Anti-Slumlord Bill Passes Pa Senate - Onto House In Fall

Slumlords and absentee property owners may finally be forced to “face the music” in court.

A bill, which already passed the PA Senate, will be waiting for approval from the state house in September.

Fox 29’s Joyce Evans brings us the story.

Joyce did some research and found there are approximately 300,000 abandoned or blighted properties statewide. Last year, L & I was forced to clean and seal more that 1,300 of these properties. That cost taxpayers about $1,000 per property. Most of that money was never collected.

Sometimes taxpayers foot the bill for demolition on abandoned properties. There is little the city can do to hold the owners responsible.

Often, the neighbors also suffer – as their hands are tied, forced to live next to these crumbling properties.  There are almost 40,000 abandoned properties right here in Philadelphia.

It the new anti-slumlord bill becomes a law, this all may change – for the better. The proper name of the bill is: the Neighborhood Blight Reclamation & Revitalization Act.  It would start placing fines and liens against property owners, not the property. It would show up on their credit reports & ultimately it would allow the city to deny any permits and purchased until they clean it up – and pay up. It would also empower the city to extradite out-of-state owners for criminal prosecution.

Fox 29 will continue to follow this story in September, when the bill goes to the house.