Tenant debt continues to be an overwhelming issue for many renters throughout Pennsylvania. Rental debt can affect not just a person’s ability to find new housing, but can impact a person’s credit score, which is used in many aspects of life – from utility to medical payments. While debt is often thought of as an individual issue, there are policies and legislation in place at the local, state, and federal levels that affect a person’s ability to eliminate or work through the debt. Advocacy can increase the number of policies working in favor of low-income and other families who need some extra help bouncing back from a global health crisis that was out of their control. The materials on this page try to work at both the individual and systems levels to help tenants get the protections and resources they need.
The following tenant debt resources were prepared by Vanessa Raymond-Garcia, Policy Analyst. They include: a tenant debt toolkit, a fair housing and tenant screening best practices memo for housing developers and property managers, and the results of a statewide survey on tenant screening practices from Pennsylvania housing developers and property managers. These resources look to get an understanding of and present avenues for advocacy for tenant debt and protections in the wake of the COVID-19 global health crisis. While these issues are not new, the pandemic exacerbated the issues presented in these materials.
The toolkit’s goal is to help individuals and advocates create an advocacy plan to make both small and big changes to the way housing is created, preserved, and kept affordable throughout the state. The strategies outlined in this toolkit aims to show readers ways to support their neighbors within and outside of the political systems. It also hopes educate residents across the Commonwealth about tenant debt and how to advocate for solutions.
The best practices memo’s objective is to help developers and managers of housing throughout the state improve their current tenant screening practices with the end goal of more equitable outcomes. You can download the memo here.
The survey served as the basis of both aforementioned resources by gaining a better understanding of current practices in tenant screening and debt by housing developers and managers throughout the state.