Philadelphia witnessed more than 300,000 eviction cases over a 15-year span leading up to the 2020 pandemic, when the city placed a temporary moratorium on evictions. Now, with the moratorium lifted, the pressure for the city to start relieving the housing crisis is mounting.
City officials have thus far been unable to pass comprehensive rent-control legislation of the sort that some residents have looked to as a plausible solution. Other large cities, such as New York City and Los Angeles, have already had rent control policies in place for years. Surprisingly, Philly once had rent control—and it was popular. But in 1955, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned municipal rent control, including Philadelphia’s, despite the policy’s unanimously approval by City Council in 1947. Today, with roughly 50 percent of the city’s population “rent-burdened,” this overlooked history holds new relevance.
In September of 1947, during the aftermath of World War II, Philadelphia implemented a series of rent control policies to combat the pressures of a deflated economy. The local legislation followed in step with the federal government. The costliness of the war resulted in a nationwide economic depression in which the U.S. government responded by creating the Emergency Price Control Act (EPCA).
The EPCA contained a series of policies that were created with the intention of controlling the prices of necessities and goods— one of which included rent control in areas that were deemed to be of military importance, including major cities like Philadelphia. This form of rent control was comparatively more rudimentary than the policies that can be seen in modern U.S. cities, but it basically abided by the same structure.
Philadelphia City Council added onto the bill in order to adapt to the city’s unique housing market. This modification called for new price limits on housing and amenities every year through a review that would compare current prices to those from 1942-1943. By doing so, the government was able to prevent landlords from egregiously raising the rent on their tenants. On top of the limits, the landlords were expected to maintain the apartment in order to prevent them from increasing rent on worsening apartments.
However, only a few years later, in 1949, Congress would rescind the act—under the belief the act was no longer necessary—leaving it up to each city’s government to decide whether they wanted to continue with these policies. In 1953, federal rent control would expire, leaving some Philadelphia residents at risk.
In response, the city established its own rent control policies which were later challenged in a lawsuit brought by taxpayers. In 1955, in the case known as Warren v Philadelphia, the city held strong in their argument that they faced a housing emergency and the relief was needed in order to maintain the health and welfare of its citizens. In the end, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the city did not provide sufficient evidence of the housing shortage as a threat to the welfare of residents in 1955. However, in an earlier ruling, the Supreme Court also ruled that a municipality did have the right to enact rent control in an emergency, leaving the door open to future policies.
Now the question stands of whether the current state of housing in Philadelphia, where the average rent has risen roughly 20 percent since 2018, constitutes an emergency, as Karen Harvey of the Philadelphia Rent Coalition told WHYY. “Hundreds of single-parent-headed households earning minimum wage are facing eviction and homelessness this year without a cap on rent. People are going to be forced out of their own neighborhoods,” Harvey said.
Back in the 1970s, there was an attempt to revive the nearly two-decade old policies by the Tenants Action Group (TAG) —an organization founded by Stan Shapiro and Rudy Tolbert in Germantown. The organization began as a movement to push marginalized communities to organize and become more involved in politics and advocacy; but, as it turns out, a common issue among these marginalized communities was housing.
This common issue pushed TAG to begin working towards policies, through protest and advocacy. They pushed the Philadelphia government to implement some form of rent control in order to provide housing relief to those in need. The fight for some sort of rent control or stabilization continued until the 1980s, wherein TAG was able to push city officials to eventually pass a set of bills that secured fair housing, much to city officials’ dismay.
After this success, TAG focused more on their efforts on the legislative process and electing members into positions of government. Since then, mention of rent control slowly disappeared from the organization’s notes as Reaganomics washed over the country, taking rent control with it.
It’s possible the idea of rent control is still too radical for most elected officials, according to Councilmember Kendra Brooks, who has been a leading advocate for a rent-control policy since she was elected into office. “I know what it is like to worry about making rent every month, to worry about losing your home because a landlord decides to jack up the rent,” Brooks wrote in a statement. “That is why the very first resolution I introduced, in my very first session as a Philadelphia City Councilmember, was a resolution calling for a hearing on rent control.”
During a hearing in March of 2023, members of the community came forward to advocate for rent control policies,Councilmember Brooks present as an advocate on the council. Much to her dismay, a majority of City Council turned down the idea, after landlords lobbied against approval of the progressive policy.
“Unscrupulous landlords can charge whatever they want and we see that in the way rent has gone up. And so, whenever there’s something where a lot of money can be made there’s going to be opposition to shutting off that profit source,” said Kathleen Melville, the Communications Director for Councilmember Brooks, in an interview. “Every group has their advocates and lobbyists who are pushing for things to remain the way they are.”
It may take Philadelphia a bit more time to warm up to the idea of rent control. But, until then, council members such as Brooks are pushing towards a future where the cost of housing won’t be an issue for Philadelphians.
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Let’s all rebell and own homes and stop feeding landlords as this will never end unless we do