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From YouTube: Committee on Licenses and Inspections 11-28-2018
Description
The Committee on Licenses and Inspections of the Council of the City of Philadelphia held a Public Hearing on Wednesday, November 28, 2018 to hear testimony on the following items:
180939 An Ordinance amending Chapter 9-3900 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Property Licenses and Owner Accountability," to modify application and notice requirements, and penalties for noncompliance; all under certain terms and conditions.
180940 An Ordinance amending Chapter 19-2600 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Business Income and Receipts Taxes," to modify application requirements for commercial activity licenses; all under certain terms and conditions.
Committee on Licenses and Inspections
Chair: Councilwoman Maria D. Quiñones-Sánchez (7th District)
Vice Chair: Councilman Allan Domb
A
Good
afternoon,
the
Committee
on
licenses
and
inspection
will
now
come
to
order.
Having
established
quorum
to
my
right,
councilman
Dom
to
my
left,
councilman
bill
Greenlee
and
to
his
left.
Councilman
Blondell,
Reynolds,
Brown
who's
been
appointed
to
this
committee
for
the
purposes
of
this
hearing
and
councilman.
Heenan
has
also
joined
us
for
the
purposes
of
information.
A
I
want
to
make
sure
that
folks
know
that
there
is
Ellen
I'm
hearing
on
Monday
at
one
o'clock
for
Bill's
number,
one:
eight,
zero,
nine,
nine,
two
one:
eight
zero,
nine
five,
three
one:
eight
zero
one:
oh
seven,
one:
eight
zero,
seven,
zero,
zero,
17
one
one,
one,
two
one:
eight:
oh
seven,
four,
five
one:
eight,
oh
seven,
four
six
and
one
eight
one:
zero
zero.
Eight.
Today's
hearing
is
on
two
bills:
bill
number
1809,
39
and
bill
one:
eight:
zero,
nine,
four
Oh!
Will
the
clerk
read
the
title
of
both
bills?
Well,.
B
Number
one:
eight:
zero,
nine
three:
nine,
an
ordinance
amending
chapter,
9,
3900
of
the
Philadelphia
code
and
title
property
licenses
and
owner
account
ability
to
modify
application
notice,
requirements
and
penalties
for
non-compliance
all
under
certain
terms
and
conditions.
Bill
number
one:
eight:
zero,
nine,
four:
zero,
an
ordinance
amending
chapter,
19,
2600
and
Philadelphia
code
entitled
business
income,
receipts
taxes,
it's
about
five
applications;
requirements
for
commercial
activity
licenses,
all
under
certain
terms
and
condition.
B
A
C
You
very
very,
very
much
madam
chair
before
I
get
started.
I
do
want
to
say
a
huge
thank
you
to
the
chair
of
this
committee.
Councilwoman
Maria,
chin
and
Sanchez
I,
her
staff
for
squeezing
us
in
squeezing
this
committee
hearing
in
before
the
holiday
and
I
want
to
thank
all
of
those
who
are
able
to
join
us
in
this
license
and
inspection
committee
to
hear
on
bills.
Number
one:
eight:
zero,
nine,
three
nine
and
one
eight
zero
nine
400,
both
introduced
by
my
office
on
October
2
2015.
C
These
two
bills,
if
passed,
would
increase
the
transparency
and
accountability
of
LLC's,
both
residential
and
commercial.
The
purpose
of
these
bills
is
to
increase
the
transparency
and
accountability
of
LLC's.
A
little
background
on
an
introduction
of
these
two
bills
is
necessary
and
crafting
this
legislation,
ultimately
aimed
at
ensuring
that
no
child
is
led
poisoned
by
paint
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia.
My
staff
and
I
for
the
past
16
18
months
has
met
with
advocates
landlords
leadership
of
hako
parents
of
lead
to
poison
children,
nurses,
lawyers,
doctors
and
multiple
agencies.
C
Over
the
course
of
the
last
year
and
a
half,
my
staff
and
I
have
met
with
Happ
Co
three
times
as
well
as
a
separate
meeting
with
the
Pennsylvania
Apartment
Association.
We
have
held
multiple
meetings,
each
with
the
Department
of
Health,
the
Department
of
license
and
inspection
and
the
law
department,
and
we
have
met
several
times
with
advocacy
groups,
including
the
leadership
and
team
at
PCC.
Why
community
legal
services
and
turned
so
we
have
cast
the
umbrella
wide
and
listened
to
all
voices
on
this
matter.
C
One
of
the
concerns
raised
in
these
the
conversations
was
the
fact
that
many
LLC's
were
nearly
impossible
to
contact
about
issues
regarding
lead
paint,
as
well
as
other
causes
for
concern
that
are
raised
by
both
tenants
and
city
agencies.
We
have
also
learned
that
these
LLC's
were
also
impossible
to
contact
regarding
standard
communications
needed
for
doing
business,
either
by
tenants
or
by
city
agencies.
My
staff
and
I
were
asked
time
and
time
again.
Where
is
the
accountability
for
these
faceless
many
faceless
property
owners?
Why
is
there
limited
or
no
transparency
transparency?
C
How
can
the
city
allow
unlicensed
landlords
and
business
owners
hide
behind
paperwork
and
ineffective
business
addresses?
My
staff
and
I
were
also
told
about
tenants
filing
complaints
against
their
landlords
only
to
receive
the
communications
in
their
own
mailboxes.
My
staff
and
I
listened
to
tearful
parents
and
family
members
who
would
share
with
us
the
untenable
conditions
of
their
apartments,
with
nowhere
to
turn
my
staff
and
I
heard
from
city
employees
about
the
maze
of
false
information
they
have
to
work
around
to
serve
Philadelphia
citizens.
C
Fat
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia
LLC's
are
sometimes
used
to
shield
property
owners
from
personal
liability
while
obscuring
their
identities.
The
result
of
these
hidden
identities,
oftentimes
with
unlicensed
landlords,
means
that
many
tenants
and
some
of
our
most
vulnerable
citizens
struggle
to
hold
landlords
accountable.
The
result
of
these
hidden
identities
means
that
the
city
cannot
adequately
address
or
fix
blight.
C
The
result
of
these
hidden
identities
is
that
we
as
leaders
are
unable
to
answer
basic
questions
oftentimes
about
our
own
housing
market,
because
we
can't
collect
the
necessary
information
to
document
what
the
status
of
our
housing
market
is.
These
two
bills
not
only
allow
the
city
to
identify
individuals
who
hold
financial
interests
in
each
registered
LLC,
but
they
also
require
that
they
list
the
managing
agent
a
managing
agent
that
is
able
to
not
only
be
contacted
by
tenants,
but
also
to
receive
legal
and
government
notifications.
C
The
goal
is
not
to
publicly
disclose
home,
addresses
or
break
any
business
owners.
Confidentiality
repeat:
the
goal
of
this
legislation
is
not
to
publicly
disclose
the
home
addresses
or
break
any
business
owners
confidentiality.
The
goal
is
transparency
so
that
we
can
get
to
those
bad
actors,
typically
unlicensed
landlords,
most
often
who
have
led
in
their
apartment
properties.
We
fully
expect
city
agencies
to
issue
policies
that
protect
all
privacy
rights
granted
by
this
law.
We
know
that
LLC's
serve
as
a
legitimate
purpose
by
the
majority.
C
However,
as
long
as
children
would
be
important
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia,
we
have
to
look
for
other
small
incremental
steps
to
get
to
the
root
of
the
problem.
We're
not
there
yet
we're
not
there.
Yet
without
transparency
and
accountability
on
the
people
behind
those
LLC's,
we
leave
our
citizens
and
our
taxpayers
uninformed
vulnerable
and
in
far
too
many
cases,
victims
of
predatory
business
practices.
We
have
circulated
amendments
to
both
bills.
In
response
to
concerns
raised
by
both
the
administration
and
the
landlord
community.
We
heard
you
and
we've
acted
on
those
concerns.
C
The
effective
date
for
these
bills
is
now
January,
1,
2020,
I,
repeat
the
effective
date
for
these
bills
is
now
January
1
2020,
to
allow
full
integration
of
these
expectations
in
the
new
Eclipse
computer
system,
and
we
want
to
thank
the
administration
for
the
ask
and
we've
responded
to
the
ask
so
that
those
departments
can
do
what
they
need
to
do
for
us
to
allow
the
delayed
implementation
of
these
bills
in
response
to
landlord
concerns.
We
have
clarified
that
equity
interests
need
only
provide
a
mailing
address
and
not
their
home
address.
C
We
don't
want
your
home
address
in
response
to
landlord
concerns.
We
have
clarified
the
equity
interest
needs
only
provide
a
mailing
address
and
not
their
home
address.
Thank
you
to
all
of
those
stakeholders
who
participated
in
the
numerous
long.
It's
okay,
myriad
discussions
that
we've
had
for
the
past
18
months
focused
on
how
we
get
closer
and
close
another
loophole
and
addressing
lead,
as
well
as
fostering
better
relations
between
landlord
and
Tenace.
