Received 11/08/2021 Supreme Court Eastern District

Filed 11/08/2021 Supreme Court Eastern District

November 5, 2021

GOLDBERG, MILLER & RUBIN

www.gmrlawfimi.com

The Honorable Max Baer

Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

c/o Office of the Prothonotary

468 City Hall

Philadelphia, PA 19107

Re:

Response in Support of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Order No. 21 EM 2020

Authorization for Continuation of the Philadelphia Municipal Court Landlord-Tenant

Diversion Program

Dear Justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania,

I am writing to request your ongoing support for Philadelphia's nationally renowned use of

Alternative Dispute Resolution in eviction proceedings. I appreciate your leadership in continuing to

extend authority for Philadelphia to require landlords to apply for rental assistance and participate in

Philadelphia's pre-filing Eviction Diversion Program, most recently via your Order dated October 28,

2021, No.21 EM 2020. I would like to request that you continue to extend this authority beyond

November 30, 2021.1 further request that you grant this authority to other counties, so that residents

there can also benefit from collaboration between the courts, rental assistance, and other stabilizing

measures. To do so, I respectfully request that you issue a rule that allows a local county's President

Judge to issue their own local rule creating or coordinating with Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

procedures in eviction proceedings, if they so choose.

Since its inception, I have volunteered for the Eviction Diversion Program, and I have mediated

dozens of agreements between landlords and tenants. By fostering a neutral space where the parties

can talk about the situation, the parties usually can come to a mutually advantageous outcome without

involving the court. Sometimes, agreements do not rely on funding from any outside source but were

extensions for paying back rent on installments or the tenant paying rent once the landlord performed

necessary repairs. As a general rule. Landlords do not want to evict tenants. Yet, the prior system,

which did not require mediation, encouraged landlords to file evictions to get tenants to start the ball

rolling in case tenants could not consistently start paying their rent. The Eviction Diversion Program

offers a cost-effective solution as it relies primarily on volunteers and creates better outcomes overall

for both landlords and tenants.

Philadelphia has avoided the wave of evictions predicted. Eviction filings in Philadelphia are

less than a third of what they were pre-pandemic. In addition, Philadelphia currently leads the nation

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in distributing federally allocated rental assistance with over $212 million distributed to over 34,700

households. The program has brought positive attention to both the city and the state and landlords

and tenants, and the court will continue to benefit by extending it.

Thank you for your attention and considering this letter.

Very truly yours,

JASON W. RUBIN