Today, the Philadelphia Municipal Court issued an Administrative Order postponing Landlord Tenant cases that are currently scheduled for a hearing before the Municipal Court between July 6, 2020 and September 2, 2020 until further order of the Court. Governor Wolf’s May 7, 2020 Executive Order previously extended the moratorium on certain evictions and foreclosures from May 11, 2020 to July 10, 2020.
The Philadelphia Court will still accept new landlord tenant case filings beginning on July 10, 2020. However, newly filed cases will not be scheduled for hearing until an order is issued permitting such hearings. The Court has also put the issuance and service of writs of possession and of possession and alias writs of possession until further notice from the Court.
While litigants will still be permitted to file new cases on July 10, 2020, the Municipal Court has hindered landlords’ ability to regain possession of their properties indefinitely at this point. As the protections in Governor Wolf’s Executive Order come closer to an end, we may see more courts issuing similar orders.