Thank
you,
madam
chair.
Thank.
B
A
A
D
You
I
have
separate
testimony
on
both
bills:
Julie
I'll,
just
read
them
both
Dabangg
okay,
good
afternoon
chairwoman,
Kiana
Sanchez
and
members
of
the
committee
on
licenses
and
inspections.
My
name
is
Rebecca
Swanson
I'm,
the
director
of
planning
for
the
department
of
licenses
and
inspections
I'm
here
to
provide
testimony
on
bill
number
one:
eight,
zero,
nine
39
as
amended,
which
amends
the
requirements,
her
rental
license,
application
set
forth
in
Chapter,
nine
3900
of
the
Philadelphia
Code,
any
property
owner
who
rents
out
all
or
part
of
their
properties
required
to
obtain
a
rental
license
from
L&I.
D
So
this
license
must
be
renewed
annually
on
the
cost
of
fifty
five
dollars
per
unit.
This
bill
would
change
the
rental
license:
application
to
require
corporations
to
disclose
the
identities
of
principals
or
individuals
with
equity
interests
in
the
corporation,
both
at
the
time
of
application
and
at
any
time,
ownership
changes.
The
department
supports
this
effort
and
is
prepared
to
undertake
its
implementation
in
the
future.
Practically
speaking,
this
will
not
affect
the
rental
license
issuance
process,
but
in
requiring
corporations
to
be
more
transparent
as
to
their
ownership
structure
on
their
applications.
D
The
city
will
now
have
additional
tool
tools
to
contact
licensees
if
there
are
code
violations
at
their
properties.
This
will
make
the
enforcement
process
instituted
by
L&I
and
the
law
department
more
effective
and
efficient.
The
bill
also
requires
that
property
managers
which
are
required
for
landlords
who
live
outside
of
Philadelphia,
accept
all
communications
directed
to
the
property
owner.
Finally,
the
bill
increases
the
penalty
for
license.
D
Applicants
who
provide
false
or
misleading
information
about
their
ownership
of
the
corporation
Illinois
has
requested
an
amendment
changing
the
effective
date
of
the
requirement
to
July
1st
2020
in
order
to
give
the
department
sufficient
time
to
revise
a
rental
license
application
to
reflect
the
new
and
to
properly
notify
licensees.
Thank
you
for
the
opportunity
to
provide
the
department's
testimony
and
they'll
skip
over
to
Bill
number
one.
Eight
zero.
D
Nine
four
zero,
as
amended,
which
amends
the
requirements
for
commercial
activity
license
applications
as
set
forth
in
chapter
nineteen
2600
of
the
Philadelphia
Code,
the
commercial
activity
license
or
Cal
is
essentially
the
way
of
business
registers
itself
with
the
city
for
tax
purposes.
The
licenses
freight
does
not
expire
and
can
be
applied
for
and
issued
to
individuals
or
corporations.
This
bill
would
change
the
cow
application
to
require
corporations
disclose
the
identities
of
principals
or
individuals
with
equity
interest
in
the
corporation,
both
at
the
time
of
application
and
any
time
that
ownership
changes.
D
The
department
supports
this
effort
and
is
prepared
to
undertake
its
implementation
in
the
future.
Practically
speaking,
this
will
not
affect
the
Cal
issuance
process,
but
in
requiring
corporations
to
be
more
transparent
as
to
their
ownership
structure,
the
city
will
have
additional
tools
to
contact
licensees
if
they
commit
code
violations
again.
D
This
will
make
the
enforcement
process
instituted
by
L&I
and
the
law
department
more
effective
and
efficient
and
I
has
requested
an
amendment
changing
the
effective
date
of
the
requirements
of
July
1st
2020
in
order
to
give
the
department
sufficient
time
to
revise
a
cow
application
to
reflect
the
new
requirement.
Thank
you
for
the
opportunity
to
provide
the
department's
testimony
on
these
bills.
I'm
happy
to
answer
any
questions
at
this
time.
Thank.
D
Well,
we're
not
really
the
equity
interesting
aside
having
an
individual
as
opposed
to
a
corporation
is
important
for
a
number
of
reasons.
As
far
as
the
city
contacting
the
owner,
if
it's
just
a
business
on
there,
if
we
need
to
get
to
a
person
such
as,
if
there's
an
emergency
at
the
building
at
fired
mill
tonight-
and
we
need
to
call
somebody
if
we
need
to
do
a
cease
operations.
D
If
the
city
needs
to
do
something,
your
property
on
an
emergency
basis,
wouldn't
you
like
to
know,
and
if
we
have
your
name
and
your
phone
number,
we
can
tell
you
rather
than
I,
was
taking
a
unilateral
action
and
telling
you
after
the
fact
it
makes
it's
it's
better
communication,
more
transparency
for
everyone.
So.
A
A
You
know
there
have
been
bills:
around
property
maintenance
code,
councilman
Hina
and
Councilwoman
Parker
Councilwoman
Tasco
around
requiring
a
locally
based
real
estate
agent.
Can
you
speak
to
why?
How
much
time
we've
spent
on
that
and
how
effective
or
ineffective
that's
been,
which
leads
us
here
today,
the.
D
No,
we
have
spent
my
whole
life
just
the
property
meeting.
That's
good,
very
boring,
like
we've,
spent
a
lot
of
time
trying
to
identify
this
problem
of
delinquent
property
owners,
people
who
are
just
not
advocating
their
basic
responsibilities
as
a
property
owner
to
keep
it
to
the
bare
minimums
required
and
the
property
maintenance
code
in
the
fire
code,
particularly
around
landlords.
You
know
people
owner-occupied
properties,
the
owner
has
a
vested
interest
they're
there,
but
rental
properties.
D
D
You
can't
get
a
rental
license
if
you
have
Co
violations
on
your
property,
so
we
know
that
the
majority
of
our
rental
of
our
rental
properties
are
fine,
but
there
is
that
percentage
which
have
violations
and
we're
played
on
neighborhoods
and
are
problematic
both
for
their
occupants
and
for
neighbors
and
for
the
city,
because
we
spend
an
inordinate
amount
of
resources
trying
to
track
these
people
down,
doing
inspections,
filing
code
violation
cases
in
both
Municipal
Court
and
in
equity
court.
It's
resource
draining
on
and
I
a
lot
of
our
inspections.
D
A
lot
of
our
and
complain.
Our
complaints
are
from
tenants
about
rental
properties.
The
wall
apartment
spends
an
inordinate
amount
of
time
and
there's
a
lot
of
times.
We
have
problems
of
a
service
so
with
actually
getting
a
person,
so
we've
been
chipping
away
and
we're
trying
to
get
drill
this
down
to
the
point
where
the
rent,
the
people
we
go
after
our
actual
bad
actor.
D
It's
really
focusing
our
resources
on
these
landlords,
who
don't
get
any
rental
licenses,
maintain
their
properties
not
at
all
and
really
have
serious
substandard
conditions
and
being
able
to
focus
our
resources
on
that.
While
chipping
away
and
getting
other
everyone
else
to
kind
of
take
responsibility,
just
be
transparent,
be
accountable,
just
increasing
the
penalty
for
being
dishonest,
there's,
always
gonna,
be
bad
actors,
just
a
fact
of
life,
but
we're
we're
trying
to
concentrate
our
resources
on
going
after
those
the
real
bad
actors.
So.
A
D
A
lawyers
fault,
it's
all
the
lawyers
they
are
there,
advising
their
clients
to
set
up
an
LLC
to
avoid
personal
liability.
If
there's
an
issue
at
the
property,
I,
don't
have
numbers
as
to
how
that
is
shifted.
We
do
know
that
about
40%
of
our
landlords
are
small
landlords
who
just
owned
between
one
and
four
units,
obviously,
and
with
the
LLC's.
One
of
the
main
problems
is
the
a
an
individual
may
set
up
twenty
thirty
forty
LLC's
one
separate
LLC
for
each
of
the
properties
they
own
there's
one.
D
Two,
three
four
market
LLC
one,
two,
three
five
market,
LLC
all
in
by
the
same
person
Illinois,
has
developed
kind
of
an
algorithm
that
our
data
people
use
to
try
to
connect
all
those
LLC's
back
to
a
person.
We
called
our
Elias
list,
but
it's
manual,
it's
a
lot
of
work,
but
we've
identified
kind
of
these
large
scale
owners
who
own
300
properties
in
40
different
corporations.
But
it's
a
lot
of
work
and
we
know
we're
not
getting
everyone.
D
A
For
the
other
information
we've
seen
a
growing
trend
of
these
LLC's
at
the
Sheriff's
Office
speculating,
and
you
know
and
I
know
we're
working
on
with
PGW
water
and
pìkô
around
sharing
data,
because
now
Illinois
it
is
a
bill
that
we've
pursued
as
councilman
Dom
knows
as
a
way
of
again
adding
to
the
data
sets
that
we
have
and
aligning
the
data
sets
for
the
city
so
that
we
can
get
a
better
handle
on
this
right.
