City of Philadelphia

Taskforce on Eviction Prevention and Response

Meeting 4

Tuesday, January 16, 8:30-10:30am

I. Welcome

II. Panel on Informal Mediation: Building Supportive Relationships between Landlords

and Tenants

a. Discussion

III. Presentation: Overview of Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program

IV. Small Group Discussion

V. Debrief on Focus Groups

VI. Next Steps

MAYOR’S TASKFORCE ON EVICTION PREVENTION AND RESPONSE

Meeting 4

January 16, 2017

1

PANEL: BUILDING SUPPORTIVE LANDLORD-TENANT RELATIONSHIPS

Jeni Wright, AIDS Law Project

Bruce Johnson, EARU

Randy Duque, Commission on Human Relations

2

MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE DIVERSION PROGRAM

Judge Annette Rizzo

3

MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE DIVERSION PROGRAM

Court-annexed Conciliation Program in operation since 2008

As of Dec. 31, 2017, approx. 26,844 properties had a homeowner who participated in the Diversion Program by attending a Conciliation Conference

Of the properties that participated and reached a final result, 56.6% avoided sheriff sale. Of those that did not participate, only 32.1% avoided sheriff sale.

Failure to appear rate: 20.8%

LESSONS LEARNED

1) A program can only be successful if it has champions.

2) Must have a plan to incentivize stakeholders to give “pause”,

to see a chronic issue differently.

3) Must develop a team of well-informed advisers for those

unrepresented (like housing counselors).

4) Must increase the presence of counsel for self-represented

litigants (Civil Gideon mandate).

LESSONS LEARNED

5) Data is key! You can’t tell your story or mark your progress

without effective data collection.

6) Must demonstrate flexibility and courage to change where

necessary to meet needs.

7) Must have Stakeholders at the table and deputize them to

be “stewards” for a program’s success.

Eviction Task Force

Challenges and Opportunities

January 12, 2018

The challenges and opportunities listed below have been gathered from previous meetings’ discussions

and presentations, as well as from information gathered in focus groups.

Challenges to Address

After a sheriff sale, tenants are at risk of losing rights, getting evicted

Illegal evictions from rooming houses where there is no rental license

Landlords are not required to accept rental assistance

Tenants can have difficulty obtaining utility assistance for water, as the water bill is often in the landlord’s name

Unlicensed landlords

People who have been evicted, are currently in the eviction process, or have ever had eviction filed, can have trouble finding new housing because landlords have access to all of this information

More than 55% of households from 2010-2015 were evicted based on a default judgement

Many leases contain a provision whereby the tenant waives the requirement that the landlord provide notice to vacate/quit. Even if a notice is required, it does not have to state the reason for eviction

The eviction complain is mailed by the court, but many tenants do not receive the complaint due to service issues

If a tenant did not get notice of the hearing, or received it late, they don’t have an opportunity to request a continuance, or they have to show up in court with no guarantee they can get one

Tenants often report experiencing the same power dynamics working with mediators as they do with landlord attorneys

Court mediation can lead to unreasonable payment agreements

Judgements show up credit reports, and filings do not reflect whether a tenant is legally withholding rent because of habitability issues

The amount of time available to hear cases is limited, so the long mediation process can mean hearing of cases feels rushed

Laws attempting to counter “bad” landlords can sometimes also make things more difficult for “good” landlords

Landlords can also have tenants removed through ejectments in the Court of Common Pleas

Rental assistance sources change often, there is no consistent source or clear door

Need strategic plan: the issue is inter agency. How do we institutionalize eviction prevention?

Drawing out continuances in court can be a burden on the landlord

There is an inconsistent compliance and enforcement of notices, especially in the private market

Opportunities for Action

Financial Assistance

Expand the use of representative payee/master lease tools

Expand access to long term rental assistance

Increase the availability and use of rental subsidies, group housing, shallow rent subsidies

Increase the use of direct deposit programs

Require landlords to accept rental assistance

Create a consistent source of rental assistance, so tenants know where to go

Provide tenants with financial literacy training, credit counseling, and debt assistance

Review and align program eligibility and processes for rental assistance

Create a loan program for tenants in need of one time assistance

Illegal Evictions Provide police trainings on illegal lockouts. Track and measure the impact of this training. Include connecting tenants to resources as part of the training.

