►
From YouTube: Gerrell Martin Testifies Before Philadelphia City Council on Philly Evictions 3-20-2017
Description
From the hearing of the Joint Committees on Licenses & Inspections and Public Health & Human Services held on Monday, March 20, 2017 to hear testimony on the following item:
Constituent Gerrell Martin testifies on evictions and tenant rights.
A
Jarell
Martin
Thank
You
City
Councilmembers
for
inviting
me
here
to
share
my
story
as
a
low-income
tenant
in
Philadelphia
as
I
share.
My
experience
I
asked
you
to
remember
that
I'm
here,
representing
thousands
of
Philadelphians
who
are
living
a
similar
story
as
we
speak,
I
am
a
wife
and
mother
of
six
beautiful
children
and
an
employee
who
grabbed
overtime
shifts
just
to
provide
for
my
family,
but
today,
I'm
here
as
a
tenant,
I
moved
into
my
house
in
October
2013
excited
to
create
a
home
where
I
could
raise
my
children
to
be
happy
and
healthy.
A
I
have
saved
my
money
to
provide
the
first
month
last
month
and
security
deposit.
However,
shortly
after
moving
in
I
realized
that
I
did
not
get
what
I
had
bargained
for
the
cold
was
settling
in,
but
when
I
went
to
turn
the
heat
on
nothing
happened.
My
numerous
calls
and
pleading
to
my
landlord
went
unanswered.
I
had
to
sleep
with
my
children,
all
bundled
up
all
in
one
room
around
a
space
heater
constantly
anxious
that
one
will
wake
up
cold
or
that
the
space
heater
would
malfunction.
A
I
was
so
relieved
when
the
weather
turned
when
the
weather
turned,
but
by
this
point
there
were
so
many
other
problems.
My
sillim
was
leaking.
My
roof
had
a
hole,
my
windows
wouldn't
open
or
close
properly,
and
the
electrical
sockets
were
uncovered
and
sparked.
The
list
of
the
list
goes
on
and
on
my
landlord
continued
to
ignore
my
pleas
to
make
repairs
the
only
time
I
saw
him
was
if
it
was
when
he
demanded
rent.
Although
we
weren't,
technically
homeless,
I
fell
homeless,
my
family
couldn't
live
safely
in
the
home.
A
A
In
addition
to
my
concerns
about
my
son's
health,
the
poor
housing
conditions
added
to
a
noose
to
a
new
worry
what
my
son's
nurses,
as
mandated
reporters,
see
the
condition
of
our
home
I,
don't
feel
the
lack
of
heat
and
called
DHS
I
had
to
send
my
children
to
stay
with
others,
because
I
can,
because
I
was
so
worried
that
my
landlords
neglect
will
cost
me.
My
children
I
felt
anxious
and
hopeless,
but
I
knew
that
I
had
to
do
something.
I,
discovered,
3-1
and
immediately
call
for
an
Illinois
inspection.
A
I
finally
felt
like
I,
was
moving
in
the
right
direction.
Since
I
moved
in
over
three
years
ago,
Illinois
has
issued
five
different
sets
of
violations.
My
home
was
declared
a
hazard
and
unfit
for
human
occupancy.
However,
nothing
happened,
nothing
was
enforced.
Nothing
was
fixed.
Those
violations
as
serious
as
they
were,
became
meaningless
as
I
continued
to
feel
pressure
to
pay.
My
rent
in
full
I
was
so
afraid
of
winding
up
on
the
streets
with
my
children
and
I
didn't
know
what
more
I
could
do.
I
wanted
to
fight,
but
I
felt
hopeless.
A
I
didn't
know
my
options.
I
didn't
know
my
rights
or
where
to
turn
for
help.
I
happen
to
be
lucky
enough
to
connect
with
lawyers
who
works
with
the
medical
legal
partnerships.
At
my
son's
pediatrician
office
I
had
no
idea
that
getting
a
lawyer
was
even
an
option,
let
alone
a
free
one.
When
someone
thinks
of
getting
a
lawyer,
they
think
of
all
the
money
that
it
will
cause.
I'm
living
paycheck
to
paycheck
and
paying
for
a
lawyer
was
just
not
was
just
out
of
the
question.
A
However,
having
my
pro-bowl
pro
bono
lawyer
changed
everything
together,
we
stood
up
for
me
and
my
kids
and
demanded
that
things
change.
However,
within
weeks
of
asserting
my
rights,
my
landlord
father
eviction,
eviction,
paperwork,
I
didn't
I
did
what
I
was
supposed
to
do,
but
my
landlord
chose
to
kick
me
and
my
family
out
of
our
home,
because
I
stood
up
L&I.
The
courts
allowed
this
to
happen.
A
My
landlord,
who
had
never
given
me
a
certificate
of
rental
suitability
who
had
gotten
a
vendor's
license
only
days
before
filing
an
eviction
and
who
had
numerous
outstanding
LMI
violations,
was
suddenly
in
the
poverty.
It
took
four
months
of
missed
work,
stress
and
lots
of
uncertainty,
but
my
lawyer
was
able
to
get
my
lawyers
my
case
thrown
I
also
wondered
what
would
I
have
what
would
have
happened
if
I
didn't
get
a
lawyer,
I,
don't
think
I
would
have
fought.
A
How
do
I
fight
for
how
do
I
fight
without
any
information
having
my
lawyers
feels
like
having
a
security
to
blanket
I
went
from
sheer
panic
to
ease
I
no
longer
felt
hopeless
three
years
after
the
first
of
the
Nile
violation.
My
tears,
my
numerous
court
hearings,
my
heat
is
on,
but
many
up,
I'm
sorry
many
of
my
house,
repairs
still
need
need
to
be
made.
People
often
ask
me
why's
it
and
I
leave
it's
not
that
simple.
Where
will
we
go?
A
I,
don't
have
a
big
support
system
and
I
can't
afford
the
causes
of
moving,
but
at
the
end
of
the
day,
I
shouldn't
have
to
leave
because
my
landlord
neglected
her
responsibilities.
I
shouldn't
have
to
leave
because
Ellen
I
didn't
pursue
the
violations
against
my
landlord
I
shouldn't
have
to
leave
because
I
chose
to
assert
my
rights.
If
I
leave,
another
family
will
just
move
in
and
nothing
will
change.
People
get
evicted.
A
People
get
evicted
everyday
in
my
neighborhood,
it's
it
seems
as
a
fact
of
life.
You
just
get
up
and
you
keep
going
but
we're
here
today,
because
no
kid
should
have
to
grow
up
without
heat
in
the
winter
or
the
water
pouring
through
their
their
living
room
when
it
rains
I'm
here,
because
my
kids
deserve
better.
Our
city
deserves
better.
Please
help
us
in
the
cycle
of
substandard
housing
and
unfair
fictions
in
Philadelphia.