We've
had
an
enormous
debate
around
affordable
housing
and
access
to
quality
housing.
A
Here,
and
you
know,
we
don't
legislate
for
the
perfect,
but
all
of
these
pieces
are,
as
you
say,
chipping
away
at
removing
blight
and
and
the
bad
actors.
How
does
the
Department
respond
to
the
concern
about
disclosure
around
equity
owners?
You
know
people
feeling
like
we're,
gonna
put
their
business
out
there.
How
do
we
respond
to
that
how's?
The
data
are
gonna
be
used
and
words
are
gonna,
be
available.
So.
D
Rental
licenses
are
public
documents.
The
information
on
a
rental
license
is
public.
Most,
the
vast
majority
of
our
data
is
public.
It's
it's
basic
transparency
and
I
haven't
taken.
It
was
12
years
ago
that
took
corporations
in
law
school,
so
I
can't
speak
specifically
to
equity
ownership
and
what
that
would
look
like
and
who
have
what
has
to
be
disclosed,
but
for
L&I
purposes
we're
not
analyzing
corporate
documents,
we're
not
saying.
Oh,
you
actually
have
26
percent
interest.
You
have
17
we're
just
having
that
name.
D
So
we
have
someone
to
contact
so
and
someone
for
the
law
department
to
attempt
service
on
it's
really
property
ownership.
You
have
a
responsibility
to
be
transparent.
To
be
honest
and
it's
it's
really
increasing
the
penalty,
if
you're
being
dishonest
but
I
can't
really
speak
to
the
whole
privacy.
What
you're
required
to
disclose
on
what
is
supposed
to
be
private.
B
Think
I'm
sure
it's
just
very
quickly
and
just
sort
of
record
the
sponsor
in
their
opening
remarks
talk
particularly
about
the
led
issue
and
I
know
some
of
the
people
who
are
going
to
be
testifying
or
focusing
on
that,
but
just
again
just
for
the
record
this.
This
goes
well
beyond
just
one
issue
right
for
it
for
the
city,
as
you
say,
there
could
be
myriad
reasons
why
you
need
this
information
and
many
many
code
violations
that
you
need
to
follow
up
on.
B
F
D
F
D
D
D
If
the
owner
is
their
business,
addresses
outside
of
the
city
of
Philadelphia
or
you
could
be
within
the
city
of
Philadelphia
and
just
have
someone
that
manages
your,
you
have
a
bunch
of
properties.
You
don't
want
to
manage
them
yourself.
You
have
a
property
manager
and
there
that
they,
it
says
name
of
agent.
That
would
be
your
property
manager.
That's
also
to
be
filling
out
on
the
form.
If
that's,
if
that's
applicable,.
F
A
F
D
D
F
D
Your
address,
but
it
cannot
be
a
P
o
box.
Oh
okay,
your
tax,
your
tax,
ID,
your
commercial
activity
license
and
then
contact,
and
so,
if,
if
you
have
a
property
manager
and
then
contact
information,
who
is
the
person
that's
receiving
the
communications
daytime
phone
number
evening?
Phone
number,
a
fax
number
which
for.
F
D
D
Card
application
does
not
need
to
provide
a
person's
name
has
to
provide
contact
information
but
does
not
need
to
put
it
is
owned
by
mr.
Elton
Berger.
It
is
you
know
the
LLC
that
and
that's
what
this
bill
would
do
is
require
that
the
additional
names
so
that
there
is
an
additional
person
to
effect
service
on
you
can't
serve
a
corporate.
You
know,
sir,
it's
easier
to
serve
a
person
than
a
corporation.
Do.
D
F
G
You,
madam
chair,
and
for
the
record
I,
want
to
thank
the
chair
and,
and
the
sponsor,
for
you
know
talking
about
these
issues,
because
they
are
the
issues
that
really
reflect
the
the
care
and
attention
that
we
give
to
our
communities
when
it
comes
to
the
bad
actors
as
Deputy
Commissioner
was
talking
about,
because
there
are
some
bad
actors,
and
you
know
the
struggle
that
we
have
in
this
body
is
determining
who's,
a
bad
actor,
who's,
a
good
actor
right
and
I.
Think
that's
the
balance
that
this
body
brings
and
I
do.
G
Also
remember
the
bane
of
your
existence,
Rebecca
and
and
a
lot
of
our
the
chair
here
is
rewriting
the
property
maintenance
code
which
took
a
couple
years
to
do,
but
it
was
I
tell
you
what
you
really
get
to
learn
about
what
how
the
code
affects
the
quality
of
life
of
every
neighbor
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia
a
couple
questions
with
when
it
comes
to
this
legislation.
It's
just
some.
What
does
the
in
the
current
format
of
somebody
who
applies
for
an
HIO
license?
You
have
to
fill
out
this
application.
Some
fields
are
required.
G
Some
some
are
not
when
it
comes
to
having
a
managing
agent
or
property
manager.
Only
if
you
it's
required,
if
you
have
a
if
you
live
outside
the
city
and
have
properties
in
the
city
and
I
know,
that
has
been
a
big
issue.
So
what
is
the
department
alright?
So
how
many
applications
and
HAL
licenses
do
we
have
in
Illinois?
Currently,
as
we
speak,.
G
So
for
one
for
one
reason
or
another
setters
over
there's,
two
hundred
and
seventy
thousand
investment
properties.
Eighty
thousand
seventy
thousand
consistent
would
be
your
baseline
and
twenty
thousand.
You
know
fluctuation
with
new
and
people
dropping
off.
That
leaves
a
lot
of
room
for
L&I
and
the
utilities
I
know
that
this
council
and
councilman
Sanchez
in
my
office
and
other
have
been
working
towards
for
years
and
years
and
years
to
go
after
those
who,
you
know
have
bit.
Chewy,
alright
and
willfully.
G
Sorry
do
not
apply
for
a
renter's
license
and
they're
the
ones
who
are
the
the
most
egregious
to
our
communities
when
it
comes
to
responsibility
to
the
to
their
neighbors
and
their
block
and
responsibilities
to
the
tenant,
alright
that
they
put
in
toward
to
our
community.
Sorry
because
they
take
advantage
of
them.
They
they
they're
predatory
bite
by
Nature
and
they're,
destroying
the
quality
of
life
of
our
data
and
it's
wrong.
It's
just
flat-out
wrong.
So
how
do
we
get
to
those
bad
actors?
G
You
know
the
Councilwoman
and
others
we
you
know:
we've
been
working
with
trying
to
work
with
with
the
utilities,
to
you
know,
with
the
water
department,
most
utility
water
department,
landlord
pays
investment.
You
know
owner
pays
for
the
water,
alright
I
believe
in
in
in
most
cases
where
somebody
has
multiple
addresses,
but
one
account
that
can
easily
be
cross-checked,
so
it
gets
complicated
with
the
water
gas
and
some
other
utilities
like
Pico,
without
having
preached
any
kind
of
disclosure,
all
right,
confidential
information
which
I
don't
think
we
are
asking
for.
D
So
when
a
license
is
applied
for
when
the-
and
this
is
an
you
license-
we
issue
about
120,000
total
licences
a
year.
Obviously
rental
license
or
is
a
huge
bulk
of
that,
but
we
every
other
business
license
every
other
trade
license.
There
is
a
signature
line
where
the
person
is
cert.
The
applicant
is
certifying
that
all
of
the
information
is
true
under
penalty
of
law,
and
that
is
the
verification
system.
L&Amp;I
does
not
verify
information
that
is.
G
D
G
D
To
get
a
rental
license,
you
get
a
tax
compliance
check
with
the
revenue
department,
that's
for
every
license,
and
you
also
cannot
renew
your
rental
license.
Receiver
or
renew.
It
runs
a
license
if
you
have
open
property
maintenance
violations
CBN's.
If
there's
open
CBN's
for
trash
and
things
like
that,
those
don't
get
those
you
can
still
renew
your
license.
But
if
there's
an
actual
and
your
v
open
case,
that's
been
unresolved
and
that
hasn't
been
appealed
that
you
can't
get
your
license.
So
computer.
G
D
G
B
G
D
D
G
Right
with
I'm
gonna
say
this
legislation
here
we're
gonna,
be
adding
on
more
work
and
and
and
the
ability
for
a
little
more
complex.
You
know,
ownership
verification
when
we're
not
even
verifying
what
we
have
I
think
there's
a
way
to
get
there.
I
just
want
to
know
I
just
want
to
try
to
you
know.
You
know
come
from
a
good
starting
point
on
what
we're
doing
now
and
what
we
can
do
better.
G
The
other
thing
is:
what
is
the
law
department
going
to
do
so
you
have
somebody
that's
in
violation
currently
and
we're
in
the
future.
With
future
legislation
is
the
law
department
gonna
have
to
lose
already
under
under
served.
