A tenant, we will call her Faye to protect her privacy, and her 2yr old baby boy came to the HSC to file an emergency motion for re-entry and a late appeal for an Order for Possession. This was set to be executed that same day. Faye’s eviction is what is called a “Pay & Stay” meaning that the only issue found by the judge was late rent and if the arrears were paid, it would cure the eviction. Thankfully, Faye was able to work with the HSC team to apply for rental assistance through the Rapid Rental Assistance pathway. The application was submitted and approved. Staff reached out to her landlord who agreed to accept the payment. Action Housing was able to provide the award letter and initiate the payment also that day.
At the same time Faye was working with HSC staff, she was also being helped by our RentHelpPGH Appeals Specialist with filing a late appeal. As they were gathering the paperwork for that, our RHP team member realized that the landlord had provided the wrong address to the constable and the constable had already proceeded with the lockout! This meant that due to the landlord’s mistake, an innocent person was now locked out of their unit! The RHP team member immediately jumped into action! She reached out to the Magisterial District Judge’s office to inform them of the situation. The Judge’s staff was able to contact the constable who was able to turn right back around and return to the wrongly locked unit and let the innocent tenant back into their unit.
Due to the quick actions of our RentHelpPGH Appeals Specialist, this situation worked out positively for all involved. It is an example of an experience that truly illustrates the chaotic and unpredictable nature of the eviction landscape. Both situations, the tenant in arrears and the tenant who suffered getting mistakenly locked out of their home, as you can imagine was extremely stressful and traumatic. I can’t imagine how long it might have taken for the tenant, falsely locked out, to gain entry had our Appeals Specialist not caught that and then gone the extra step to make sure the constable was contacted! This is truly one of RHP's staff success story! Last, but not least, Faye’s visit to the Housing Stabilization Center also exemplifies the importance, value, and need of that space!
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