HARRISBURG, Aug. 26 – Today, state Reps. Elizabeth Fiedler, Summer Lee and Sara Innamorato announced plans to introduce legislation to help keep people in their homes during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Citing concerns over Monday’s expiration of the foreclosure and eviction moratorium, the lawmakers emphasized urgent action to prevent mass evictions and foreclosures across the state.

The legislation would provide Pennsylvania’s governor express powers to place a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures in the commonwealth or specific counties during a disaster emergency.

“Everyone deserves a place to call home. This legislation will help keep our communities intact, and make sure our neighbors have more time to apply for financial relief programs, plan for the short- and long-term, and save money. The impact of being pushed out of your home can be traumatic, especially for children, and we need to do everything possible to prevent it from happening, especially during a pandemic.” said Fiedler, D-Phila.

 “The legislature must act now to prevent the man-made disaster that will unfold if the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures is lifted,” Lee, D-Allegheny, said. “Failure to do so will create a humanitarian crisis among the very people who have already been victimized by this crisis, who are asked daily to put their and their families’ health on the line for the rest of society. The legislature’s leadership can take action to stop human suffering, or they can blindly look away as they have many times during this crisis, prioritizing politics over human lives.”
“So many of our neighbors have suffered so much during this pandemic, losing loved ones, jobs, opportunities, or simply the stability of the daily routine that so many of us had taken for granted just a few months ago,” said Innamorato, D-Allegheny. “At a time of historic unemployment and broken safety nets, with a virus that continues to spread across our commonwealth, to allow the moratorium to expire without action is immoral and unconscionable. I call on my fellow legislators to do the right thing – to put aside partisan differences and to help the people the Pennsylvania.”

Their bill was circulated today for co-sponsorship and is part of a comprehensive package of bills by a statewide Housing Emergency and Lessee Protectors work group, House Democrats HELP.