On Thursday, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker signed into law two bills meant to protect Philadelphia renters living in unhealthy and unsafe homes.
City Council passed the bills last month with a 16-1 vote, ensuring that the legislation would become law with or without action from the mayor.
Parker, who has made housing a policy priority through her signature Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E. initiative, signaled her support with the signatures.
Roughly half of Philadelphia households rent their homes. During Council hearings in the year since Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke introduced the package of bills he called the “Safe Healthy Homes Act,” renters and their advocates testified about unsafe housing conditions that included leaks, mold, pests, lack of heat, and crumbling ceilings.
» READ MORE: Landlords tried to stop bills to protect renters. City Council just passed them almost unanimously.
The bills signed Thursday bolster protections against landlord retaliation for tenants who participate in tenant unions or investigations of code violations, allow for rent relief for tenants if their landlords don’t have valid rental licenses or don’t fix code violations in a timely manner, and further penalize landlords who accumulate violations.
The legislation also expands the city’s requirement that landlords have “good cause” for not renewing a tenant’s lease and authorizes the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections to create a program to proactively inspect rental units, instead of relying on complaints to trigger inspections.
The legislation takes effect on Nov. 1, a concession by O’Rourke to allow landlords more time to comply.
Negotiations among Council members, the Parker administration, and rental property owners resulted in several rounds of amendments to the bills.
The influential Building Industry Association of Philadelphia expressed its support for the amended bills, but some small landlords argue the changes don’t go far enough and could unintentionally harm them or force them to raise rents.
» READ MORE: In a rare move, Philly landlords sued to delay a City Council vote on legislation meant to protect renters
Two rental property owners — one of whom is the political chair for HAPCO Philadelphia, the city’s largest association of rental property owners — sued City Council in March and delayed a scheduled vote on the bills.
A judge allowed the legislation to move forward for a vote, but a contempt hearing is scheduled for June to hear arguments on whether Council members violated a March settlement agreement with landlords.
The third piece of legislation in O’Rourke’s “Safe Healthy Homes Act” passed last year and created an anti-displacement fund to give financial help to renters forced to move because of unsafe or unhealthy conditions in their homes.
This is a developing story and will be updated.