Advancing Pennsylvania’s Housing Futures: Sealing Eviction Records for Housing Stability and Economic Prosperity

Finally, the report closes by highlighting summer of 2022 to the summer of 2023.2 Ample research recommended approaches to address the far-reaching and long- shows how evictions cause a host of detrimental outcomes term harms of eviction records and give every Pennsylvania for the youngest to the oldest in our communities. [...] For example, in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, the share of evictions in the suburban areas of these metro areas has increased 11 and 5 percent, respectively.29 A looming eviction crisis during the beginning of the pandemic was prevented by the actions taken by local, state, and the federal government. [...] When a record is suppressed, the names allowed tenants to file motions to address the conditions of of all parties involved are kept from the public, and only accessible their dwelling and request that a record be sealed as a to judges, court staff, parties to the case and attorneys of the stipulation if the case results in a settlement, without fear of a parties involved, judicial staff, and anyo. [...] is still a lack of clarity regarding the applicability of the law to older eviction records that advocates have identified and are Since the passage of AB 2819, evaluating the impact of the actively trying to address in future legislation. [...] Tenants also have the who would have access to a sealed record are parties to the power to file a motion with the court to seal their record by case, attorneys who are involved in the case, the court, and making a compelling case for sealing their record due to the clerk.