PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — June 30th marks the end of the current CDC eviction moratorium that went into effect last September. That means under federal law, anyone who could not pay their rent will now be responsible to pay it.
However, the City of Philadelphia's Emergency Rental Assistance Program can step in and help tenants with back rent.
“There have been quite a number of tenants over this past year (who) have fallen behind on their rent and had eviction cases against them, so now they are facing the prospect of being locked out," said Vikram Patel of Community Legal Services, which represents many tenants facing eviction action by landlords.
He said although the CDC moratorium is expiring, the City of Philadelphia's action is helping them with their rent to stay in their homes.
“The city has $97 million this time that they can distribute," Patel said.
"It might be more than all that they've had combined in the previous phases, but it'll pay up to 18 months of rent.”
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About one-fifth of all tenants in Philadelphia are behind on rent.
“Even if the CDC doesn't extend the moratorium, we're looking for maybe at least a local extension. We've seen the court already sort of take some steps here," said Patel.
Patel said in Philadelphia, landlords are required to apply for rental assistance before they can begin the eviction process against tenants.
"It's only if the rental assistance doesn't come through, then they can proceed with an eviction, because if we can maintain safe, stable housing for people and there's money out there to do it, then we try to get that to all those people that need it," said Patel.
"I think that has helped significantly with making sure that tenants who are behind on their rent are able to get this assistance."
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He believes throwing people out of their homes just as we are coming out of the pandemic is a bad move.
“Locking a bunch of people out of their homes would be not only an immense harm to them, but it also interferes with Philly's recovery," he said.
"It's very hard to find a job or find daycare for your children when you don't have stable housing.”
The CDC moratorium has been extended three times since September, and Patel said it’s possible it could be extended again. But at this point, he added, it’s still uncertain.