{"id":240530,"date":"2026-07-10T20:55:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T20:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/240530\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T20:55:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T20:55:30","slug":"legal-barriers-keep-reading-from-enacting-some-tenant-protections-advocates-seek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/240530\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal barriers keep Reading from enacting some tenant protections advocates seek"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA<\/a>, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org\/newsletters\/gooddayberks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READING \u2014 This spring, a group of advocates asked Reading City Council to adopt a wide-ranging proposal aimed at protecting renters from being priced out of their homes or retaliated against for organizing.<\/p>\n

Council members expressed sympathy and thanked the speakers for sharing their experiences. But the discussion focused on whether the city has the legal authority to adopt or enforce parts of the proposed \u201cHousing Bill of Rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Spotlight PA analysis of the ideas found that several are indeed off limits for Reading to enact on its own.<\/p>\n

For example, the city is unable to cap rent increases, as the advocates called for. That power lies with the state, where such proposals have been introduced but not voted on by the divided legislature.<\/p>\n

But the advocates did propose actions the city could take, such as strengthening enforcement of habitability conditions.<\/p>\n

Reading Managing Director Jack Gombach said Mayor Eddie Mor\u00e1n\u2019s administration \u201cphilosophically agrees\u201d with a lot of the ideas in the housing proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just always going to be this delicate balancing act of what legally can we do and offer, and then from an execution standpoint, what does that look like?\u201d Gombach said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Destabilizing and demoralizing\u2019<\/p>\n

The Housing Bill of Rights<\/a>, presented at an April City Council meeting by members of Berks Stands Up and Make the Road, calls for:<\/p>\n

Free legal counsel in eviction proceedings.
\nDisclosure of all fees and charges.
\nExpanded anti-discrimination protections.
\nCapped rent increases.
\nProtections for unhoused residents in public spaces.
\nStronger habitability enforcement.
\nTenant organizing rights.<\/p>\n

Their proposal points to a need for tenant protections in Reading, where nearly 6 in 10 households<\/a> are renters and the eviction rate is higher than the state\u2019s 7% average<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to census data, the median household income for renter households in 2024 was $30,465<\/a> a year. At that income, an affordable monthly rent payment would be about $760, if following a common guideline that rent should not be more than 30% of monthly income. Reading apartments currently listed on Zillow average about $1,355 a month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some of the advocates shared personal experiences with unstable housing, eviction, and dysfunctional landlord-tenant relationships, arguing that many of the challenges they faced could have been prevented or mitigated if the city had better regulations.<\/p>\n

\"CierraGabriela Mart\u00ednez \/ Spotlight PA: Cierra \u201cCece\u201d Mayo, 30, is a housing advocate in Reading.<\/p>\n

Cierra \u201cCece\u201d Mayo, a 30-year-old massage therapist, told council members she supports a cap on rent increases to prevent landlords from raising rent more than 3%. She also advocated for a \u201cright-to-rest,\u201d which would protect unhoused people, including those living in their cars, from fines or other penalties.<\/p>\n

Mayo described how a $577-a-month apartment, originally managed by the Reading Housing Authority, was sold to a private landlord, who then raised the rent to $1,000 per month. After about three years of keeping up with rent, a series of crises \u2014 her family\u2019s SNAP benefits being cut, having to help her mother buy food and medication, and a car accident on Thanksgiving \u2014 left her behind on rent.<\/p>\n

Mayo said she does not remember the judge asking her any questions during her Dec. 4 eviction hearing before ruling that she had 20 days to pack her belongings and leave her apartment. She had asked her landlord if she could move out but keep her things stored until early January, but he refused. She was evicted on Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy New Year\u2019s Eve, I was sleeping in my car with my dog,\u201d Mayo told City Council members. \u201cIt was freezing. What I went through was dehumanizing. It was destabilizing and demoralizing.\u201c<\/p>\n

