High court gives Pa. county OK to delay eviction cases while tenants wait for rental relief

Opening the door for local courts across Pennsylvania to protect thousands of tenants still waiting for urgently needed aid, the state Supreme Court on Monday approved a request from Bucks County to pause eviction cases for up to 60 days if someone has applied for help.

A federal freeze on evictions ended on Sunday, after President Joe Biden said he was powerless to extend it again and a last-ditch attempt to do so by House Democrats failed. That has left many families who have fallen behind on rent because of the pandemic at risk of losing their homes, despite an unprecedented amount of relief funding available to help them catch up.

Pennsylvania has $847 million to spend from the first slice of federal funding alone, with another $670 million on the way. Each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties is running its own program to distribute the funds, and the commonwealth is getting the money out to landlords and tenants faster than most states.

Even so, less than 20% of the funding had been spent by the end of June, and applicants have often had to wait weeks, if not months, before receiving the assistance.

Bucks County’s request to the state Supreme Court cited a dramatic increase in eviction filings anticipated once the federal eviction ban ended and the need for more time to get the assistance money out. At least 400 applications for rental assistance from county residents remained under review at the end of July, according to the request.

“The immediate risk of countless, unnecessary evictions demanded this extraordinary action,” Joshua Goldblum, managing attorney of Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania’s Bristol office, said in a statement.


https://www.pennlive.com/coronavirus/2021/08/high-court-gives-pa-county-ok-to-delay-eviction-cases-while-tenants-wait-for-rental-relief.html