Greensburg rally pushes extension of eviction, foreclosure ban; Wolf hints at action

About a dozen members of Voice of Westmoreland rallied Monday in front of the courthouse to lobby Westmoreland County President Judge Rita Hathaway to issue an order barring evictions and foreclosures amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“This is incredibly important so people don’t lose their homes,” said Celina Culver, organizer of the rally.

As many as 2,300 county residents risk losing their homes through foreclosures this year, Culver said.

Nearly 1.3 million people across Pennsylvania are at risk of being evicted, the group said.

“Without legislative or judicial action, Pennsylvania will soon see an extraordinary crisis of evictions and homelessness,” they said in a release.

Gov. Tom Wolf this spring issued a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, and then extended it in July for an additional month. That order was set to expire Monday. The governor last week said he does not have the legal authority to issue another extension.

Asked Monday morning whether he might extend his moratorium, Wolf said, “you have to wait and see,” the Associated Press reported. He scheduled a news conference in Harrisburg to urge lawmakers to take action.

The governor’s office later Monday said it explored the possibility of building off the Federal Housing Administration extension last week of its national foreclosure and eviction moratorium protecting homeowners with FHA-insured single family mortgages through December, according to the AP.

“But after a thorough legal review, we have determined that the governor cannot extend the executive order to reach additional Pennsylvanians who are not benefiting from the federal extensions, and a legislative fix is necessary in order to protect homeowners and renters from eviction,” Wolf’s office said.

The comments left some lawmakers scratching their heads.

“I’m trying to figure out why he could do it in the spring and not do it now,” said state Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield. “Either he’s able to do it or not able to do it.”

Ward said it was unclear whether state lawmakers would take up legislation and criticized Wolf for what she said was the governor’s unilateral decision to impose coronavirus restrictions.

“He has not needed the Legislature to do anything, according to his own dictates. And, now, he wants the Legislature to step in?” Ward asked.

Culver said her group is continuing to lobby Wolf and state lawmakers. But they want Hathaway to step into the void. The group delivered a two-page letter asking that the president judge intervene and postpone evictions and foreclosure actions through Nov. 30.

“It is clear to us, representatives of the parties most impacted by the eviction moratorium, that we should collectively do everything within our power to ensure that residents of Westmoreland County are not faced with the threat of losing their home during a resurgence of the covid-19 pandemic,” the letter stated.

Hathaway said she will not issue such an order.

“I don’t have the authority to make law, and I don’t intend to do that,” she said. “It’s up to the governor and the legislators.”

Irwin native Jonathan Heinbaugh, a musical arts student at Seton Hill University, said his mother and two siblings live in fear that they could lose their homes because of the pandemic.

“I don’t really think they should take away our houses just because a pandemic hit us, a genuine sickness we lose our brothers and sisters to,” Heinbaugh said.

Mary Kay Nafaa of North Huntingdon, an owner of rented commercial property in another state, understands landlords’ concerns but supports continuation of the foreclosure moratorium.

“Losing housing at any point is traumatic but, under a pandemic, housing is critical,” Nafaa said.