One
I
know
the
law
department
has
an
issue
with
what
service
notices.
So
that's
one
and
two
are
they
gonna
have
to
take
every
individual
property
to
court
themselves
on
an
individual
case
into
order
to
be
in
compliance
I,
don't.
D
Want
to
speak
for
the
law
department,
but
what
this
does
is
like
I
said
it's
chipping
away,
and
it's
get
it's
requiring
more
transparency
and
openness
from
these
from
the
applicants.
They
get
a
rental
license
and
they
they
tell
us
who
they
are
so
that
way
the
law
department
when
they
go
to
try
that
effect
service.
If
there
is
a
violation
or
they
need
to
contact
someone,
because
we
need
to
do
a
seesaw
braces
and
these
people
need
to
be
relocated
and
we
cannot
get
somebody
on
the
phone.
That's
what
that's!
D
What
this
piece
will
do?
It'll
get
it'll,
get
that
contact
information
there.
So
the
the
idea
is
not
to
then
do
research
to
make
sure
that
everyone
put
down
the
exact,
correct
equity
in
check
for
the
owners
in
the
property
and
then
prosecute
them
just
for
failure
to
do
that.
It
gives
us
contact
information,
but
then
also
if
one
of
these
people
is
already
we're
bringing
them
to
court,
we
can't
get
them
because
they
did
not
give
us
the
person's
name.
My.
F
E
C
Now
we
just
say
I
believe
you
said
it
was
eighty
percent
of
those
who
are
providing
the
accurate
information
if
we
could
increase
that
than
90
percent
by
asking
for
more
complete
information
that
we
move
ultimately
to
wors
a
circumstance
where
we're
closing
the
Gantt
gap
of
those
landlords
who
are
not
being
transparent.
So
for
me
it's
immaterial
that
we
don't
have
enough
expertise.
We,
human
resources
and
departments.
Now
we're
simply
asking
for
more
information,
given
the
resources
that
we
have.
Yes,.
D
It's
putting
the
onus
on
the
property
owner
to
tell
us
to
give
us
more
information
and,
like
you
said
it
allows
us
to
the
resources
that
we're
currently
spending
trying
to
track
somebody
down
who
didn't
give
us
a
name.
We
just
have
the
LLC.
Those
resources
can
now
be
redirected
into
chipping
away
at
the
unlicensed
landlord,
see
the
actual
bad
actors.
It
allows
us
to
redirect
resources
by
putting
some
own
additional
requirements
on
the
property
owner.
Thank.
G
Councilman
so
and
I
totally
agree
with
the
Councilwoman.
We
want
to
move
the
needle.
We
should
be
striving
for
instead
of
10,000
new
h,
IL
licenses
every
year,
we
should
be
striving
for
30,000
because
of
drop
office.
So
but
the
fact
that
a
matter
is
right
is
we?
Yes,
we
want
to
get
better
contact
information,
that's
factual
and
true
and
correct,
but
we
don't
have
it
now
all
right.
We
don't
have
it
now
so
I.
Just
and
that's
that's
a
fact
unless
this
is
a
this
is
one
of
the
recommendations
from
the
eviction
task
force.
D
D
C
Not
gonna
answer
that
question.
We
spoke
at
length
with
Rochester
your
picture,
piers
in
Rochester,
New,
York
and
also
in
Maryland,
and
the
idea
was
I
can't
say
it
was
strictly
accredited
to
those
to
those
conference.
Calls
that
we
had.
But
what
became
clear
and
talking
with
your
peers
and
Rochester
and
in
Maryland
was
that
there
is
that
our
city
can
do
better
and
one
way
to
do
better
is
to
get
more
information
on
the
document.
So
I
don't
know
about
best
practices
either.
C
F
D
F
F
And,
and
and
how
much
can
we
go?
I
mean
we
are
limited
by
state,
but
at
some
point
we
can
limit
it.
We
can
raise
that
above
three
hundred
dollars,
because
three
hundred
dollars
to
some
LLC's,
in
fact
probably
the
most
companies-
is
not
a
whole
lot.
But
if
you're
dependent
on
this
information
and
the
public
is
dependent
on
the
information
and
you
either
purposely
lie
which
people
do
and
but
also,
let's
say,
the
the
informations
have
a
date,
I
think
as
the
owner.
You
have
a
responsibility
to
update
this.
Do
you
not?
Yes,.
D
And
that
is
that
is
in
the
bill
that
you
would
be
required
to
update.
The
information
which
we
know
in
the
past
was
difficult,
because
you
would
have
to
fax
it
to
the
department
and
you
didn't
get,
but
now
that
what
we're
doing
is
everyone?
Do
we
do
it
online?
Do
it
through
eclipse,
and
you
have
an
account
in
two
seconds,
going
to
your
account
and
update
your
information
and
I
know
coming
out
of
the
eviction
task
force.
D
Like
the
Councilwoman
said,
there's
been
discussions
and
there
have
been
discussions
about
fine
amounts
across
the
board
for
all
proper
for
all
property
maintenance
code
and
title
nine
violations,
and
if
our
fine
amounts
are
at
the
right
amount,
are
they
too
high?
Are
they
too
low?
What
do
other
cities
do
and
I
think
there
is
a
movement
to
look
at
best
practices
and
what
other
cities
do
and
where
those
findings
you
really
want.
F
Mean
really
I
mean,
if
you're
out
to
dinner
with
friends
and
all
of
a
sudden,
the
bills,
two
thousand
dollars,
and
you
expected
300
somebody's
going
to
start
looking
at
one
another
and
say
how
did
we
get
to
this?
Who
ordered
all
this
food?
So
my
point
is
the
higher
the
amount,
the
sharper
the
pencil
and
the
people
will
remember
to
do
this
correctly
and
also
to
advertise
that
yes,.
B
I
I
D
Are
about
80,000
parcels
that
are
used
as
they
have
it,
rental
license
on
them
representing
two
and
two
hundred
and
twenty
thousand
units.
The
vast
majority
of
our
rental
properties
are
one
or
two
family
roam
typical
home
about
then
there's
about
five
percent
that
are
five
or
more
units.
The
larger.
D
Think
there's
about
40,000
unlicensed
rentals.
Some
of
those
might
just
be
a
guy
who
doesn't
know
we
needs
to
have
one.
Some
of
them
were
a
band.
We've
been
working
with
your
office
and
Councilman
Heenan
and
councilman
Sanchez's
office
to
kind
of
try
to
find
out
who
those
40,000
people
are
particularly
using
utility
Dena.
That's
where,
and
we
thank
all
of
your
offices
for
really
helping
us
move
that
needle
cuz
we
couldn't
I,
couldn't
do
it
by
myself.
Nobody
was
listening
to
me,
but.
D
We
can't
paint
it
with
a
broad
brush
and
say
all
40,000
of
them
are
a
bad
actor,
but
I
will
say
to
get
a
rental
license.
You
can't
have
open
code
violations
at
your
property,
so
the
people
who
have
a
rental
license
by
and
large
are
keeping
though
they
may
have
violations
all
over
the
place.
We
just
don't
know
about
it,
but
the
for
the
other
40,000.
D
I
Right
if
I
wanted
to
make
sure
the
40,000
people
got
their
rental
license,
would
I
not
we
don't
have
a
rental
license
and
do
they
have
a
business
privilege
license
I,
don't
know,
but
I
would
I
would
suspend
all
their
licenses
and
notify
their
tenants.
There's
no
license
to
say
you
don't
have
to
pay
rent
and
bringing
it
to
the
city
to
get
a
license.
I
D
What
we
hear
from
people
is
that
a
lot
of
times
its
cash
a
lot
of
time,
they
just
drop
off
they're,
told
to
just
drop
off
a
check
or
money
order,
or
something
like
that
to
people,
but
you're
right,
I
think,
there's
a
lot
more
that
we
can
do
using
data
to
try
to
narrow
down
that
40,000.
To
say
we
know
this
is
being
used
as
a
rental
property.
I.
Think
in
conjunction
with
your
office's,
we
are
we're.
Gonna
make
some
headway.
I
When
the
forty
thousand,
would
it
be
a
I
think
we're
all
in
favor
of
the
goal?
The
question
is:
how
do
we
get
to
the
goal
on
the
forty
thousand?
Would
it
be
a
potential
goal
to
notify
those
landlords
if
we
could
that
without
a
rental
license,
your
tenants
do
not
have
to
pay
rent
and
if
you
don't
come
in
within
X
amount
of
days
thirty
sixty
days,
we
will
notify
your
tenants
that
there's
no
suitability
license
here
and
under
that
law
rent
is
not
required.
We.
D
Have
had
those
discussions
and
I
think
the
goal
would
be
if
we
come
up
with
a
list
based
on
this
review
of
the
utility
data
of
all
of
these
properties
that
we
believe
are
being
used
as
rentals.
We
would
send
the
letter
to
those
property
owners.
We
would
identify
an
offside
address,
send
them
a
letter
to
say
we
believe
your
property
is
being
used
as
a
rental
license.
