The Pennsylvania Supreme Court scored one for the underdog last week by dismissing a challenge to Gov. Tom Wolf’s moratorium on evictions of tenants for failing to pay rent during the pandemic.
By rejecting a suit filed by the Pennsylvania Residential Owners Association and individual landlords who challenged Wolf’s constitutional authority to halt evictions, the court provided time for vulnerable renters to seek financial relief to avoid expulsion.The state launched a $175 million state program in July that assists renters and mortgage holders who qualify for the aid.
Landlords reacted angrily to the court’s action, complaining that they face mounting pressure to stay current on taxes, utilities, insurance and other costs without the ability to execute their rights under lease agreements.
Those arguments are understandable, but the court’s order recognizes larger, extraordinary circumstances created by the coronavirus pandemic and widespread joblessness. Many tenants, especially those living paycheck-to-paycheck, cannot pay rent because of the unemployment crisis. The state lost more than 635,000 jobs between March and June and the jobless rate more than doubled from 6% to 13%.
In July, Wolf extended the moratorium to Aug. 31 to help distressed renters after the state’s economy partially reopened.
Census Bureau data indicate about 20 percent of Pennsylvania adults faced housing insecurity issues in June, meaning they had either missed a rental or mortgage payment or faced difficulty in making the next payment. Nearly 3.5 million people rent in Pennsylvania and renters make up about one-third of the households in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties.
The issue transcends ideology. President Trump has repeatedly called for an extension of the federal moratorium on evictions, which expired on Friday.
The court’s ruling temporarily puts the brakes on a potential state eviction crisis, which could cascade into a larger public health and humanitarian emergency that the state is ill-equipped to address under current conditions.
— Republican & Herald, Pottsville
