In a rare move, Philly landlords sued to delay a City Council vote on legislation meant to protect renters
Council was scheduled to vote Thursday morning on two bills introduced by Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke that are meant to help Philadelphia renters living in unsafe or unhealthy homes.
In an exceedingly rare move, Philadelphia landlords filed a lawsuit Wednesday against City Council to delay a vote on legislation meant to protect renters.
Council was scheduled to vote Thursday morning on two bills introduced by Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke that are meant to help Philadelphia renters living in unsafe or unhealthy homes. But the landlords and City Council reached a settlement agreement Wednesday afternoon that will postpone the vote to a date to be determined.
One bill would protect tenants who complain about housing conditions from retaliation by rental property owners and affirm tenants’ rights to safe and sanitary homes. The other seeks to hold landlords accountable for repairs and would authorize the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections to create a program to proactively inspect rental units.
O’Rourke wrote the bills, which he introduced last April, in partnership with OnePA Renters United Philadelphia, a coalition of renters unions and advocates, and Philly Thrive, an advocacy group for racial, economic, and environmental justice. During the March 4 Council hearing at the center of the landlords’ lawsuit, tenants testified about living with mold, pests, leaks, lack of heat, and falling ceilings.
In their lawsuit, Philadelphia rental property owners Erica Hadley and Seth Floyd alleged that Council members deliberated on amendments to the bills in a private meeting before the housing committee’s public hearing in violation of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act, which requires government meetings to be held in public.
The rental property owners also objected to the decision by the housing committee to vote to advance the bills to the full Council before hearing public comments. On March 4, the committee paused its hearing, voted on the bills, and then resumed the hearing and took public comment.
In the settlement reached Wednesday, the landlords and City Council agreed to postpone the scheduled vote and that O’Rourke would move his bills back to the housing committee. According to the agreement, neither side admitted violating any law.
In an e-mailed statement, O’Rourke said: “This is a shameful tactic taken in bad faith from lobbyists who are poorly representing their clients by introducing a meaningless procedural delay.”
He said the same bills that Council members would have voted on during Thursday’s meeting “will come before the full body in the coming weeks.”
The latest versions of the bills were the result of months of discussions with Council members, officials from Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration, and landlords. But rental property owners have continued to oppose the legislation, saying the amendments do not go far enough to prevent unintended consequences that could harm landlords.
Paul Cohen, general counsel for HAPCO Philadelphia, the city’s largest association of rental property owners, did not represent the landlords in Wednesday’s lawsuit but supported their emergency request for a delay. He said the bills were rushed through the legislative process.
“Hopefully, [Council members] will now follow the Sunshine Act and have a proper hearing where they can actually listen to testimony and listen to public comment and then properly deliberate the bill in public and not in private,” Cohen said in an interview. “And hopefully, they’ll come up with a different decision.”
Staff writers Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.