By Bill Wellock
The Citizens’ Voice
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A bill on Gov. Tom Corbett’s desk would prohibit nuisance ordinances around the state, such as one in Wilkes-Barre, from penalizing crime victims who call 911 repeatedly.
House Bill 1796 would keep municipal laws from penalizing tenants or landlords who contact police multiple times in cases of abuse or other crimes or in other emergencies. The bill would apply in actual cases of emergencies and abuse or if the person contacting authorities had reason to believe they needed help. A spokesman for the governor said he planned to sign the bill into law within the next 10 days.
According to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 37 municipalities around the state have passed laws that threatened eviction if police respond to an address multiple times within a set time period, such as a year. Pittsburgh, Allentown, Lancaster, Harrisburg and York are some cities with nuisance ordinances.
Wilkes-Barre is a Luzerne County municipality with such a law. The city’s municipal code reads that a code enforcement officer may close a rental unit for certain violations. Another part of the code says certain violations shall require closure, including three or more disruptive conduct reports or police reports for an address within six months.
Assistant city solicitor Bill Vinsko said the city has been working with North Penn Legal Services, an organization that helps low-income residents with legal aid, to adapt the city’s laws. He said he’s still working on a draft that would offer more protections to crime victims.
“That’s what we’re revising,” he said. “Of course, the language of the law (Corbett plans to sign) will have an effect.”
The city’s code enforcement department can close a rental unit if the city records three examples of disruptive conduct within six months. The municipal code also allows the department to close rental units if an owner or occupant has “implied or actual knowledge” of a single example of drug or gun crimes, or if police charge someone in the rental unit or on the premises with those crimes.
Council passed a new rental ordinance in August 2013, and the code enforcement department temporarily closed 27 rental units within a year of the law’s conception.
Vinsko said authorities can use their judgement when deciding whether a response to a home constitutes a violation that could lead to eviction.
“For example, if there’s a victim of domestic violence and they call police, it’s not a strike against the property,” he said. “We’re not going to penalize people who are being harassed or beaten or mentally or physically hurt. We want to make sure people know we want them to call the police.”
Sara Rose, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said her organization advocated strongly for the bill.
“We think it’s a strong step forward in protecting tenants from being kicked out of their home simply for calling the police,” she said. “I think a lot of ordinances across the state will be in violation.”
The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit in April 2013 challenging a nuisance ordinance in Norristown. The ordinance allowed the municipality to revoke rental licenses if the city recorded three cases of disorderly behavior at a property.
Any part of municipal laws that say a certain number of calls to police or reports of disruptive conduct within a set time period will result in a penalty would have to be changed, she said.
The organization still has issues with other parts of nuisance ordinances around the state. Those laws have problems with giving the accused due process before losing their home, she said. Another problem, even with House Bill 1796, is that it requires police discretion to determine what conduct falls within the law, she said. An officer may not be able to tell whether a situation constitutes domestic violence.
“They could characterize it as a noise violation. Or they might not be able to tell who’s at fault, so both people could be culpable,” she said. “It’s not an easy thing to recognize unless you’ve gone through special training.”
“We still have problems with laws that penalize people’s conduct by taking away their homes. If there’s a violation, they should be cited or arrested,” Rose said. “Losing your home just because you’re a renter is fundamentally unfair.”
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©2014 The Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)