PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The city’s Landlord-Tenant Office has agreed to temporarily suspend evictions, following a shooting in Port Richmond last week. But a Pennsylvania senator wants to permanently bar private entities from handling evictions.
Sen. Nikil Saval says his bill, introduced with fellow Philadelphia Democrat Sen. Sharif Street, would bring Philadelphia in line with the rest of the state, requiring public offices rather than private contractors — for example, a landlord-tenant officer — from handling evictions.
“Over the course of just a few months, in two separate instances, private contractors shot two tenants that the landlord tenant officer tasked them to evict and in the third instance, a contractor fired a gun,” Saval said.
“The series of violent incidents shows clearly that the Landlord-Tenant Office is beyond reform and should not be tasked with performing evictions in the city.”
After a woman in Port Richmond was shot in the leg, the Landlord-Tenant Office agreed to suspend evictions until officers are appropriately trained in de-escalation techniques and use of force.
Earlier this year a woman was shot in the head. Last month, an officer fired at a dog.
The Landlord-Tenant Office is run by a private law firm contracted by Philadelphia Municipal Court. Property owners are responsible for the costs of eviction, and the office, which is run by a private law firm, is cheaper than the sheriff’s department.
But Saval says there needs to be more transparency.
“Acts of eviction, the act of forcibly removing someone from their home, is something that needs to be handled by public officials with proper training and oversight,” Saval said.
“An entity that stands to profit off of each eviction is incentivized to evict as quickly as possible. And a public entity with public accountability and public oversight is needed to safeguard this matter, which I think is a matter of, frankly, of public safety and public health.”
Saval’s bill is sitting in the Senate Judiciary Committee. He says he’ll continue to push for a vote or public hearing.
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