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Description
From the Stated Meeting of Philadelphia City Council held Thursday, February 6, 2020:
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (3rd District) introduces a resolution to hold public hearings on the enforcement of, and the expansion of protections for renters provided by, Philadelphia’s good cause residential eviction law.
Read the resolution: https://phila.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4326429&GUID=71D536AE-7323-45AF-9D49-71AE6F4F14A9&Options=ID|Text|&Search=200129
A
A
You,
mr.
president,
I'd
like
to
take
a
moment
to
share
more
about
why
I'm
calling
for
these
hearings
today
a
little
context
for
anyone
who
may
not
be
familiar
with
the
history.
In
late
2018,
City
Council
unanimously
passed
a
bill
protecting
renters
from
eviction
and
requiring
landlords
to
demonstrate
good
cause
in
order
to
remove
tenants
from
their
homes.
I
want
to
commend
council
member
Jones
for
his
tireless
efforts
in
getting
this
bill
to
a
place
of
consensus
and
council
members
bast
and
for
co-sponsoring
and
my
council
colleagues
for
ushering
it
into
law.
A
The
good
cause
protections
went
into
effect
in
April
of
2019,
so
the
Wills
have
been
in
motion
for
the
better
part
of
a
year.
These
hearings
will
give
us
the
opportunity
to
check,
in
with
the
Fair
Housing
Commission
who's
enforcing
the
law,
to
understand
how
the
system
is
working.
So
far,
evictions
remain
a
dire
concern
in
our
city
and
families
continue
to
struggle
on
a
daily
basis.
Over
19,000
evictions
were
filed
in
2019
alone.
Just
think
about
that
the
thousands
of
lives
turned
upside
down
belongings
put
on
the
street.
A
The
days
of
school
missed
the
jobs
lost.
Furthermore,
our
housing
market
is
going
through
a
period
of
volatile
change
for
the
first
time
in
philly
history.
There
are
now
more
renters
and
homeowners
and
that
number
continues
to
grow
over
half
of
our
city's
renters
are
cost
burdened
by
their
housing
cost,
meaning
they
pay
over
30%
of
their
income
on
rent.
Additionally,
86%
of
renters
making
under
35,000
a
year
are
experiencing
this
burden.
A
The
hearings
on
proposing
today
will
give
us
an
opportunity
to
hear
from
the
Fair
Housing
Commission
the
Philadelphia
renters
and
from
the
community
at
large.
We
want
to
make
sure
that
this
law
is
being
implemented
effectively
and
explore
what
can
be
done
to
expand
the
protections
that
it
offers.
Considering
the
immediacy
of
the
issue,
I
want
to
thank
council
member
Jones
for
his
partnership
in
this
effort,
all
of
the
co-sponsors
and
this
body
for
considering
this
resolution.
Thank
you
so
much
Thank.