Philadelphia City Council voted April 23 to pass the remaining Safe Healthy Homes bills, the “right to repairs” and “right to safety” legislation.

Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke initially introduced the package in April 2025, consisting of the two recently passed bills and a “right to relocation,” which passed in December.

During the process, the repair and safety bills were sent back twice to City Council’s Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development and the Homeless. After a March 4 hearing, a lawsuit brought by landlords affiliated with HAPCO Philadelphia, a group that represents rental property owners, forced the bills back to committee, where they passed once again on March 30.

The lawsuit argues that the bills are unconstitutional and alleges that City Council violated Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act, due to private discussions on the legislation. The lawsuit is now in federal court and could threaten the implementation of the bills.

At the hearings, tenants from East Falls’ Alden Park and Mt. Airy’s Upsal Gardens testified in support of them.

“I hope that they are feeling encouraged by what we’ve been able to accomplish today by helping that right to organize become real,” O’Rourke told the Local. “I’m certainly proud to have them in support of us, but I do hope that they are encouraged to continue their fight, to continue their organizing, to make sure they also get what we want for all citizens to have safe and healthy housing in the city of Philadelphia.”

Mo Rushdy, testifying on behalf of the Building Industry Association (BIA), expressed greater comfort with the language after testifying on March 30 that the housing committee should take more time on it.

“My testimony today does not offer a blanket support or opposition, but rather an opportunity to explain how the BIA changed position from a strong opposition to supporting the bills when they got amended,” Rushdy said.

When asked if he felt confident in the bills’ strength after the amendment process, O’Rourke said, “This is some of the strongest tenant protections that we’ve seen across this country, and none of the amendments we made wantonly or just randomly. We were always in conversation with those actual landlords who were those stakeholders, but also with those advocates who are part of helping us imagine and put language to their actual experiences to provide those protections for them.

“We have retained the strength and the core of those bills, and we are very proud about it.”

When it came time to vote, Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. was the only member to vote no on the two bills.

The bills

The “right to relocation” bill, which passed in December, establishes a fund through the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) to aid tenants evacuated from unsafe housing.

The remaining bills sought to strengthen code enforcement and protect tenants’ right to organize.

The bills codified the right to organize in a tenants’ association. One aspect aims to clarify what is considered retaliation against tenants. Under the bill, retaliation would include changing a term or condition of a lease arrangement, or refusing to lease units to prospective tenants engaged in a protected activity such as reporting an alleged violation to L&I. The ordinance would also prohibit landlords from withholding access to common areas or amenities as a form of retaliation.

Under current law, landlords are required to have “good cause,” such as lease violations or repeated late payment, to deny a lease renewal to a tenant; this only applies to month-to-month leases. The bills expand that protection to all leases.

The “right to repair” bill authorizes a proactive rental inspection program run by L&I to seek out and identify safety issues before they reach a point that threatens tenant safety.

Tommy Tucker can be reached at Tommy@chestnuthilllocal.com.