Are you a landlord or rental property owner in Pennsylvania? Have you suffered lost rental income from the eviction moratorium in Pennsylvania?
In Pennsylvania, soon after the COVID-19 pandemic was officially announced, eviction moratoriums were put in place in the State of Pennsylvania, including some of its major cities, such as: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Harrisburg.
For almost two years now, Pennsylvania landlords, investment property owners, rental property owners, and Pennsylvania real estate property management companies have suffered financial harm from some residential and apartment tenants not paying rent during COVID.
Pennsylvania politicians, health professionals, and other state and federal authorities in PA touted these measures were necessary in the name of public safety. The pandemic measures were thought to take an estimated two weeks to level the curve, and that Pennsylvania residents would all be back to normal life soon.
Again, that was almost two years ago. No one involved in Pennsylvania real estate thought this health crisis and financial crisis for Pennsylvania landlords would be continuing this long.
Pennsylvania Landlords Forced to Comply with Unfair Eviction Moratoriums
During this entire pandemic, Pennsylvania residential rental property professionals, including: landlords, investment property owners, real estate investors, and property management firms were forced to comply with the mandated tenant eviction moratoriums by all levels of government in the State of Pennsylvania.
Landlords in Pennsylvania were essentially being ignored, while suffering economic harm and financial damages, each and every month, from tenants that decided not to pay rent, because they could not be evicted during the Pennsylvania moratorium.
This caused some PA landlords to default on their investment property mortgages, due to lost rental income and cash flow for some of their properties.
Pennsylvania Rental Property Owners Financially Harmed by the Illegal Eviction Moratorium
In Pennsylvania, and around the nation, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued an eviction moratorium that was backed by politicians across the country.
Landlords in Pennsylvania were immediately thrown into a potential financial hole of lost rents when some tenants stopped paying rent, with no recourse of eviction.
After a very long wait, Pennsylvania rental property owners had some financial relief on the horizon.
The Supreme Court of the United States finally ruled that the CDC, all on its own, had no authority to restrict rental property owners from operating their investment property within clearly established landlord tenant Pennsylvania rental laws.
Unfortunately for Pennsylvania rental property owners, this ruling came well after the fact of major financial real estate rental income losses suffered by hundreds of thousands of rental property owners, some of whom lost their properties and even had to file for bankruptcy.
Pennsylvania Landlord Rights During COVID
While some Pennsylvania tenants, including those in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Harrisburg, responsibly used their government stimulus checks to pay rent, or at least what they could, many others simply did not.
Not all tenants working in essential Pennsylvania jobs during the initial phases of the pandemic paid rent either. Even after Pennsylvania began relaxing COVID mandates, and many people returned to work, there was still a certain percentage of tenant rentals that still didn’t pay their rent to Pennsylvania landlords.
Despite news of this situation spreading and instances of some tenants bragging about not paying rent, Pennsylvania politicians ignored the pleas of landlords and just shrugged their shoulders and told rental property owners to be patient. In fact, as the pandemic continued, these same Pennsylvania politicians actually extended the eviction moratorium, in some cases, multiple times.
Bottom line? Pennsylvania landlords got shafted out of legally owed monthly rents by tenants who took advantage of the system not to pay rent.
Eviction Moratorium in Pennsylvania Continues to Deliver Financial Devastation to Landlords
Costs and financial consequences to rental property owners over the last two years has been astronomical.
For many honest PA rental property owners and managers, the financial devastation was equivalent to, or even worse than, the Great Recession in 2008 to 2010 that wreaked havoc on real estate rental portfolios around Pennsylvania.
Now in 2022, with some Pennsylvania eviction moratoriums expiring or have expired, the pain will continue for some rental property owners since in many Pennsylvania jurisdictions, landlords must still must take legal action to evict tenants that are behind on rents.
As many rental landlords and owners already knew, the eviction moratoriums across the nation completely ignored landlord property rights in PA.
Meanwhile, rental property owners in Pennsylvania are still on the hook for past due mortgage payments, property insurance, property taxes, and any repairs the property required, regardless if tenants paid rent or not.
How is this fair to tax paying landlords in Pennsylvania?
Adding insult to injury, videos and news reports showed groups of tenants in PA stepping out in protest declaring themselves free rent, even after many landlords voluntarily offered very generous rental discounts in an empathetic gesture to help ease everyone’s mutual financial pain due to COVID.
Of course, serious repairs and maintenance needed on Pennsylvania rental properties still had to be addressed, which caused more financial problems given all the COVID pandemic social distancing and scheduling issues between tenants and contractors.
With limited local Pennsylvania aid and eviction courts still packed with cases, it continues to be a very long and exhausting road for rental property owners who simply want to financially recover from the fallout of the COVID pandemic and move forward.
SBA EIDL Financial Relief for Landlords in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania SBA loans offered through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is one of the main ways landlords in Pennsylvania can get financial relief.
If a Pennsylvania landlord had already applied for an EIDL loan prior to 12/31/21, they are still eligible to apply for loan reconsideration if one of their real estate entities was declined by the SBA.
Alternatively, if the Pennsylvania real estate entity already received EIDL funds, landlords may apply for a loan modification increase request to obtain more low interest funds.
Currently set at 3.75% APR, 30 year fixed rate loan, with no payments for 24 months.
Very cheap money to help Pennsylvania landlords recover and get financial assistance and relief, to offset major losses to cash-flow from unpaid rents due to the eviction moratoriums throughout Pennsylvania.
Summary and Conclusion for Pennsylvania Eviction Moratorium: Don’t Give Up! There is Financial Relief for Pennsylvania Landlords
For Pennsylvania investment and rental property owners harmed by COVID, Disaster Loan Advisors may be able to assist working with landlords in Pennsylvania that are eligible for the SBA EIDL program.
Does Your Pennsylvania Rental Property Business Need an Increase or Loan Modification to Your Existing SBA EIDL Loan?
Did you already receive a Pennsylvania SBA EIDL loan for your Pennsylvania Rental Properties?
We can assist Landlords in requesting additional SBA EIDL loan funds through the increase request and loan modification process in Pennsylvania.
Schedule Your Free Disaster Loan Consultation to see if we may be able to help your Rental Property business with the SBA Increase Request Process in Pennsylvania.
Was Your Pennsylvania Rental Property SBA EIDL Loan Denied?
Has your Pennsylvania SBA EIDL loan been denied for your PA business?
We can assist you in filing for an SBA EIDL loan reconsideration appeal for your Rental Property entities in Pennsylvania.
Schedule Your Free Disaster Loan Consultation to see if we may be able to help your Rental Property business with the SBA Loan Reconsideration Process in Pennsylvania.
Cover Image Credit: 123RF.com / Marchmeena / Disaster Loan Advisors.