Tenant advocates have been calling on Pittsburgh to expand a program that provides free legal help to low-income renters facing eviction. A bill introduced to City Council on Tuesday appears to answer that call.
City Councilor Deb Gross has introduced a measure that would dedicate one-fifth of the money in a city anti-violence fund toward “eviction prevention” for low-income tenants. Tenants would have access to representation for landlord-tenant mediation, free legal representation in eviction court, and other resources that include rental support.
“Our main priority with this legislation is to create a sustainable structure to provide access to legal representation for residents in need,” Gross said in a statement. “This funding will give all Pittsburgh renters a fair chance to fight back against eviction and stay safely housed.”
There are roughly 13,000 eviction cases filed annually in Allegheny County, according to a study by the Pittsburgh Foundation that examined filings from 2012 to 2019. (Not every filing results in an actual eviction: Tenants can remain in their units if they are able to come up with the money owed even after a case is filed.)
The funding for the city’s program would come from its Stop the Violence trust fund, an account that has been dedicated to providing grants to local groups that aim to reduce violent crime. The legal support program would be supported by up to $2 million annually drawn from that fund.
Mayor Ed Gainey praised the legislation at a Tuesday press conference, calling it an effort to stop violence "at its root cause."
"This piece of legislation right here is a culture change," Gainey said. "To remove ... all the pressure that they face feeling that they could lose their house."
The bill comes months after advocates rallied outside the City-County Building in support of expanding the “Lawyer of the Day” program, which currently operates in four Magisterial District Judges’ courtrooms. Under the program, tenants can have the assistance of an attorney, as well as a navigator who can explain what rental assistance is available.
Statistics from Pennsylvania United, a progressive advocacy group, suggest that when tenants were provided legal counsel and resource navigation services during the eviction process, they had favorable outcomes more than 70% of the time — up from 14% before the program launched.
In its two years, the “Lawyer of the Day” program has assisted in 1,600 eviction cases in the four magisterial districts where it operates.
But only parts of the city are reaping those benefits. While renters in neighborhoods that include Homewood, the Hill District and the North Side have received support, those living in communities such as Hazelwood, Carrick and the West End have not.
“Some residents, when facing eviction, have access to the supports that this program provides and therefore have a much better chance of staying home. Others do not,” said Swain Uber, an attorney with the Community Justice Project. “And this must change.”
Other neighborhoods have seen high rates of eviction cases, according to Uber. Last year, there were 145 eviction filings in Hazelwood, 412 filings in the West End and 614 among several city neighborhoods south of the Monongahela River.
Councilor Anthony Coghill, who represents neighborhoods south of the river, is a co-sponsor of the bill. He said it will “make a real difference” for his constituents, and that housing instability is an issue that has personally affected him.
“I grew up in a single-family household. My mother raised myself, two older brothers,” he said. “I remember at the end of every month, my mother scrambling to get that rent together.”
Coghill called on landlords to be “compassionate” when mediating with tenants who are struggling to make their rent.
Landlord-tenant cases are civil, not criminal, matters, so defendants are not automatically entitled to legal representation, as they would be in a criminal case.
A 2021 study by The Pittsburgh Foundation found that in almost all the local landlord–tenant cases it looked at, neither the landlord nor the tenant had lawyers. The study found landlords won about 85% of cases; tenants won fewer than 2% and the remaining cases were mostly settled or withdrawn.
Though many supporters of the program argued stable housing could prevent violent crime before it begins, not all housing advocates agree with using the Stop the Violence funds.
At a City Council meeting Tuesday, Brandi Fisher, president of the Alliance for Police Accountability, said the city should not use money from the fund to support housing initiatives. She agreed housing stability is important, but described using anti-violence dollars to support it as “taking from one area of great need to satisfy another.”
Fisher argued that organizations like hers are fighting for every last cent of the city’s anti-violence grants. And that the added competition makes that fight harder.
“Far too often, Black organizations and issues that predominately impact Black, brown and poor people are severely under-resourced and left to fight over the same source of funds, which equate to crumbs being invested and outcomes being impossible to meet,” she said.
The effectiveness of the Stop the Violence fund has been criticized by some city leaders and residents. City Councilor Theresa Kail-Smith has openly called for stronger oversight over the funds to make sure they’re going toward effective programs.
The city has capped its annual allowance for the Stop the Violence Trust fund at $10 million. The proposed allocation for eviction legal assistance could not exceed $2 million, according to the legislation proposed Tuesday.
Pennsylvania will launch its own statewide legal aid program for renters facing eviction as part of its recently passed budget. The plan calls for $2.5 million to be divided among a network of legal-aid programs and organizations. The state will join five others with right-to-counsel programs.
Gross said Pittsburgh renters could stand to benefit from support from the state's program too.
"The more money that we can find from outside sources, the more money we have to stabilize households, prevent gun violence, and stabilize neighborhoods," she said.
