Mortgage, Rent Freeze Proposed In PA Due To Coronavirus Fallout

PENNSYLVANIA — Several Pennsylvania state representatives are proposing a mortgage and rent freeze due to economic and employment impacts from the new coronavirus, or COVID-19, outbreak.

Last week, state Reps. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Phila, Sara Innamorato, D-Allegheny, Summer Lee, D-Allegheny, and Danielle Friel Otten, D-Chester, announced they are working on legislation to ease the burden on and increase protections for all Pennsylvanians by implementing a rent and mortgage freeze.

"Across the commonwealth, families are facing the terrifying prospect of not being able to pay their rent or mortgage for the foreseeable future," Fiedler said. "People are making choices about whether they will pay their mortgage or rent, buy food, or pay for medicine. By freezing rent and mortgage payments we can ease some of the financial stress our constituents face right now."

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The four legislators filed a memorandum last week urging fellow legislators to support the move, but have not introduced a formal bill.

"Housing is a human right; we must do everything we can to protect each other during this time," the memorandum reads.

Since March 15, almost 1 million Pennsylvanians have filed for unemployment. As of Thursday, the state has seen 980,267 claims in the past two weeks.

Data was released Thursday that showed 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment in the last week. That's double the record high set just one week earlier.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said this week that the state Supreme Court closed courts to eviction proceedings due to the COVID-19 state of emergency. The Court's order is applicable to all Pennsylvania property owners, managers, landlords, as well as mortgage brokers and lenders, Shapiro said.

According to Fielder, other states are also looking at ways to provide relief from rent and mortgage payments.

"New York’s state legislature has introduced S8125A, a bill suspending rent payments for certain residential and small business tenants for 90 days, while both New York’s and New Jersey’s governors announced a 90-day grace period for many mortgages," she said.

>>>Full coverage of coronavirus in Pennsylvania here.