Increase protections against illegal evictions from rooming houses where there is no rental license

Implement legal protections against tenant harassment

Under the trespass and theft statutes, as well as the anti-lockout ordinances, pursue arrest and criminal prosecution by the District Attorney’s office of landlords who commit self-help evictions

Develop forms and assistance for tenants without the benefit of legal counsel to file injunctions to restore possessions after illegal lockouts.

Clarify lines of communication between Sheriff and Landlord-Tenant officers

Leases and Licensing

In a lease, include an option to add a secondary contact person (a case manager, for example) who will be contacted in the event of eviction proceedings

Bring CLS, TURN, and L&I together to target unlicensed, bad actor landlords

Institute a mandatory training for landlords as a requirement for a rental license, including rights, and tenant resources.

Increase support for tenants who are at risk of eviction after property is

sold in a sheriff sale

Decrease discrimination against tenants who have a record of an eviction filing

Create incentives for landlords to rent to high-risk tenants.

Have regular inspections for properties of landlords who have been repeatedly reported for code violations

Provide a model lease and encourage landlords to use it

Provide protections for just cause evictions

Provide landlord background checks so that new tenants can confirm ownership and landlord compliance with housing and tax laws

Municipal Court Develop resources for recruiting volunteer lawyers

Increase legal representation for tenants in landlord-tenant court

Increase the availability of interpreters in court. Make sure they are able to translate fully and accurately.

Prepare tenants for what landlord-tenant court will look like, including the mediation process

Make wraparound services available immediate for people coming out of mediation.

Reduce default judgments by implementing automatic continuances to secure counsel, or changing the time period that a tenant has to make a request continuances.

Advocate for changes to complaint procedure, including notations on complains for certificate of rental suitability, requirement that charges claimed only be for time period covered by rental license and certificate of rental suitability, notation on complaint for presence of child under age six, and notation on complaint indicating whether the unit is subsidized

Impose a court requirement that outstanding code violations be attached to all eviction complaints to facilitate the abatement of rent by the court

Restore licensing requirement for municipal court cases

Mediation in Municipal Court

Empower tenants during the Municipal Court mediation process (to be discussed further in January meeting)

Allow the option of bringing a non-attorney advocate into mediation

Have the agreements written up by an independent staff person, rather than by the attorney of one party

Informal Mediation outside of Municipal Court

Have mediation program early in the process, before court, so that the tenant will have less back rent due, and won’t have a record of an eviction filing against them

Use an informal mediation process with no court records. Provide mediations with training, tenants with representation, and include non-lawyer advocates.

Post-eviction Provide information for people about how to recover after they have been evicted, including consultation on debt and budget issues

Develop a way to get an eviction filing expunged from a tenant’s record

Landlord Resources

Expand resources for small landlords, including grants, loans, technical assistance, and information about tenant resources.

Run landlord lunches, trainings, or other outreach to facilitate landlord

awareness of city resources to tenants, including housing counseling, financial literacy, and rent subsides.

Run landlord lunches at CDCs with housing counselors

Create a landlord advisory group to engage with the City around landlord issues

Increase public education around landlord requirements, including education for small landlords about how to comply with legislative changes.

Outreach and Accessibility

Increase communications and outreach for existing resources

Increase use of/accessibility of help desk and hotline number

Partner with civic groups, block captains, CDCs to distribute information about and provide access to prevention services. BenePhilly, Congreso, hospitals, and community schools can be included in this.

Increase the availability of services outside or regular work hours.

Increase the physical and geographical availability of services.

