Advocates say evictions still occurring, push for city ban
The Peduto administration plans to introduce a bill next week that could help renters avoid eviction, an issue housing advocates continue to highlight during the ongoing economic fallout caused bythe COVID-19 pandemic.
Evictions are still occurring despite emergency orders, advocates say, and they want the city to enact its own eviction moratorium, similar to what Harrisburg’s local leaders passed in December.
Although an Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas emergency order postponed landlordtenant proceedings “based upon non-payment of rent or end of lease” until Feb. 26, hearings are still going forward.
From Thursday until the end of the month, 26 eviction hearings are scheduled in the judicial districts that fall within Pittsburgh’s borders, according to Carnegie Mellon University CREATE Lab’s Eviction Rapid Response team, which has been tracking court filings since April.
“For folks who are evicted, the options for rehousing [have] never ever been worse,” said Anne Wright, CREATE Lab project scientist. “Marginally affordable places that used to have reasonable availability do not have availability.”
“Loopholes” in the local court order, and in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium that doesn’t expire until the end of March, give landlords an avenue to find other reasons to evict someone who’s late on rent because of a job loss or other financial struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates say.
“Everybody agrees if it’s a present danger to health or violence,
those [cases] should be allowed to continue,” Ms. Wright said.
But she and members of the Pittsburgh Union of Regional Renters say they are hearing stories and seeing filings “triggered” by late rent but claiming breach of contract for other issues, including pets, and in one recent instance, a grandmother whose grandchildren were staying butwere not on the lease.
“Our phone rings every day with tenants being evicted for ‘crimes’ such as having a service animal for an autistic child, being a victim of domestic abuse or simply letting a family member who was evicted elsewhere crash on your couch,” according to an emailed statement from PURR, a countywide tenant organizing and advocacy group. “We are literally sick, tired and worse from these non-eviction moratoria. PURR continues to demand a clear, comprehensive and long-lasting ban on evictions in this crisis. It is a matter of actual public safety.”
The group, along with Councilwoman Deb Gross, had been in communication with Mayor Bill Peduto’s office regarding amending the city’s existing COVID-19 emergency declaration to include language addressing evictions.
On Monday night, City Council members received a memo from the administration’s Law Department advising against the amendment.
“What I’ve been told by administration late yesterday is that they are going to be looking for another place to try to reach this kind of outcome of reducing evictions,” Ms. Gross said Tuesday. “I haven’t yet heard what that language would look like. But [it can’t take] for two weeks.”
That’s because the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court emergency order expires in late February, and hearings will likely “hit the fan” on March 1, Ms. Wright said.
Additionally, the federal system to disburse millions given to the city and county to aid both renters and landlords has not yet become active.
Nearly 230 hearings are already scheduled within city limits next month, according tothe CREATE Lab’s figures.
“The mayor’s office has been working with council and the Law Department to address the matter and plans to introduce a solution next week,” said Timothy McNulty, mayoral spokesman.
State Rep. Ed Gainey, D Allegheny, who is challenging Mr. Peduto in the upcoming Democratic primary, urged the city to act, saying it “must follow the lead of cities like Harrisburg and take swift action to incorporate an eviction moratorium into the City’s COVID-19 Emergency Declaration.”
Harrisburg’s city order carries a fine up to $10,000 and jail time for landlords who evict for nonpayment of rent, and the law can be renewed every 30 days through 2021.
“The city has the legal authority and a moral obligation to protect the health and safety of its citizens,” continued a statement from Mr. Gainey’s campaign Wednesday night. “Confronted with an affordable housing crisis, a deadly global pandemic, freezing temperatures, and nearrecord snow falls, Pittsburgh renters urgently need protection from eviction while we await the passage of a relief package in Washington.”
As of Thursday, the city’s Law Department was still reviewing the matter, accordingto the mayor’s office.
Just over 260 tenants in Pittsburgh have faced eviction hearings since Pennsylvania’s moratorium expired in September, according to PURR’s figures. The organization does not know how many resulted in evictions.
The Apartment Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh, an industry group that represents 200 companies owning 30,000 units in the city, could not be reached for comment. The group has taken legal action against the city in recent years.