{"id":102571,"date":"2020-08-31T20:17:44","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T00:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=102571"},"modified":"2020-08-31T23:41:50","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T03:41:50","slug":"tues-2pm-reading-renters-urge-gov-wolf-and-state-legislature-to-extend-expired-eviction-moratorium-to-prevent-housing-catastrophe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=102571","title":{"rendered":"TUES 2PM: Reading Renters Urge Gov. Wolf and State Legislature to Extend Expired Eviction Moratorium to Prevent Housing Catastrophe"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In Reading, 2,300 households are at imminent risk of eviction, including 1,700 children<\/em><\/p>\n

On Tuesday,\u00a0Make the Road Pennsylvania<\/a>, the largest Latinx organization in Pennsylvania, will gather local renters and community members outside Readings\u2019s eviction court, demanding that Governor Wolf and the state legislature indefinitely extend Pennsylvania\u2019s eviction moratorium, which expired on August 31. In July, a 55-member coalition led by Make the Road PA successfully pushed Governor Wolf to extend the eviction moratorium, warning of a looming eviction crisis that is now imminent. Protesters will also call for applications to the state\u2019s troubled Rent Relief Program to be streamlined and processed in a timely manner, and urge the courts to refuse to process eviction proceedings to prevent a catastrophic crisis of eviction and homelessness.<\/p>\n

Said Migreldi Lara, Make the Road PA member leader:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor Wolf and the state legislature must extend the eviction moratorium, or my three kids and I will be on the street. I lost my job as a hairstylist because of the pandemic, and there have been days when my children and I didn\u2019t have anything to eat. As a single mother, I am very worried about being evicted and homeless since I have not been able to pay the rent for three months. My landlord keeps asking me for money, but I have no way to pay him until I get my job back.\u201d<\/p>\n

One in five adults in Pennsylvania either missed July\u2019s rent or mortgage payment or had little or no confidence their household could make those payments on time in August, according to a recent US Census Bureau survey. Three in 10 Berks County residents are renters, including the majority of Latino and Black residents, according to the National Equity Atlas (data available upon request). In Reading, 60% of households are renters, and a third of renters pay more than half their income in rent, qualifying as \u201cseverely rent-burdened\u201d according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.<\/p>\n

WHO:<\/strong><\/p>\n