Three House Dems to introduce legislation requiring eviction, foreclosure protections during COVID-19 emergency following U.S. Supreme Court ruling
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 31 – Reps. Elizabeth Fiedler and Rick Krajewski, both D-Phila., and Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Allegheny, will introduce legislation to protect Pennsylvanians struggling to stay housed during the ongoing COVID-19 emergency from evictions and foreclosures.
“Hundreds of millions of dollars of unused Emergency Rental Assistance Program funds are still available to tenants and landlords who desperately need the funds,” Fiedler said. “That’s why we will be introducing legislation to protect tenants from evictions related to the COVID-19 emergency. We know that homeowners are still struggling, too, and we know that this legislation would put in place protections for homeowners facing mortgage foreclosure.
“Our legislation would ensure that tenants and homeowners behind on their payments are connected with assistance programs before they are evicted – helping people stay in their home, assisting renters and landlords in paying their bills, and protecting individual and public health,” Fiedler added.
Specifically, the bill would require landlords seeking to evict for nonpayment to first apply for Emergency Rental Assistance Program funds and provide tenants with information about the program in the tenant’s language of choice. It would require courts to grant a continuance of 60 days until the application for rental assistance is approved or denied. It would require mortgage servicers to stop foreclosure proceedings until they are compliant with federal loss mitigation guidelines regarding COVID-19-related forbearances and post-forbearance loss mitigation options, require them to notify Pennsylvania borrowers of programs that can help prevent foreclosure and require they record the language preference of the person facing foreclosure, providing necessary translation and interpretation services. It would also require the Office of the Attorney General to oversee claims from mortgage servicers that have difficulties with compliance.
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