At the same time, her experiences navigating homelessness have pushed her focus to advocacy around tenant protections in Reading.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt lets me really lean into the community and work with people who are also going through this, so I feel like my vision going forward is just: I don\u2019t want this to happen to family members or neighbors or people who are in the city,\u201d Mayo told Spotlight PA.<\/p>\n

Reading can\u2019t cap rent increases<\/p>\n

There is no law in Pennsylvania that caps or limits rent increases. However, Pennsylvania\u2019s Landlord and Tenant Act establishes \u201cbasic rules for renting residential property,\u201d according to the state Office of Attorney General.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe it is clear that anything addressing rental amounts or caps on rental increases and other fees, as well as enforcement of evictions and similar terms in lease agreements or occupancy arrangements, are preempted by the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, as amended, of Pennsylvania,\u201d Michael Gombar, Reading City Council solicitor, told Spotlight PA in an email.<\/p>\n

Robert Damewood, staff attorney with Regional Housing Legal Services, said it\u2019s not preemption stopping Reading from unilaterally capping rents. He pointed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Warren v. City of Philadelphia<\/a>, which found that the Landlord and Tenant Act did not invalidate the city\u2019s 1955 emergency rent control ordinance. Instead, the court said, the ordinance was valid as long as the housing crisis that justified it continued.<\/p>\n

However, \u201cPennsylvania is a so-called \u2018Dillon\u2019s Rule\u2019 state, which means that municipalities do not have inherent legislative powers, only such powers that are expressly delegated to them by the state,\u201d Damewood explained via email.<\/p>\n

And while Reading is a third-class home-rule municipality, meaning it has additional powers, it still generally can\u2019t regulate businesses unless there\u2019s a statute that explicitly allows it to.<\/p>\n

That means landlords can increase rent as much as they want, provided the increase complies with the lease terms. Generally, landlords are not allowed to raise rent mid-lease unless the tenant agrees to the increase.<\/p>\n

There are some legal limits on fees. For example, by law, landlords cannot require a security deposit that is more than two months\u2019 rent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over the past few years, there have been proposals at the state level to cap rent, but those bills have not advanced out of committee. Former state Sen. Jimmy Dillon (D., Philadelphia) sponsored a bill in 2023 <\/a>to create statewide rent increase regulations. Similarly, HB 914<\/a>, introduced by state Rep. Jim Prokopiak (D., Bucks), proposes amending the Landlord and Tenant Act to include limits on rent increases.<\/p>\n

What Reading can do<\/p>\n

Even with legal restraints due to municipal authority, Reading could strengthen tenant protections that already exist under state and federal law.<\/p>\n

A \u201cright to safe and habitable homes,\u201d included in the proposal, aligns with Pennsylvania\u2019s \u201cimplied warranty of habitability,\u201d which requires landlords to provide a home that is safe, sanitary, and fit for human habitation. In Pennsylvania, all residential leases have that warranty, giving tenants the right to terminate a lease or withhold rent if a landlord repeatedly fails to address serious habitability issues.<\/p>\n

All Pennsylvania landlords are required to provide safe homes, including basic necessities like water, heat, structurally safe spaces, and functional plumbing. It\u2019s up to municipalities to enact their own regulations for enforcement, inspections, licensing, and penalties.<\/p>\n

More specifically, advocates want stronger inspections and more penalties for landlords who chronically violate codes.<\/p>\n

Gombar, city council solicitor, said the city may have the ability to strengthen code enforcement to prevent landlord negligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as the right to safe and habitable homes, that is something that can be looked at, as far as inspections go, to do that on a more regular basis,\u201d Gombar said at the meeting on April 27. He added that it would also depend on whether the administration has the \u201cability, resources, manpower, and time\u201d to increase enforcement.<\/p>\n

Reading already requires all multifamily and rental properties to be inspected every two to five years<\/a>, and noncompliance can result in fines<\/a>. Tenants can also file housing complaints with the Citizens Service Center, and the Property Maintenance Division will investigate potential property code violations.<\/p>\n