D
You
don't
live
here,
so
you
either
need
a
rental
license
or
a
regular
license,
and
you
have
30
days
to
do
so
and
we
we
have
had
discussions
about,
like
you,
like
you,
just
said,
sending
it
to
the
tenant
as
well,
calling
their
attention
to
the
section
of
the
code
that
states
that
rent
can
be
escrowed.
If
there
is
no
rental
ways
right.
I
I
That's
a
major
problem:
they're,
really
the
bad
actors
by
the
way
they're
not
complying
with
the
law.
Then
there's
people
who
have
complied
with
the
law
and
gotten
a
rental
license,
but
whatever
reason
there's
some
issues,
I'm
guessing
with
their
properties
too.
So
on
those
properties.
If
you
can't
reach
them,
where
you
can't
contact
them,
you
do
have
the
right
to
suspend
or
whatever
their
rental
license
and
notify
them
that
they
cannot
collect
future
rents,
which
I
would
think
would
bring
them
to
you
and
get
it
corrected
exactly.
D
I
I
I
And
the
revenue
department,
I
think,
is
already
using
this
in:
what's
called
sequestration?
Yes,
so,
where
they're
sending
notices
to
those
tenants
of
delinquent
landlords,
saying
hey,
your
label
hasn't
paid
us
for
three
or
four
years
as
of
December
1st
are
paying
your
rent
to
the
city
of
Philadelphia.
It's
been
a
very
effective
tool.
I
think
close
to
90%
are
paying
so
I'm
just
suggesting,
maybe
that's
a
tool
we
could
use
in
Illinois,
instead
of
and
on
this
form
by
the
way.
I
What
I
don't
understand
is,
if
you
have
to
fill
out
a
form
as
a
managing
agent
I
think
we
should
have
a
managing
agent,
whether
you
have
a
property
in
Philadelphia
or
out
of
Philadelphia,
and
the
managing
agent
could
be
the
owner
because
they're
managing
it.
You
know
what
is
just
so.
You
have
a
contact
person
and
every
property
owner,
for
you
should
have
a
one
contact
person
with
a
phone
number
and
an
email
I'm,
not
sure
you
need
faxes
anymore,.
D
I
If
we
at
least
have
that
information
you'd
have
that
one
person
I
think
the
concern
of
a
lot
of
people
is
they
of
a
property
that
has
25
or
30
investors,
and
they
want
to
be
limited
partners
because
a
liability
and
a
lot
of
people
just
that's
their
comp.
They
don't
want
themselves
in
the
public
eye,
I.
Think
if
you're
asking
for
their
names
to
be
disclosed,
that's
gonna
become
a
problem
and
my
concern
is:
it
might
taint
a
little
the
market
in
Philadelphia
for
attraction.
C
In
preparation
for
this
hearing,
we
spoke
with
L&I
we've
been
speaking
with
health.
The
answer
to
your
questions.
No,
we
did
not
contact
commerce
because
we
believed
in
doing
a
homework
for
this
bill
following
up
on
the
work
done
by
the
lead
task
force
and
talking
with
Rochester
and
talking
with
Maryland
talking
with
the
Health
Department,
the
Illinois
Department,
and
there
was
another
depart
law
law
Department.
C
C
I
submit
that
this
should
be
an
end,
I'm
pleased
to
say
that
I
didn't
know
this,
but
now
I
know
that
New
York
has
put
forth
a
similar
measure
to
there
being
quite
more
direct
than
we
are
to
expose
owners
of
LLC's
doing
business
in
New
York.
In
order
to
fight
they
are
saying
money
laundering
and
tax
evasion.
Such
a
bill
is
necessary
to
bring
political
and
business
transparency
and
accountability.
This
bill
is
about
business,
transparency
and
accountability,
so
the
public
can
have
more
confidence
that
LLC's
operate
in
a
way
above
the
board.
C
A
I
A
F
D
F
B
D
F
F
B
D
F
F
C
A
A
A
As
I
said,
you
know
who
has
water
who
has
homestead?
Who
has
all
of
these?
All
these
pieces,
until
the
clips
fully
gets
built
out
the
ability
to
do
all
of
those
things
have
been
hard
for
us,
and
a
lot
of
the
research
has
been
manual
and
really
cumbersome.
You
would
identify
yourself
for
the
record
and
explain
an
egregious
case
in
the
court
or
that
hasn't
gone.
The
law
departments
way.
J
A
J
Worries
we
have
two
forms
in
which
we
can
choose
to
file
cases.
One
of
those
is
a
Municipal
Court
and
one
of
those
is
in
the
Court
of
Common
Pleas.
We
typically
try
to
file
cases
that
are
low
barriers
to
compliance
in
the
municipal
court
system,
where
we'd
only
be
seeking
a
fine,
so
a
violation
such
as
obtaining
a
rental
license,
would
be
a
low
barrier,
compliance
violation
because
it's
typically
very
easy
for
a
property
owner
to
come
into
compliance
with
the
code.
J
The
fines
can
total
hundreds
of
thousands
of
not
millions
of
dollars
which
ports
are
oftentimes
reluctant
to
impose,
because
they'd
rather
see
the
property
owner,
actually
invest
the
money
into
fixing
the
property
along
those
lines.
When
you
have
a
violation
that
is
just
a
rental
license,
the
courts
often
ask
what
is
the
harm
and
they're
want
to
not
impose?
J
Maybe
a
twelve
thousand
dollar
fine,
which
is
the
municipal
limit
of
the
the
court
system,
but
maybe
something
smaller
like
a
$300,
fine
or
$1,500,
fine,
which
one
you've
not
had
compliance
for
six
months
and
you've
invested
the
resources
of
the
department
of
license
and
inspections
and
the
law
department.
It
becomes
a
cost-benefit
analysis
of
whether
that
is
the
most
profitable
use
of
city
resources.
A
I
You
ma'am
I'm
sure
I
just
want
to
reiterate.
I
do
think
the
goal
here
is
to
go
after
the
bad
actors,
so
whatever
we
can
do
in
the
area
of
the
rent
is
the
ultimate
tool
in
the
toolbox.
That's
growing
it
redirecting
at
whatever
it
is.
It's
the
rent
that
will
immediately
get
any
landlords
attention
and
that's
that
should
be
the
focus.
The
bad
actors
go
after
the
rent
of
their
tenants
and
figure
out
how
to
get
them
to
the
table
and
listen
to
you,
that's
the
key.
I
I
D
K
I
Have
to
pay
taxes
they're
to
pay
a
mortgage
payment;
they
need
the
rent
to
cover
those
expenses.
What
I
don't
want
to
do
is
hurt
the
good
actors,
so
I
want
to
try
to
figure
out.
How
do
we
just
focus
on
a
category
of
bad
actors
where
we
can
attach
to
the
rent?
That
should
be
the
focus
anyway.
Thank
you
very
much.
Thank
you.
Madam
chairman.
A
Thank
You
councilman
dawn
any
further
questions
for
our
witness.
This
is
okay.
Seeing
none!
Thank
you.
Rebecca!
Please
stand
by.
For
the
purposes
of
time
we
had
promised
the
clerk
we
were
going
to
be
out
of
here
in
an
hour
to
call
all
of
our
witnesses
and
I
want
to
know
for
the
record
that
I
have
all
of
your
written
testimony.
So
I'm
gonna
ask
you
to
please
summarize
your
testimony
so
that
we
can
get
through
this,
so
George,
Ghul,
Colleen,
McCauley,
Carla,
cruel
and
George
Donnelly.
Please.
A
Please
please
please,
please
I
know
y'all
prepared,
I'm
gonna
try
to
be
as
nice
as
councilman
green,
because
when
he
asks
I
know
you're
all
prepared.
Your
entire
testimony
is
in
for
the
record,
but
we're
trying
to
get
a
vote
out
of
here
and
that
can't
get
kicked
out
of
this
room
George.
You
want
to
start
yeah.
A
K
You,
my
name,
is
George
Gould
and
I
am
a
senior
attorney
at
community
legal
services
where
I've
worked
in
the
area
of
housing
for
almost
50
years.
I.
Thank
the
committee
for
giving
me
the
opportunity
to
testify
on
this
important
issue.
I
would
like
to
discuss
bills,
one
eight,
oh,
nine,
three,
nine
and
one
eight,
oh
nine,
four
Oh,
which
would
make
important
changes
to
the
city
code.
These
two
bills
were
introduced
as
part
of
a
package
of
bills
by
Councilwoman
Reynolds
Brown,
to
deal
with
the
important
issue
of
lead
poisoning
in
the
city.
K
We
fully
support
bills,
one
eight
thousand,
nine,
three
nine
and
one
eight,
oh
nine,
four
Oh
the
bills
will
mend
the
city
code
regarding
the
issue
in
some
rental
licenses
and
require
that
the
owner
of
the
property
is
not
a
natural
person
or
a
publicly
traded
company.
