The delay follows a protracted legislative process that pitted fair housing advocates against independent landlords, who argue the bills will disproportionately harm them while doing little to deter bad actors.
Last June, Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke agreed to hold the bills in response to pushback from Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration. The committee reconsidered them this month after a delay advocates attributed to the lobbying efforts of HAPCO Philadelphia, the city’s largest advocacy group for independent landlords and property owners.
O’Rourke did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the city’s Court of Common Pleas, essentially requires the housing committee to retrace its steps. It will also give HAPCO more time to push for amendments to the legislation.
HAPCO is not named as a party in the lawsuit.
The group, which represents around 1,000 landlords in the city, has a list of technical tweaks it would like to make. The main sticking point, however, is a provision that would expand the city’s “good cause” protections to every renter in the city, regardless of the term of their lease.
Currently, the law applies only to month-to-month renters or those with leases that run for less than a year. Landlords must provide written notice stating why they want to terminate or not renew these leases. Acceptable reasons include “habitually” not paying rent or paying late, nuisance activity reported by other tenants or causing “substantial” property damage.
Fair housing advocates say the exemption has provided cover for unscrupulous landlords to use this form of eviction to retaliate against tenants with longer leases — because they aren’t required to justify their decision or even give renters advanced notice. Last year, roughly 90% of eviction filings were tied to leases of a year or more, according to court data.
Landlords argue the expansion will make it harder for them to remove problem tenants, potentially costing them dearly, particularly if other tenants in a building decide to move to get away from a bad tenant.