Opening Remarks — Emergency Housing Protection Act Hearing — May 29, 2020
Good morning, everyone. Thank you to my colleagues joining us today to hear testimony on this crucial package of legislation. I’d also like to thank everyone taking time out of their busy day to testify, and to all watching the hearing from home.
It’s difficult to overstate the significance of the moment we find ourselves in right now. COVID-19 has turned our whole world upside down in a matter of months. Our city, state, and federal governments have responded, enacting a variety of measures to try to protect people during this pandemic. But I think we all know that as we work to reopen, things are never going to be quote “back to normal.”
Tens of thousands of Philadelphians have filed for unemployment since mid-March. And we know that job losses are concentrated in the low end of wage distribution, among workers who are more likely to be black and Latino and who are more likely to rent their homes.
In other words, our most vulnerable communities are the ones being hardest-hit by COVID-19, and the ones facing the greatest levels of economic insecurity. And with economic insecurity comes housing insecurity.
Even before the pandemic brought our economy to a screeching halt, Philadelphia was facing a housing crisis. 300,000 renters were considered cost-burdened, which means they spend at least of a third of their income on rent each month.
We have the 4th highest eviction rate among American cities: on average, 1 in 14 of our renters faces eviction each year. My office has experienced this firsthand. Since starting in January, we’ve literally heard from more 3rd District residents struggling with rent and eviction related issues than total days I’ve been in office — a fact that is deeply troubling to me.
Sixteen thousand Philadelphians applied for the City’s newly-created emergency rental assistance program in just five days, with demand exceeding supply by over 400 percent. It is Council’s responsibility as a collective to determine how we as a legislative body respond to these stark realities.
We need a plan to protect renters, that gives them time to put their lives back together without the constant threat of homelessness. We need a plan to make sure landlords get paid. The bulk of our affordable housing is provided by small landlords, who often times themselves are stretched thin financially. And we need a plan to prevent a massive wave of evictions, which would create an unprecedented burden on our courts and City services.
This is why Councilmembers Helen Gym, Kendra Brooks and I introduced the Emergency Housing Protection Act. These six bills, working in concert, are designed to keep people safely in their homes, support landlords, and reduce strain on City resources.
They extend the eviction moratorium, require mediation between renters and landlords before evictions can happen, and allow renters to enter a repayment plan for back rent. They also temporarily waive late fees, increase penalties for illegal evictions, and stabilize rent for several months after the end of the pandemic — which will give struggling renters one less thing to worry about as they get back on track.
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented action. And as public servants and legislators during the largest health crisis in modern history, it’s our responsibility to create stability amidst uncertainty.
A stable home is at the foundation of a stable life — and so it’s critical that housing policy is front and center in our city’s recovery efforts.
During the Great Recession, Philadelphia led the nation by creating the first successful mortgage foreclosure diversion program. With the Emergency Housing Protection Act, we have an opportunity to innovate once again — and to enact compassionate, cost-effective, and common-sense policy to keep our citizens housed.
Thank you so much.