The
application
for
the
license
must
identify,
in
addition
to
the
owner,
the
name
and
address
of
each
natural
person,
who
was
an
equity
interest
in
the
property,
and
the
information
has
to
be
updated
if
changes
are
made
within
10
days.
K
Penalties
are
also
provided
for
providing
false
or
misleading
information.
These
changes
are
very
important,
so
both
the
city
and
tenant
advocates
can
pursue
landlords
who
violate
the
city's
lead
laws.
They
are
also
helpful
in
finding
owners
residential
properties
who
do
not
properly
maintain
their
dwelling.
Basically,
what
these
law
bills
would
do
is
create
transparency
in
who,
in
fact,
are
the
ownership
interest
in
this
property
and
I.
Think
in
Philadelphia,
that's
very
important.
I
know:
councilman
Tom.
You
have
raised
a
bunch
of
issues
about
people
not
having
licenses.
K
However,
it's
also
important
to
state
that
these
bills
are
just
part
of
a
package
of
bills
that
were
introduced
regarding
lead
poisoning.
Bill
number
one
809
36,
was
part
of
that
package
and
is
the
critical
bill
that
needs
to
be
heard
and
passed
by
City
Council.
Well,
the
bill
needs
some
amendments.
It's
a
major
step
forward
in
addressing
this
issue.
The
bill
would
make
important
changes
to
the
city
LED
ordinance,
including
requirement
landlords
of
all
resident
rental
properties,
to
obtain
alleged
safe
certificate
and
provide
it
to
the
tenant
and
the
health
department.
K
Currently,
the
certificate
is
only
required
for
properties
where
children,
six
or
undal
reside.
This
is
caused
major
problems
and
enforcement,
as
the
Health
Department
is
that
great
difficulty
in
determining
whether
children,
six
or
under,
will
reside
of
the
proximately
twenty-six
rental
thousand
rental
properties.
Only
four
thousand
have
submitted
these
certificates.
In
addition,
children
often
visit
housing
and
family
and
friends
were
no
children
reside
and
no
certificate
is
required.
There
are
other
important
changes,
such
as
requiring
VHA
in
section
8
landlords
to
provide
lead-safe
certificates
and
requiring
legislate
certificates
upon
renewals
lease
agreements.
I.
K
A
L
Good
afternoon
and
thank
you
all
for
this
opportunity
for
public
comment:
I'm
Colleen,
McCauley
I'm,
the
health
policy
director
at
public
citizens
for
Children
and
Youth
I
also
facilitate
the
lead
free,
Philly
coalition
that
we
created
a
year
ago.
In
fact,
there's
folks
here
from
that
coalition,
from
the
Children's
Hospital
of
Philadelphia
from
maternity
care
coalition,
the
Philadelphia
neighborhood
housing,
CDC,
Brodie,
Andrew,
Biscay
law
firm
and
a
couple
private
physicians
that
are
we're
working
together.
Putting
our
collective
efforts
together
to
advance
changes
for
the
city's
lead
law
to
make
it
more
enforceable.
I'm.
L
Also
a
mother
and
I'm.
A
nurse
and
I
want
for
my
son
and
every
newborn
son
and
daughter
in
Philadelphia
to
be
free
of
the
harm
from
lead.
One
more
baby
harmed
is
one
too
many
especial
and
when
we
know
how
to
protect
kids,
childhood
lead
poisoning
is
a
very
serious
issue.
Every
year,
2,400
kids
are
diagnosed
with
lead,
poisoning
and
most
are
under
the
age
of
three,
and
they
are
primarily
poor
and
minority.
L
That's
enough,
kids
to
fill
120
pre-k
classrooms
and
in
some
neighborhoods,
like
Strawberry
Mansion,
more
than
one
in
seven,
babies
that
are
tested
for
lead
are
poisoned
to
be
clear.
Most
Philadelphia
children
are
poisoned
by
lead,
based
paint
led
base
paint
hazards
in
rental
properties.
Water
is
not
the
main
culprit.
Schools
are
not
the
primary
source
because
again,
the
vast
majority
of
kids
are
poisoned
before
they're
three
before
they
even
step
foot
in
a
school
and
owner-occupied
properties
are
not
the
main
source.
L
Health
Department
data
from
the
mayor's
advisory
group
on
childhood
lead
poisoning
shows
that
more
than
60%
of
kids
are
poisoned
by
rental
properties.
Nbc
10
recently
featured
a
story
about
twin
two-year-olds
who
lived
most
of
their
lives
in
an
apartment
on
Fifth
Street
owned
by
the
Philadelphia
Housing
Authority
and
both
taught
toddlers
were
poisoned.
Pha
own
properties
are
exempt
from
Philadelphia's
lead
law
because
they
were
required
to
be
made
lead-safe
years
ago,
but
tragically,
some
are
still
not
safe.
The
twins,
his
mom
Miss
Erica
Miller,
explained
about
her
children.
L
That
quote,
I
won't
know
what
their
full
potential
will
be,
because
at
the
end
of
the
day,
they
got
lead
poisoning
since
lead-based
paint
in
rental
homes
is
primarily
making
babies
sick.
The
solution
is
straightforward,
fine
led
contaminated
properties
and
get
the
lead
out
and
that's
what
the
lead
law
was
designed
to
do.
The
two
bills
the
committee
is
discussing
today
are
part
of
a
package
of
five
bills
intended
to
increase
protections
for
children
from
lead
hazards
in
their
rental
homes
and
properties.
And
again,
we've
discussed
the
the
purpose
and
the
significance
of
these
bills.
L
But
I'd
like
to
note
that,
just
last
week
the
law
Department
fulfilled
PCC
wise
right-to-know
request
and
sent
me
a
list
of
landlords
to
whom
the
Health
Department
had
issued
code
violation
notices.
These
landlords
were
required
to
comply
with
the
lead
law
and
submit
a
lead-free
or
lead
safe
certificate,
or
to
document
that
they
were
in
fact
exempt
from
the
law,
but
they
didn't
do
any
of
those.
L
So
from
March
2017
to
april
2018,
the
Health
Department
sent
code
violation,
notices
to
rental
property
owners
of
2490
properties
and
among
the
property
owners
who
have
since
paid
the
fine
or
haven't
responded
to
the
department.
Yet
one-third
are
listed
as
corporations
for
one
out
of
every
three
parents
living
in
a
property
on
that
list.
They
don't
have
all
the
critical
information
they
need
to
use
the
lead
law
to
protect
their
children
from
possible
lead
hazards
in
their
homes
and
tragically,
for
some
of
these
parents.
L
It's
too
late,
because
their
kids
have
already
been
poisoned
by
the
lead
hazards
that
went
undetected
in
their
rental
property
because
their
landlords
failed
to
act.
An
enforcement
of
the
law
lagged
behind
so
I
urge
you
to
support
the
two
bills
before
you
today
to
improve
transparency
and
but
more
power
in
our
in
all
of
our
hands
here
in
Philadelphia
and
again,
while
these
two
bills
are
important,
they
play
more
tangential
role
among
the
package
of
five
lead
poisoning
prevention
bills
introduced
last
month.
L
The
bill
that
will
go
the
farthest
to
protect
tens
of
thousands,
more
babies
and
toddlers
is
bill.
One.
Eighty
nine
three
six
that
calls
for
expanding
the
lead
law
to
almost
every
pre-1978
rental
property.
The
current
lead
law
is
targeted
at
properties
with
kids,
six
and
under
and
since
its
passage
in
2011,
it's
proved
to
be
almost
entirely
unenforceable.
L
Many
landlords
have
been
conscientious
and
complied
with
the
law,
but
most
have
not,
as
of
January.
2018
landlords
have
only
submitted
4418
certificates
for
an
estimated
twenty
six
thousand
rental
units
subject
to
the
law.
There
is
no
record
of
tenants.
Ages
says:
there's
no
way
to
identify
pre-1978
properties,
rented
to
families
or
small
children.
We
don't
think
there
should
be
a
record
attendance
ages
out
of
concern
that
this
could
fuel
the
possibility
of
discrimination
against
families
with
young
kids
and
the
city
does
not
know
exactly
where
landlords
are
out
of
compliance.
L
Again,
as
a
case
in
point
landlords
of
almost
half
of
the
properties,
the
Health
Department
issued
a
code
violation
notice
were
ultimately
found
not
to
be
in
violation.
They
weren't
in
violation
of
the
law.
They
didn't
have
to
pay
the
fine
because,
for
example,
a
kid
under
six
didn't
actually
live
there
or
the
landlord
didn't
own.
The
property
anymore
or
the
property
was
built
after
1978.
L
C
A
A
H
Good
afternoon,
council
members,
my
name
is
Carla
cruel,
I'm,
a
staff
attorney
at
turn.
I
I
have
multiple
roles,
I
also
work
as
the
courtroom
navigator,
so
I'm
in
court
every
day,
interacting
with
tenants.
I
also
do
a
background
check.
