Philadelphia City Council Passes Key Tenant Protection Bill

PHILADELPHIA—In what proponents hope will be a means to level the playing field for tenants facing eviction, the Philadelphia City Council has passed a right to counsel bill that they contend will not only help tenants avoid eviction, but could help keep them out of poverty.

The Council approved on Thursday Bill 190386, introduced by Councilmember Helen Gym (At Large). The bill will provide city-subsidized lawyers for all low-income renters facing eviction.

“When a city with the highest rate of poverty of all major U.S. cities establishes this bold right for our most vulnerable renters, we are leading the country towards justice for all,” said Councilmember Gym.

Landlords file more than 20,000 evictions in Philadelphia each year—the fourth highest total in the nation. Without a lawyer, families are displaced from their homes in 78% of evictions in Philadelphia, but families with lawyers are displaced just 5% of the time, according to a 2018 report commissioned by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

“Evictions in our city disproportionately target black women, many of them single heads of household, and make children twice as likely to end up in foster care. Today, we showed the world that cities can put a stop to this eviction crisis and build a better justice system at the same time,” Councilmember Gym states.

The city’s initial investment in the right-to-counsel program will be $5 million.

The Philadelphia Bar Association supported the measure and praised the City Council for the passage of the bill. Philadelphia now joins San Francisco, New York City, Cleveland and Newark, NJ in the right to counsel movement. Similar legislation is advancing in Detroit, Los Angeles, Denver, and other cities across the country, and has been proposed in Congress, according to the Philadelphia Bar Association.

“This is a historic day for Philadelphia,” says Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Rochelle M. Fedullo. “The creation of a right to counsel for low-income tenants facing eviction is a sound and cost-effective solution to combat the devastating effects of our city’s eviction crisis and reduce the poverty rate. It will prevent homelessness and avert the trauma and harm to tenants and their families from being disruptively displaced. It will also stabilize and strengthen neighborhoods and improve and preserve the housing rental stock for low-income tenants across the city.”

The Bar Association notes that only 11% of tenants facing eviction have a lawyer in the city, in contrast with 80% of landlords. Tenants who have legal help are 95% more likely to avoid homelessness.