On March 17, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court reversed the latest city ordinance designed to create a registry of rental properties and landlords.
In an opinion written by Senior Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt, the court found the city is not “expressly” authorized to conduct what it called the “wide-ranging regulation of the residential landlord business.”
Non-compliance is endemic in Oakland, and this affects not just the health and safety of tenants in overcrowded apartments, but it has a dramatic impact on Oakland’s affordability and inclusivity. It also presents multiple barriers to better and more sustainable development here.
OPDC has worked for decades for better enforcement of existing health and safety laws, but the city is hamstrung without effective tools to compel compliance. We support the city’s decision to appeal this ruling.