It's
a
landlord-tenant
background
check
for
a
turn,
so
tenants
are
able
to
check
and
find
out
information.
It
all
goes
through
me.
These
two
bills
are
actually
quite
essential
of
on
a
regular
basis.
H
I
actually
here
attendance
in
court,
saying
they
don't
know
who
their
landlord
is,
even
though
they're
being
evicted
by
their
landlord
and
one
of
the
reasons
this
goes
about
is
change
of
ownership,
so
when
the
property
is
sold
to
another
LLC,
so
it
goes
from
one
LLC
to
the
next
LLC
and
they
were
dealing
with
a
management
company.
Sometimes
the
management
companies
are
changing
in
that
time
frame,
so
they
don't
know
who
to
pay
their
rent
to
they
don't
know
who
owns
the
property
and
the
first
time
they're
ever
meeting.
H
Someone
is
the
day
that
they're
in
court
when
they're
about
to
lose
their
housing
right
and
now
their
name
is
in
a
system
that's
affecting
them.
Going
forward,
so
that's
one
of
the
reasons
why
it's
really
important,
because
if
it
does
change
ownership
and
it's
a
public
record
for
L&I,
a
tenant
could
look
up
on
L&I
system
and
find
out
who
their
new
owner
is
and
if
they
do
want
to
pursue
and
pay
rent
to
someone.
They
know
exactly
who
to
pay
the
rent
to.
H
But
the
way
the
system
is
working
right
now
it
doesn't
necessarily
work-
and
this
includes
people
who
actually
already
have
licensed
it's
not
just
about
people
who
are
unlicensed
is
also
those
who
are
licensed.
A
lot
of
the
properties
are
changing
through
sheriff
sale
now
and
I
also
do
a
lot
of
training
around
the
city.
H
I,
do
training
for
both
tenants
and
landlords
and
I've
been
in
rooms
where
landlords
new
people
who
are
doing
construction
or
buying
property
in
Philadelphia
are
encouraged
to
put
their
property
in
the
name
of
the
LLC
in
order
to
hide
themselves
in
order
to
protect
from
liability.
And
so
what
ends
up
happening
for
tenants
is
just
simple
things:
it's
not
just
about
repair
issues,
because
that
is
a
part
of
it,
but
sometimes
it's
just
getting
their
security
deposit
back.
So
someone
owned
the
property
initially
and
they
say:
well,
it's
changed
ownership
and
it
didn't.
H
Sometimes
it
changes
through
sheriff
sale
and
if
it
changes
through
sheriff
sale,
trying
to
pursue
who
has
their
money
from
before,
because
they
were
only
dealing
with
a
management
company
and
as
long
as
the
management
company
has
said,
who
is
who
was
the
owner
of
the
property,
then
the
management
company
is
not
responsible.
So
just
having
a
management
company
is
not
helpful
either.
H
You
need
to
know
who
the
people
are
behind
it,
so
you
can
pursue
them,
especially
when
it
changes
ownership
for
security,
deposit
and
tenants
when
they
don't
have
a
lawyer
or
have
a
lot
of
money
to
do
a
lot
of
research
when
they
go
over
to
Municipal
Court.
The
first
question
their
ass
is:
do
you
have
an
address
for
your
landlord?
H
If
you
don't,
you
can't
sue
and
they
send
them
over
to
turn
and
then
I'm
on
the
internet,
searching
trying
to
find
out
address
a
real
address
for
a
person
in
order
for
them
to
sue
just
to
get
their
security
deposit
back.
So
it's
just
a
very
simple
thing.
That
lowers
the
hurdle.
A
lot
of
the
statements
that
were
made
earlier.
We
were
talking
about
putting
a
lot
of
you.
You
know
you
already
have
law
in
place.
H
You
have
the
licensing,
but
there's
a
trickle-down
effect
for
people
who
don't
have
lawyers
and
who
aren't
representing
them.
So,
if
they're
constructively
evicted,
if
L&I
has
to
shut
down
the
property,
because
it's
an
unsafe
property
and
that
tenant
needs
to
pursue
a
LLC
in
order
to
get
their
legal
remedies
that
they
need
they're
stuck
right,
they
don't
know
who
to
give
service
to,
because
you
can't
serve
appeal
box
right.
So
all
of
these
things
are
really
important.
H
I've
done
a
lot
of
work
on
background
checks,
so
I
do
I,
send
out
letters,
two
tenants
who
have
reached
out
to
us
because
they
want
to
know
about
a
property
and
I've
actually
had
a
management
company
as
one
management
company
that
manages
over
twenty-two
thousand
properties
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia,
with
625
different
LLC
names
right.
So
when
those
owners
of
the
LLC
decided
that
they
wanted
to
change
and
not
use
the
management
company,
all
of
the
licenses
have
the
address
of
that
management
company.
H
So
any
tenant
that
needed
to
sue
under
the
lead
paint
law.
Any
tenant
that
wanted
to
sue
for
constructive
eviction,
an
attendant
that
wanted
to
sue
on
any
any
issue
at
all,
have
no
real
address
to
seek
a
remedy,
so
they
can't
sue
in
court.
At
all,
so
for
all
those
things
as
I
was
listening,
there
was
a
lot
of
trickled
down.
H
That
was
gonna,
put
a
lot
of
hurdle
on
the
tenants
and
then
ultimately,
if
you
start
doing
that,
well,
it'll
make
it
easier
for
landlords
to
do
illegal,
lockouts,
right
and
they'll
just
not
go
to
court.
We
don't
want
it
to
just.
We
don't
want
to
get
to
a
point
where
no
one
can
get
any
remedy
in
the
court
at
all
right,
just
knowing
who
a
person
is
and
being
able
to
engage
that
person
simplifies
the
process
for
everyone.
Thank
you.
Thank.
E
Carla
had
on
most
of
the
points
that
I
wanted
to
touch
on
so
I'm,
going.
To
give
a
very
specific
example,
my
name
is
George
Donnell
I'm,
an
attorney
at
the
Public
Interest
Law
Center
here
in
Philadelphia
and
I
want
to
talk
about
a
property
management
company,
possibly
the
same
one.
That
Carl
was
mentioning-
and
you
know
this
problem
has
of
lack
of
transparency-
that
we're
very
thankful
that
council,
member
Reynolds
brown
has
introduced
these
bills
because
they
really
tackle
this
transparency
problem
that
is
rearing
its
ugly
head
as
a
lot
of
investors.
E
Many
if
not
most
from
out
of
town
are
gobbling
up
properties
in
the
poorest
neighborhoods
in
Philadelphia,
at
sheriff's,
sale,
right
and
so
there's
an
entire
industry
behind
passive
real
estate
investment
in
poor
neighborhoods
in
the
city.
You
know,
there's
this
property
management
company,
that
specializes
in
running
to
low
income
individuals
and
it
brags
that
it's
the
largest
cash
buyer
in
Philadelphia
for
three
years
running.
E
It
says
it's
the
model
of
the
passive
property
venture
industry
and
it
helps
investors
organize
LLC's
through
which
they
can
purchase
properties
and
remain
anonymous,
and
this
is
this
practice
takes
a
huge
toll
on
the
health
and
well-being
of
tenants,
because
these
anonymous
investors
can't
be
contacted
by
tenants
or
by
the
city,
as
you
heard,
from
Miss
Watson,
when
the
houses
fall
into
disrepair.
Of
course
you
can
contact
the
property
management
company,
but
let
me
tell
you
again
a
story.
That's
in
my
testimony
about
this.
E
So
I
currently
represent
two
families
in
lawsuits
against
this
property
management.
Company
I've
had
problems
serving
people
just
like
Carl
alluded
to
and
we've
sued
the
LLC
clients
who
own
the
properties
as
well.
In
both
cases,
my
clients
requested
repairs
to
their
homes
to
fix
things
such
as
a
sewage
explosion
in
the
basement.
E
A
major
water
leak
that
led
to
a
collapse
sealing
in
the
kitchen
hazardous
electrical
issues,
a
broken
front
door,
lack
of
running
water
with
an
infant
in
the
in
the
house
and
in
both
cases
the
property
management
company
failed
to
make
the
repairs,
even
after
cited
with
housing
code
violations.
There
is
no
way
for
my
clients
to
contact
the
actual
owners.
It's
an
LLC
name
with
the
address
of
the
property
management
company
and
it's
unclear
if
the
owners
knew
of
all
these
issues.
E
F
A
F
E
As
a
good
as
a
good
business
as
a
good
business
person,
you
would
want
to
know
if
the
people
that
you
hired
aren't
doing
their
job
and
and
that's
something
that
right
now
is
very
difficult
to
do
for
the
city
for
tenant
advocates,
because
we
don't
know
who
owns
these
LLC's,
and
so
the
last
thing
I
want
to
say
is
is
as
a
city.
We
can't
allow
these
largely
out-of-town
investors
to
continue
to
profit
off
of
poverty
while
remaining
anonymous.
We
need
to
know
who
owns
homes
in
Philadelphia.
