PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As city officials continue to investigate the shooting of 35-year-old Angel Davis as she was being served an eviction notice last month, hundreds of protestors gathered Wednesday night, calling for a change to how private landlords can choose to evict tenants.
Pennsylvania law allows private landlords to choose who enforces tenant evictions, either by using a Sheriff or a contractor hired by the landlord-tenant officer. That officer is appointed by the Municipal Court’s President Judge and has no city or state oversight. The landlord-tenant office is not funded by the city or state, but by fees paid by private landlords.
City Council questioned the First Judicial Court Administrator this week, who explained the law and said they were still digging into the specifics.
For these reasons, protestors marched down Broad Street, demanding justice for Davis and chanting things like “This ends today,” and “Housing is a human right. Housing is a human right!” Even some passersby joined in.
Davis’ mother, Rosalinde Hobson, says Davis is still in the hospital recovering. She was shot in the head by a private landlord tenant officer on March 29 at the Girard Court Apartments on North College Avenue near North 21st Street around 9:15 a.m. following an altercation with the landlord-tenant officer who was serving an eviction notice.
“This should not have happened and we have to continue, not just today, but every day and keep on fighting until they change the laws,” Hobson said.
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Lt. Jason Hendershot with the Officer Involved Shooting Investigation Unit says the landlord-tenant officer was legally carrying the gun, which is standard practice when serving eviction notices.
A lawyer representing the Landlord Tenant Office has not returned KYW’s requests for comments.