The city of Philadelphia has helped thousands of renters get spared from eviction through its eviction diversion program, writes Will Parker for The Wall Street Journal.

The relatively new process requires landlords to go through out-of-court negotiations with tenants before they can sue to remove them.

It has helped eviction filings in Philadelphia to remain relatively low, as court filings to remove tenants are down 41 percent in the 12 months ending in June, compared with the annual average between 2016 and 2019.

While eviction filings saw a wave nationally, Rachel Garland, a housing lawyer with Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, said, “We never saw the wave hit.” 

Philadelphia is among the nation’s poorest big cities, meaning the city has no shortage of tenants struggling to make the rent as rent continues to go up.

Last year, enrollments in the diversion program were higher than the number of eviction filings before the pandemic.

Philadelphia is funding $34 million this year on public rental assistance to help resolve temporary payment problems.

Many landlords are in support of the diversion program’s goals when tied to rental assistance. This is especially due to the fact they can often recover unpaid rent that is otherwise difficult to obtain in court.

Read more about how Philadelphia is helping rents avoid or delay evictions in The Wall Street Journal.

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