Erie’s Tenant’s Bill of Rights

RHLS commends the city of Erie for adopting a Tenant’s Bill of Rights. Senior Staff Attorney Bob Damewood has been assisting with the effort for several years. He researched and helped draft a previous Rental Housing Ordinance, and for this particular Bill, he assisted by making comments on an earlier draft, some of which were accepted.

By adopting a Tenants’ Bill of Rights, Erie has taken another critical step toward protecting tenants from losing their homes through no fault of their own. Erie’s Rental Housing Ordinance gives tenants a greater ability to prevent no-cause evictions than most tenants in Pennsylvania, but they can still be evicted upon lease expiration for nearly any reason or for no reason at all. Unfortunately, Erie’s Tenants Bill of Rights still includes lease expiration and nonrenewal as one of the justifiable grounds for eviction, so landlords in Erie currently retain the power to evict tenants upon lease expiration.

RHLS looks forward to seeing broader tenant protections, such as a “just cause” ordinance that would require landlords to allow tenants to renew their lease upon expiration unless there is a good reason to terminate the tenancy, such as the tenant’s noncompliance with lease obligations. See NLIHC-Promoting Housing Stability Through Just Cause Eviction Legislation.

The Erie Spiritual Coalition has made an impact by convincing City Council to address the power imbalance between landlords and tenants. The unanimous adoption of a Tenants’ Bill of Rights is an important step in that direction.