Philadelphia Lead Base Paint Bill – Blondell Reynolds Brown Wants to Cram it Through on Thursday – Urgent Read!

The Final Vote for the Philadelphia Lead Base Paint Bill goes before City Council this Thursday at 10:00 a.m., Suite 400.  Both myself and the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors (GPAR) encourage all landlords, investors, Realtors, Brokers or anyone who opposes this bill to show up and voice your opinion.  If City Council asks for public comments, do not be shy to speak out!

GPAR along with other affiliations has brought forth an age-restricted amendment that is 100 percent common sense that would make the bill applicable to only tenants who have a child under the age of 7.   This amendment would provide a lot of unnecessary inspections of properties where there are occupants that do not have young children.  The bill, of course, is intended to protect young children from lead, but I do not believe the bill will accomplish that goal.  And for it to have any true chance of doing so all properties (City owned, PHA and owner occupants) would need to be included.  That would never pass into law which is why we are left with this half-cocked, illegal bill.  And what we are left with is a bill that will kill the real estate market by making it more difficult for investors to do business in the City.  And even worse, higher rents will be a result as landlords pass off these unneccessary costs off to their tenants.

GPAR has asked for City Council, the Committee and Blondell Reynolds Brown to hold the bill.  However, Ms Brown refuses to do that.  She says she has been working on the bill since 2009 and is pushing forward with a final vote on Thursday. To me, that does not sound too diplomatic or Council-like, but who am I?  I am not on City Council.  If I was, I would obviously vote "NO" on this bill and tell my council-members that this bill is a joke.  Solving the problem begins with education, but that is another story.  Let's get this bill killed or amended first, and then we can work on the real intent of the bill.

Let's show up on Thursday and tell City Council what we think about the bill!

For past blogs and more info, please read:

Blondell Reynolds Brown and Her Leadhead Committee Passed the Bill - So What Now?

Is Blondell Reynold Brown Full of Lead?