CP photo: Jared Wickerham
A drive-by protest demanding a freeze on rents and mortgages amid the pandemic in Pittsburgh in May 2020
The The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected Allegheny County’s eviction protections extended on Monday after Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas chairman Judge Kim Berkeley Clark called for them to extend the county’s moratorium on local evictions .
With the expulsion protections in Allegheny County expiring on October 31, more than 12,000 applicants who applied could face expulsion. County data shows that only 39% of applicants received payments as of Nov. 4.
Judge Clark’s October 29 request called for the moratorium on evictions from Allegheny County to be extended to November 30 in order to allow sufficient time for applications to receive emergency rental assistance. Clark also said the high number of ongoing COVID-19 cases in Allegheny County and cited the county’s efforts to distribute more than $ 80 million in federal rent assistance.
However, that request was denied and local protections against evictions have now expired.
In October, Allegheny County landlords filed 542 tenant eviction applications, the second-highest total this year, but only half of what Allegheny County managed before the pandemic. The highest number of eviction cases filed in Allegheny County was 561 cases in August when the moratorium on evictions briefly expired on August 1.
The cases of monthly evictions before the pandemic were regularly double that monthly amount.
The moratorium on evictions from Allegheny County expired briefly on August 1, but was renewed on August 4. Average 2021. During those two days, owners filed over 150 evictions and 60 possession orders were issued.
According to WESAMagistrate District Judge Richard King, who hears landlord-tenant cases in many southern Pittsburgh neighborhoods, said he believed judges would still grant extensions to landlords and tenants seeking rent assistance .
As the Allegheny eviction moratorium expired, the state Supreme Court recently extended Philadelphia’s eviction diversion program. As of May 2020, the Philadelphia program has distributed more than $ 200 million to 33,456 households, according to the city data. However, their deportation program may soon run out of funds.
“It’s a tough situation when you have a program that provides help and support to people, but you don’t have enough resources to provide the help that is there, that is needed,” said David. Thomas, president of the nonprofit that manages the Philadelphia program. , according to WHY.
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