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Philadelphia s Eviction Prevention Program Hailed as a National Model But Funding s In Jeopardy
In a typical pre-pandemic year, landlords in Philadelphia filed around 20,000 evictions. Last year, landlords filed just 4,500. May 26, 2021, 11am PDT | rkaufman Share
In a typical pre-pandemic year, according to research from the Reinvestment Fund, landlords in Philadelphia filed around 20,000 evictions. Between 2010 and 2019, that number shrank a bit, as employment, wages, and access to health insurance all inched upward, according to the group’s analysis. But rather than spiking when Covid-19 shut down the U.S. and put millions of people out of work, the eviction rate dropped. In 2020, landlords filed 4,500 evictions against tenants, according to the Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project (PEPP), a coalition of legal aid and tenant advocacy groups.
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City Councilmember Helen Gym speaks at a city council meeting. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Philadelphia’s primary source of legal and social-service support for low-income tenants facing eviction is gearing up to fight for its future this budget season.
Under Mayor Jim Kenney’s proposed budget, the Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project a city-funded collaboration between Community Legal Services, Clarifi, Legal Clinic for the Disabled, SeniorLAW Center, Tenant Union Representative Network, and Philadelphia VIP would see its budget cut in half.
The mayor’s spending plan includes about $931,000 for the project less than half of the $1.8 million secured for 2020 and the $2.1 million given in the prior year. The proposal doesn’t include any funds specifically for the city’s Right to Counsel initiative, which guarantees low-income tenants an attorney in eviction cases.
Diane Buchanan lives with her daughter and her grandson in an apartment in Philadelphia. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, she recently told a committee of the Philadelphia City Council, her daughter lost her job as a hairdresser, leaving Buchanan to carry more of the burden of rent and bills. Schools closed, and her grandson started learning from home. The refrigerator stopped working, and the landlord “slow-walked” the repairs for months, she said. She started thinking she might get evicted over the dispute with the landlord. She thought she might be able to move in with her son, but he had a one-bedroom apartment a dangerous situation during a pandemic. She also might be able to move to California and live with her brother, but she didn’t want to rely on him and lose her independence. Then she got a text message from a housing counselor, saying she was scheduled for a pre-eviction mediation with her landlord.