Wondering how the pandemic changed eviction in The City of Brotherly Love? As in many cities across the country, rent soared and jobs were at risk due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Philadelphia’s pre-existing housing crisis was exacerbated. In response, Philadelphia City Council Member Helen Gym, proposed the Eviction Diversion Program: established September of 2020. The Eviction Diversion Program was tailored to improve tenant landlord mediation, and avoid court. Just this October 13th, the City Council voted 10-1 to extend the program until June of 2024.
It seems that Philadelphia is always combating rising rent and high eviction levels. According to the Philadelphia City Council, “Pre-pandemic, Philadelphia ranked as the fourth highest evicting city in the nation, processing 20,000 evictions annually”. Who is experiencing these evictions? “Local data showed that 74% of evictions involved a Black tenant, 70% involved a woman, and half involved a parent or caretaker”. Minorities and lower income households have continuously taken the brunt of eviction conflicts.
This was taken to an extreme in 2020. “The pandemic has left low-and-moderate income tenants unable to pay rent and landlords without the income to make needed repairs and pay mortgages”. Both the tenant and landlord struggled to make ends meet like never before. WHYY also reported that “COVID-19 worsened the rental environment because it jeopardized low-income jobs and disproportionately hospitalized Black people and Latinos”.
The City stepped in that September, founding the Eviction Diversion Program: modeled after the Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program. This free program requires landlords and tenants to mediate with trained counselors before filing for eviction in court. Major gains from avoiding court include: preventing records that bar tenants from future quality housing, reducing case strain on the Municipal Court, access to renter assistance and services, and not spending money on court. Mediation is also scheduled within 30 days, compared to making a court date which can take months. More specifically on the landlord’s side, “landlords can recoup back rent owed and avoid vacancies and unit turnover costs”. So far the program has provided 300 million, and assisted almost 50,000 applicants. Altogether, this program was a huge stride in improved tenant landlord relations.
Since its establishment in 2020, a few changes have been made to the program. The program was initially going to end in 2021. So far it has been extended twice: last December for the length of 2022, and this October for June of 2024 (so long as there is funding). The latest extension altered the amount of days a landlord must wait to file for eviction. Further, as of January 1, 2022 the program was made mandatory.
Helen Gym, the forerunner of this program, stated in a December 16, 2021 press release: “We always knew that the COVID pandemic exposed existing crises, and I’m proud that Philadelphia is so focused on fixing a crisis of evictions by giving landlords and tenants alternatives”.
More information and tenant resources can be found from the Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project.
