Incentivizing discrimination against poor, young Philly families

How broken is Philadelphia’s lead disclosure law? Not only is the rate of compliance abysmally low due to its unenforceability, but some unscrupulous landlords are taking advantage of a built-in incentive to discriminate against families with children under the age of 5. 

At a press conference this week, Kaitlyn K., a Philadelphia mother of a now one-year-old boy, shared her harrowing experience in a statement which described being forced to move out of her apartment just last year when she was eight-months pregnant because her landlord would not rent to people with children under five as it “was a liability for lead poisoning and they were not going to fix the lead if it was a problem.”

The landlord invited Kaitlyn to pay for testing the apartment for lead herself but she realized that if he was going to take no action if the results were positive, it was wiser to put that money towards moving costs.

In addition to the terrible dangers of toxic lead poisoning in untested rental units built before 1978, the city’s most vulnerable families also face the burden of a broken lead law that incentivizes discrimination, according to the Lead Free Philly Coalition and experts who urged City Council to fix Philadelphia’s problematic lead law with haste.

Fortunately, City Council could be a week away from voting on crucial changes to the lead law that would protect the vast majority of the 2,200 children under the age of 6 who are poisoned by toxic lead in their own homes.

The bill, which was voted out of the health committee months ago, bears a lot of similarities to Baltimore’s law, which saw a gobsmacking 99% reduction in childhood lead poisoning after it was enacted.

Philly’s proposed changes certainly don’t go as far in terms of the demands it places on landlords but it would ensure universal testing of all pre-1978 rental units. The current law only requires landlords to ensure the apartments are lead-safe if families with young children are to rent them.

Cue the discrimination.

An expert who leads a tenants rights organization in Massachusetts, a state with a lead law that is similar to Philadelphia’s problematic one, testified before council of the “rampant housing discrimination” the families she serves face.

“The imposition of a financial burden solely on landlords who rent to families with children under age six creates an irresistible financial incentive to deny rental housing to these families in Massachusetts,” said Meris Berquist, Executive Director, Massachusetts Fair Housing Center.

The NAACP made very clear who loses out the most from Philly’s broken lead law.

“Struggling black families bear the brunt of this deeply problematic legislation,” said Reverend Rodney Muhammad, President of the Philadelphia NAACP.

“Fortunately, fixing the City’s lead law would extend significant protections for their children, who are disproportionately impacted by lead paint, as well as halt instances of blatant discrimination that the current law incentivizes.”   

Some landlords have balked at what they fear would be skyrocketing costs to run their businesses legally and without poisoning children.

The Reinvestment Fund has also referenced Maryland’s success to disprove claims that the cost of abating rental units of toxic lead would see dramatic rent hikes. Bad data and poor analyses fueled fears, said the venerable development organization, but Baltimore, as well as Rochester, NY, show the proposed changes to Philadelphia’s lead law would effectively protect young children and that claims of crushing costs and subsequent hikes were demonstrably false. 

Councilmember Reynolds Brown, who sponsored the original lead disclosure law as well as the current bill that could see a vote next week, convened this week’s press conference and reiterated her longstanding commitment to fight to protect all children from the city’s childhood lead poisoning crisis, vowing to deliver results before she leaves office at the end the year.

Legislating, Councilmember Brown reminded everyone, is a “marathon, not a race.”

For the members of the Lead Free Philly Coalition, especially the courageous moms who have selflessly shared their own family tragedies in the hopes of preventing further poisonings, the finish line for their hard-fought marathon appears tantalizingly close. A vote held next week would get the necessary support from Council, they argue—we can’t wait until the end of the year.

Their logic is hard to argue. After all, in six months’ time, Philadelphia will see another 1,100 children robbed of their potential as their parents deal with their anguish.