Landlords are not permitted to evict tenants during the state of emergency spurred by the covid-19 pandemic, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Tuesday.
All courts have been closed to eviction proceedings since March 18 through at least April 3 as part of a statewide shutdown to halt the spread of coronavirus.
Shapiro reiterated the ban on evictions in a letter to trade groups representing property owners, managers, mortgage brokers and lenders. He asked them to extend proceedings beyond April 3 to give people struggling during the pandemic time to recover financially.
“With millions of Pennsylvanians following Gov. Wolf’s direction to stay at home, it is critical that rental evictions cease for the duration of this emergency,” Shapiro wrote in the letter. “Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians have lost wages and jobs during this crisis and we will need time for businesses to reopen and for our economy to come back when the emergency is lifted. Stable housing is part of the foundation we need as a commonwealth to fully recover.”
Those who feel they have been wrongfully evicted can contact Shapiro’s office here.
