee. I move that the amendment to bill 5 number 240245 be approved.
I second. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to bill number 240245 be approved. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.) COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Those opposed? (No response.) COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: The ayes haven it and the motion carries. And the amendment to bill number 240245 has been approved. The chair recognizes Vice Chair Landau for a motion on bill number 240245, as amended. VICE CHAIR LANDAU: Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that bill number 240245 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. 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245
I second. COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: It has been moved and properly seconded that bill number 240245, 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.) COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: Those opposed? (No response.) COMMITTEE CHAIR GAUTHIER: The ayes have it, and the motion carries. Bill number 240245, as amended, will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and a request that the rules of council be suspended to permit 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 and participation. (The Committee was adjourned.) 5/22/24 COMMITTEE - BILL 240245 - - - CERTIFICATE OF TRANSCRIPTIONIST I, HEATHER FACTOR, 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 20th day of June, 2024. ______________________________________ Heather Factor