Pittsburgh OKs expanding legal aid for low-income renters fighting eviction
Pittsburgh renters fighting eviction could soon have increased access to free legal aid.
City Council on Wednesday voted to dedicate up to $2 million to connect low-income renters facing eviction with lawyers who can help them navigate the legal process.
The money also could fund mediation between tenants and landlords and help renters tap resources like rental assistance.
Council’s vote merely authorizes allocating the funds in next year’s budget, which has not been approved.
The move would expand a successful pilot program launched in 2022 that provided legal aid to renters living in certain parts of the city. The initiative will now be citywide.
The pilot program served more than 1,600 households, preventing eviction in nearly 75% of cases.
That’s a fivefold improvement from before the pilot program launched, according to Swain Uber, an attorney with the Community Justice Project and the program’s coordinator.
“It is going to have an immediate positive effect in people’s lives,” Jon Hanrahan, vice president of the Fineview Citizens Council, told council members ahead of Wednesday’s vote.
Sam Schmidt, a housing advocate who became homeless at 19 after an eviction, last week urged council members to support the measure.
“Housing is a human right, not a privilege reserved for those who can afford it,” she said.
The money will come from the city’s Stop the Violence trust fund.
Council President R. Daniel Lavelle during a press conference announcing the legislation in July said the Stop the Violence fund was intended to allow city government to be proactive in investing in programs that address root causes of violence and crime. He pointed to eviction as an example of those root causes.
A portion of the fund also supports parks and recreation projects.
Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, was the only member to vote against it. She did not give a reason.
Council members Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, and Deb Gross, D-Highland Park, were not present for the vote.
Julia Burdelski is a TribLive reporter covering Pittsburgh City Hall and other news in and around Pittsburgh. A La Roche University graduate, she joined the Trib in 2020. She can be reached at jburdelski@triblive.com.
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