In January, the city reinstated pre-sale health and safety inspections. Reading moved to post-sale inspections for a period because of a shortage of city property management staff, Dave Barr, Reading\u2019s director of community development, said in an interview with the Reading Berks Association of Realtors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

City officials said these inspections can hold owners accountable, enforce maintenance standards, and identify code violations before the property changes hands.<\/p>\n

The city does these reviews even if buyers decide to forgo an independent home inspection.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Berks County, people are very quick to waive their inspection rights in order to close the deal, and that exposes the tenant, the owner to so much risk,\u201d Gombach, the city managing director, said.<\/p>\n

Gombach said Reading has made progress on housing safety and increased inspection volume without slowing down real estate transactions as some had feared.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to see us get a little more efficient in the processes and procedures that we already have on the books before we seek to expand, because I think we have a good toolbox already to basically address some of these issues,\u201d Gombach said.<\/p>\n

The main challenge is finding a way to regulate bad actors without punishing responsible property owners,\u201d said Mark Mohn, government affairs director for the Reading-Berks Association of Realtors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny sort of wide-sweeping measures that are punitive across the board, we certainly would not be in favor of that. We\u2019d rather see incentivization for the good actors, the ones that are doing what they need to do,\u201d Mohn said.<\/p>\n

For example, the city could adopt an inspection system similar to Lancaster City\u2019s<\/a>, conducting inspections less frequently at properties owned by landlords who have strong compliance records, and more frequent, targeted inspections in properties with a history of code violations and tenant complaints.<\/p>\n

Damewood said there is \u201creally broad state authorization\u201d for Pennsylvania municipalities to regulate the health and safety of rental housing because of the Municipal Housing Ordinance Authorization Law<\/a>, which allows them to regulate inspections, licenses, and enforcement.<\/p>\n

Another Housing Bill of Rights plank the city could potentially examine is the \u201cright to rest,\u201d which, Gombar said at the April meeting, would involve \u201clooking at the current regulations in place that are impacting homeless people and whether any of that can be scaled back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposal also calls for expanding anti-discrimination protections for renters to include source of income, household and family composition, and immigration status.<\/p>\n

Damewood from Regional Housing Legal Services said this could be partially done. The city could pass legislation to add more protected classes \u2014 specific groups of people \u2014 that would be protected from housing discrimination. Adding \u201csource of income\u201d as a protected category could face legal hurdles though, because it would make landlords accept what the state Supreme Court calls an \u201caffirmative obligation,\u201d by requiring them to accept Section 8 vouchers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Pennsylvania Supreme Court said, you know, wait a minute, that\u2019s obligating a landlord to enter into a contract with the housing authority, enter into a contractual relationship with the housing authority, and that\u2019s an affirmative obligation, that\u2019s not just nondiscrimination,\u201d Damewood said.<\/p>\n

Reading already investigates anti-discrimination complaints through its Human Relations Commission. City Council could take legislative action to increase funding and resources to increase the Human Relations Commission\u2019s ability to investigate more complaints.<\/p>\n

Free legal counsel for tenants, one of the provisions in the proposed Housing Bill of Rights, would be possible, but would depend on available funding. Reading could fund a program similar to Pittsburgh\u2019s \u201cLawyer of the Day\u201d program<\/a>, which sends attorneys and other social services to four of the city\u2019s 12 magisterial district courts.<\/p>\n

A 2020 pilot eviction program that increased tenant access to legal advice in one of Reading\u2019s magisterial district courts was hailed a success by housing advocates. An analysis by the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania<\/a> found that in 2021, orders of possession dropped in the pilot court compared with other courts in the city.<\/p>\n

For now, the proposal remains in its early stages. No ordinance has been introduced in City Council.<\/p>\n

Briana Rodriguez, organizer for Berks Stands Up, said the group is in the process of setting up meetings with different officials in charge of enforcing zoning code, as well as with the city\u2019s legal department. The goal is to have a final ordinance draft that could be introduced by City Council before the end of the year.<\/p>\n

BEFORE YOU GO\u2026 If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org\/donate<\/a>. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you<\/a> who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-240530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}