Use data to target at risk individuals for education and resources

Promote landlord and tenant education about human rights and what constitutes discrimination, addressing specific client groups including people with disabilities, LGBTQ, people with substance use and/or mental health issues

Develop a tenant-friendly resource booklet and make it available throughout the city and in Municipal Court

Case Management

Build the capacity of existing housing counseling programs to give support to renters (as opposed to homeowners), possibly by training counselors or adding additional rental-focused positions

Decrease the turnover in case management

Systems Institutionalize eviction prevention, which is an interagency issue

Have a method for tracking the recommendations and their implementation

Explore the capacity of the current eviction prevention system, and how this capacity compares with need

Have one agency to centralize eviction prevention work by identifying resources and disseminating up to date information

Screen for risk of eviction and/or identify vulnerability at a case management/intake process in shelters, OHS

Decrease discrimination based on eviction history, with tools including the Fair Housing Commission, and a record expungement process

Expand the capacity of the Fair Housing Commission

Create an eviction diversion court

Create a HomeBase pilot for a specific geographical area/neighborhood cohort

LANDLORD TENANT RED FLAGS

If you hear these red flags from your HIV+ clients, please encourage them to call AIDS Law Project ASAP at (215) 587-9377 Monday – Friday 9:30 – 1 pm. Please refer clients with non-HIV chronic illnesses in need of legal help to another legal aid office. List available at http://www.philadelphiabar.org/page/PIDirectory.

1. “My landlord / a lawyer sent me a letter with a deadline to get out” OR “I’m moving so I don’t get locked out”

or “I got a letter saying I had to be out in 30 days, I don’t know what to do.”

Many tenants receive a Notice to Vacate and believe it means that if they don’t move by the date given, they

will be locked out the day after the deadline. It’s important for them to talk to a lawyer so they don’t move out

prematurely. A lawyer can answer their questions and advise them the Notice to Vacate is just the first step in

the legal process and they have every legal right to stay past that deadline if they choose to - and their landlord

cannot legally lock them out if they are still there after the Notice to Vacate deadline.

2. “My landlord will only accept cash and they won’t give me receipts/they stopped giving me receipts.”

This is a red flag that the landlord is probably not trustworthy and the client is MUCH more likely to face the

possibility that the landlord will deny receiving rent if something goes wrong or has already gone wrong with the

landlord tenant relationship. Encourage clients to get a rent receipt book, available at most dollar stores for

under $1, and ask their landlord to fill it out the next time they give rent. If the landlord refuses to, the tenant

MUST keep ATM receipts for the cash they withdrew for rent; take a picture on their phone of the cash, and if

possible take a photo or short video of themselves giving the money to the landlord.

3. ● The client complains that the landlord is a slumlord because s/he insist on getting the rent on time each

month and never gives them a break

● The client thinks if they have a good reason, the landlord should understand if rent is late

● The client thinks that the landlord cannot take any action against them unless they are behind at least one

month in rent

This is a red flag that the client is MUCH more likely to face the landlord wanting to end the landlord tenant

relationship and file for eviction on the basis of nonpayment and/or breach of condition of the lease. It is

perfectly legal in PA for a landlord to file for eviction for chronic late payments, on the basis that the tenant

broke a condition of the lease by failing to pay the rent on time. In the same vein, landlords absolutely have the

legal right to start the eviction process the day after the client fails to pay rent when it was due. Once the

landlord starts the legal process, tenants are often responsible for legal costs, which tacks on hundreds of dollars

for attorney fees and court costs.

Unfortunately, landlords have no legal duty to give tenants extra time to pay, even if the client has a death in

the family, or gets sick and stops working, etc. Landlords who do give tenants extra time often get very upset if

the tenant repeatedly has excuses for not paying rent, and are much less likely to negotiate to allow the client to

stay once they start the legal process. It is important the client understands that the landlord is not being unfair

or acting illegally by expecting rent to be paid the day it is due per the lease. However, problems can be avoided

if the client is counseled to negotiate with their landlord for a rent payment date that matches the date they

receive their Social Security check or paycheck.

4. ●Client complains their rental needs repairs and the landlord is not making them

●Client thinks they don’t have the right to have the landlord make repairs because they accepted the property

“as is”

●Client thinks they are responsible for all repairs that cost less than $100, or another amount that is written in

their lease

Tenants have the legal right to live in a habitable property, period. This is a right in PA called the “warranty of

habitability” that overrides anything a lease may say. “Cosmetic” repairs are not required, such as painting an

apartment. It is unfortunately very common for landlords to ignore tenant repair requests until a case manager

or lawyer contacts them.

