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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 9, 2019 08:44 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Jared G. Solomon and Rep. F. Todd Polinchock, Rep. Mary Jo Daley, Rep. Sara Innamorato, Rep. Thomas L. Mehaffie, III |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Modernization of the Landlord Tenant Act |
| Across the Commonwealth more and more people are renting instead of owning a home. Of the 230,000 new housing units created in Pennsylvania since 2000, 180,416 (78%) are rentals. 57 of 67 counties saw an increase in rental housing in that time. This impacts everyone’s district. But our statewide Landlord Tenant statute lets down all of these property owners and renters. It has not been comprehensively updated since 1951. Landlord tenant law is scattered between statute, case law, and local ordinance. This confusion may be great for landlord-tenant attorneys, but it is bad for landlords and tenants alike. We aim to correct this. By introducing an overhaul and modernization of the Landlord Tenant Act, we will bring clarity to an area of law that impacts so many people across our state. Our Act is modeled on a draft negotiated over three years by landlord and tenant leaders nationwide through a process organized by the Uniform Law Commission. Each word, each clause, each subsection was carefully debated to ensure fairness and simplicity. With this as the jumping off point, our body can debate, amend, and adapt it to the needs of Pennsylvania. As you can see from the names on this memo, we believe that something of this importance, something that impacts a fundamental human need of so many Pennsylvanians, must be done in a bi-partisan manner. Not everyone can or wants to own a house, but everyone deserves a secure, stable home. It is the foundation for so much of what we do in our lives. With this Act, we aim to stabilize that foundation for the betterment of Pennsylvanians throughout the state. |