Authorizing the City Council's Joint Committees on Licenses and Inspections and Public Safety to hold hearings on the issue of negligent landlords, property manager, foreclosed vacant residential properties, problem rental properties and their effects on the surrounding community and in furtherance of such investigation, authorizing the issuance of subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.

WHEREAS, Philadelphia in recent years seen a substantial decrease in homeownership. A recent study found that from 2000 to 2012 the number of owner occupied units in the City declined by 47,082 to 302,551 and the number of rentals grew by 36,885 to 277,323, and that this shift in occupancy is more pronounced in certain zip codes in the City; and

WHEREAS, 2015 data shows that the eight zip codes experiencing the sharpest declines in homeownership account for approximately one-third of all violations during that year; and

WHEREAS, Properties that are continually in violation of the City’s codes drain the resources of the Department of Licenses and Inspections, the Law Department, the Police Department and the Courts; and

WHEREAS, Properties that do not meet the standards of the City code may present a danger to those inside or outside, or in neighboring homes and may drive down community morale and property values; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That City Council's Joint Committees on Licenses and Inspections and Public Safety are hereby authorized to hold hearings on the issue of negligent landlords, problem rental properties and their effects on the surrounding community and in furtherance of such investigation, authorizing the issuance of subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.

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