The Sargent Shriver Poverty Law Center’s Clearinghouse Review has published Domestic Violence and Good-Cause Evictions in Pennsylvania After the 2013 Violence Against Women Act Amendments.
The article was co-authored by Regional Housing Legal Services (RHLS) Managing Attorney, Judy Berkman; Executive Director, Mark Schwartz; Independence Foundation Fellow, Jack Stucker; Rachel Garland, attorney at Community Legal Services; and Eva Zelson, a law student at William and Mary Law School.
The new article updates the one published in 2013 that discussed RHLS’ efforts in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania to provide protections for survivors of domestic violence who face eviction due to a domestic violence disturbance. It explains how the expanded protections for survivors of domestic violence provided in the 2013 amendments to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) can be used as a defense to evictions, by using the “good cause” requirements in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) rental developments.
The article also provides easy-to-understand explanations of the LIHTC program, so that advocates can hold state allocating agencies responsible for making sure LIHTC landlords comply with the “good cause” requirement for lease terminations, especially for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. RHLS advocacy in Pennsylvania earlier this year resulted in a mandatory lease addendum to all LIHTC leases as a further effort to protect tenant rights.
Recognizing that domestic violence survivors are at risk for losing their housing as the result of a violent incident, the tools explained in this article work to protect LIHTC residents from housing instability. The article encourages advocates nationwide to use the information provided to protect tenants and to pursue similar advocacy in their jurisdictions.
The authors would especially like to thank Novogradac & Company LLP for the use of graphics in the article.
Mark Schwartz is a member of the board of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency Board. The views expressed in the article are his personal opinions.