To protect their rights, tenants should always make repair requests in writing and keep a copy for themselves.

They can contact the AIDS Law Project for help with this, or if they prefer to do it on their own, you can provide

a sample letter (see in materials). Putting the request in writing isn’t just important for purposes of getting the

repairs made. If the landlord takes legal action against the tenant, convincing a Judge that rent should be abated

or that the landlord retaliated because of the unmade repairs is very difficult without written evidence of the

repair request, as the landlord can and frequently does claim they didn’t know about it.

5. “My landlord isn’t making repairs so I’m going to withhold rent because it’s my legal right”

The law on withholding rent in PA is complicated. In addition, how the law is applied is HIGHLY fact-specific, so

giving generic legal advice often doesn’t help the tenant as much as getting individualized legal advice. If a client

says that they have withheld rent or plan to withhold rent, please strongly encourage them to contact the Law

project for legal advice asap.

6. “My landlord is taking me to court, but my landlord/the property manager/the lawyer told me I don’t need

to go to the court hearing”

This is a HUGE red flag. When tenants are told this, it is because either 1) their landlord wants to take advantage

of their trust and win an easy judgment by default or 2) the landlord or property manager has told their lawyer

that they have come to an agreement with the tenant about the case (payment plan, tenant moving out, etc)

but due to miscommunication or a misunderstanding, the lawyer does not do what the landlord told the tenant

would be done. The tenant ends up with a court result that does not match what they discussed with the

landlord.

Bottomline: Always go to court! Always get legal help! A lawyer can contact the landlord’s lawyer and make sure

the tenant’s rights are protected.

Clients with mental illness and/or substance abuse issues often face additional challenges in the landlord tenant

relationship. They are more likely to face eviction for alleged behavior that disturbs others or is hazardous/illegal, or

because they have not paid rent due to spending it on their addiction. If a client with mental illness or a substance abuse

disorder mentions a problem with their landlord or other tenants/neighbors, please encourage them to contact the AIDS

Law Project for legal advice. Earlier intervention almost always leads to better outcomes.

Results of the Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program As of December 31, 2017

Approximately 35,709 properties that have been the subject of one or more mortgage foreclosure lawsuits in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County have at some point been involved in the Residential Mortgage Foreclose Diversion Program.

Participating properties Out of the 35,709 properties, 26,844 properties had a homeowner who participated in the Diversion Program by attending a Conciliation Conference. Of these 26,844 properties:

11,087 avoided sheriff sale.

8,479 went to sheriff sale.

6,211 are still awaiting an outcome.

1,067 were involved in a bankruptcy case or a litigation case.

Non-participating properties Out of the 35,709 properties, 8,724 did not have a qualified homeowner who participated in the Diversion Program. Of these 8,724 properties, 1,582 were found to be non-owner-occupied, and an additional 83 were found to be vacant. The cases involving these properties were removed from the Diversion Program

The remaining 7,059 properties are those where the homeowner failed to appear for the scheduled Conciliation Conference. Of these 7,059 properties:

1,687 avoided sheriff sale.

3,567 went to sheriff sale.

1,616 are still awaiting an outcome.

189 were involved in a bankruptcy case or a litigation case.

Other properties Out of the 35,709 properties, 141 properties were involved in the Diversion Program as the result of an error such as a docketing error, and the cases were removed from the program.

Analysis of the results Of the properties that participated in the Diversion Program and reached a final result, the majority,

56.6%, avoided sheriff sale. Of the properties that did not participate in the Diversion Program and

reached a final result, only 32.1% avoided sheriff sale. The overall failure-to-appear rate is 20.8%.

Methodology The Division of Housing and Community Development of the City of Philadelphia worked with

Philadelphia Legal Assistance to develop a methodology for measuring results of the Diversion Program

based on court data and City records.