E
We
have
to
so
that
we
can
hold
these
people
accountable
when
they
fail
to
maintain
their
properties,
and
this
isn't
a
novel
issue.
Just
like
council
remember,
our
Reynolds
brown
said
other
cities
do
this
Rochester?
Does
this
New
York
City
does
this.
So
these
are
things
that
other
cities
do.
We
should
join
their
their
ranks:
Thank
You,
councilmember,
Kenneth,
Sanchez
and
councilmember
Reynolds
Brown.
Thank
you
for
introducing
these
bills.
I
urge
the
committee
to
support
them.
Thank.
A
A
Just
for
Karla
and
and
and
for
George,
you
know
the
notion
that
this
doesn't
happen
frequently
right
for
folks,
because
again,
the
folks
who
are
good
actors
are
good
actors
right.
How
many
families
have
you
represented
this
year
with
there
with,
and
what
percentage
do
they
represent
of
folks?
That
something
as
simple
as
knowing
who
the
owner
is
could
have
facilitated
the
resources
that
you're
expending
so.
H
Two
things
before
I
answer
your
question.
One
thing
I
did
also
want
to
add
is
that
in
those
properties
that
I
was
talking
about
142
LLC's
that
are
not
registered
in
the
state
of
Pennsylvania,
so
which
means
they
can't
own
property
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia.
There's
a
hundred
and
forty
or
two
of
them
who
have
an
address
and
they
have
a
license.
That's
under
the
management
company,
which
means
they're,
renting
out
properties,
evicting
tenants
and
they're
legally,
not
even
supposed
to
own
property.
H
So
to
answer
your
question
because
I'm,
a
housing
counselor
as
well
I
would
say
that
I
run
into
this
issue,
probably
at
least
once
or
twice
a
week,
working
with
tenants
and
the
reason
why
I
say
that
is.
It
comes
up
in
issues
of
fraudulent
land
landlords
where
someone
has
got
scammed
and
they
thought
they
owned
the
property.
H
Most
of
these
issues
I'm
finding
with
an
enormous
amount
of
families,
particularly
and
the
poor
neighborhoods
right,
so
the
poor
of
the
neighborhood,
the
more
they're
scooping
up
the
properties
and
sheriff
self,
and
you
have
children,
families
but
I
would
say,
I
see,
probably
in
just
one
on
one
to
ten
inch
per
week
and
then
sitting
in
court.
I
have
to
hear
at
least
I'm
there
five
days
a
week.
So
I
would
estimate
that
at
least
three
times
a
week.
K
Have
you're
aware
we've
represented
them?
Cls
represents
a
large
number
of
tenants,
and
this
is
a
very
common
problem.
Tenants
come
in,
they
don't
know
who
the
owner
is
just
now
Elsie.
The
problem
is
in
very
bad
shape
and
it
becomes
very
difficult
for
them
to
get
repairs
done
and
also
for
the
city
to
get
it
done.
You
know,
probably
six,
maybe
five
or
six
cases
a
week
would
be
under
this
situation.
It's
quite
frankly,
it's
it's
bad.
The
other
doors
I.
E
A
H
H
So,
like
I
said,
I've
been
part
of
what
I
do
is
do
background
checks,
so
we've
been
actually
trying
to
go
through
the
city
and
look
for
places
where
we
find
that
LLC
and
we
look
in
Pennsylvania
that
Harrisburg
system
to
see
if
they're
a
registered
agent
and
and
just
for
this
just
one
management
company.
We
found
142
that
either
weren't
register
or
was
kind
of
questionable,
whether
they
had
registered
or
not,
based
on
the
name.
C
Project
turn,
thank
you
all
for
your
insightful
review
of
the
facts
because
of
the
facts
that
move
us
to
this
table.
So
just
underscore,
if
you,
if
you
will
you
said
that
you,
you
cited
examples
of
why
having
a
managing
eight,
but
why
knowing
who
the
name
of
the
owner
is,
has
been
a
hurdle
even
when
it
comes
to
something
as
simple
as
we
turning
someone's
security
deposit
just
speak
to
them
and
underscore
that
for
me,
yes,.
H
So
when
tenants
go
on
their
own
to
try
to
sue
in
a
municipal
court,
the
the
clerks
of
the
court
are
they've,
been
given
instructions
to
make
sure
that
the
tenants
have
what
they
need
in
order
to
sue.
So
the
first
question
that
they're
ass
is
what's
your
owners
name
and
what's
their
address
and
tenants
will
say:
oh
I
always
pay
my
rent
in
cash.
I
don't
have
an
address
or
they
would
say
things
like.
H
Oh
I
had
this
p.o
box
number
and
you
can't
serve
a
p.o
box
so
and
if
you
actually
go
through
a
lot
of
the
leases,
a
number
of
leases
say
notice
for
the
LLC's
is
to
appeal
box,
and
so
as
soon
as
they
try
to
get
an
appeal
box
or
they
don't
know
the
address,
they're
turned
away
and
then
they
they.
The
court,
actually
sends
them
to
turn
and
tells
us
that
go
find
an
address
and
sometimes
I
can't
find
an
address.
It's
actually
impossible.
H
For
me
to
find
an
address,
and
at
other
times
we
have
to
go
through
the
Department
of
Records.
We
have
to
go
back
to
the
point
in
which
they
actually
recorded
the
deed
and
if
we're
lucky,
if
they
actually
included
their
incorporation
documents
there,
we
can
get
it
there,
but
sometimes
the
incorporation
documents,
don't
even
have
it
either.
So
then,
there's
no
way
for
us
to
find
them.
Yeah.
K
K
A
F
Just
as
a
statement,
I
I
can't
believe
that
we
that
we're
asking
private
citizens
private
owners
to
do
something
that
our
city,
government
or
government
in
PHA
doesn't
need
to
do.
I
think
I
think
that's
gonna,
make
any
sense.
To
me,
I
mean
just
it's
just
a
statement.
I
mean
it
makes
it's
nonsense.
I
would.
A
There's
enough
confusion,
there's
federal
law
that
governs
the
way
PHA
supposed
to
do
this
business
and
this
loopholes
that
we've
been
talking
about,
there's
a
cost.
They
were
supposedly
given
opportunities
to
submit
remediation
plans.
It's
a
longer
process
that
I'm
sure
we're
when
Reynolds
Browns
bill
comes
knowing.
A
F
E
E
3,500
children
in
Philadelphia
last
year
tested
positive
for
lead
above
the
level
of
five,
which
is
is
elevated
levels.
That's
10%
of
all
children
tested
in
the
city
and,
as
dr.
Dalembert
will
tell
you,
that's
likely
an
undercount,
because
it's
only
kids
that
are
tested
and
only
kids
that
are
reported,
but.
K
H
F
A
I'm
sure
and
folks
as
again
representing
one
of
these,
some
of
the
poorer
sections
people
move
frequently
and
really
tying
in
lead
poisoning
to
a
child
whose
family
may
have
lived
in
three
or
four
units
in
the
last
couple
of
years
is
very
hard
because
let
stays
in
your
blood
and
so
forth
is
so
on.
So
thank
you.
Thank
you
to
all
of
you
for
your
patience
today.
E
A
A
I
You,
madam
chairwoman,
I
just
wanted
to
explain
my
vote
on
this
issue
and
that
is
I,
believe
Oh
ting
No
and
for
this
reason
I'm
in
favor,
if
it's
a
managing
agent
and
one
primary
owner,
one
not
more
so
if
the
bill
is
amended
to
that
I'm
in
favor
of
it,
but
until
the
bill
is
amended.
I'm
gonna
vote
me
in
No.
Thank
you.
Thank
You
manager.
A
Thank
You,
councilman
I
think
it's
an
important
as
the
Councilwoman
who
has
worked
and
met
with
folks,
I
think
she's
always
open
to
further
discussions,
but
I
think
our
witness
folks
have
made
a
very
good
case
about
the
challenges
related
to
ownership
and
transparency.
Cherica's
councilman
Italian
burger
before
the
motion
no.
F
A
C
A
B
Thank
you,
madam
chair
I,
move
that
the
following
two
bills
be
reported
as
committee
with
a
favorable
recommendation
and
the
rules
that
council
be
suspended
to
allow
for
first
reading.
Our
next
session
of
council
bill
number
one:
eight,
zero,
nine,
three
nine,
as
amended
and
bill
number
one:
eight,
zero,
nine,
four:
zero,
as
amended
all.
A
Those
in
favor
aye
any
opposition's.
Let
the
record
reflect
the
councilman
tom
is
voting
against
it.
That
said,
bill
number
one:
eight,
zero,
nine,
three,
nine
one,
eight
zero
nine
400
will
be
moved
out
of
this
committee,
with
a
fair
Bowl
recommendation
and
rule
suspension
to
allow
first
reading
at
our
next
session.
Thank
you,
everyone
for
your
patience
today.
This
concludes
the
Committee
on
licenses
and
inspection.