Pittsburgh leaders on Tuesday said they want to help residents who are facing eviction because they can’t pay their rent during the pandemic.
But they don’t want to give “false hope” by enacting something that won’t withstand legal challenges, city council President Theresa Kail-Smith said.
“We all want to help avoid evictions if possible,” Kail-Smith said.
City council members heard from several activists who lobbied for council to act Tuesday. The city’s lawyers advised council not to adopt a proposed eviction ban similar to one approved by city officials in Harrisburg because of questions about how it would be applied in Pittsburgh.
Despite national, state and local efforts to prevent people who are facing financial struggles because of the coronavirus pandemic from being evicted from their homes, the guidelines put into place have put many in danger of being evicted, Councilwoman Deb Gross said.
Rental relief programs are in the works in a partnership involving Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and Action Housing that’s supposed to be up and running in March.
Similar programs in Pennsylvania haven’t functioned as they were supposed to, a recent investigation by Spotlight PA found.
More than 100 families are facing eviction proceedings in Pittsburgh and they need to be protected, Gross said.
“This is a one-in-a-100-years global pandemic. We should not be putting people on the streets,” Gross said.
Other council members agreed. All council members, along with Mayor Bill Peduto, supported doing something quickly.
“The mayor’s office is working with council and the Law Department to reach a solution, with the expectation something can be approved next week,” Peduto spokesman Tim McNulty said.
It is a joint effort by all city officials, Councilman Bruce Kraus said.
“We’re not asleep at the switch. We understand how desperately this is needed,” Kraus said.
On Tuesday council unanimously extended the “declaration of disaster emergency” in the city through March 16, a day shy of the one-year anniversary of the initial emergency declaration enacted when the pandemic took hold.
Council members intend to act on eviction legislation next week, they said.
