This information was last updated February, 2021. En Español Many homeowners have had trouble paying their mortgages because of job loss, reduced income, or illness related to COVID-19. Here are some answers to commonly asked questions about how COVID-19 affects homeowners with mortgages. Topics covered include: what to do if you can’t make your mortgage…
CLS attorney Montgomery Wilson, Esq, submitted testimony to the City Committee on Finance on November 13, 2019 in support of Bill # 190746 introduced by Councilman Allan Domb, Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez and Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell. The Bill seeks to increase the amount of the local wage tax refund available for low-income workers. Under the bill,…
This week, Community Legal Services submitted comments to proposed rules issued by Pennsylvania’s Office of Attorney General. The rules seek to clarify Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (CPL). Fifty years ago, the General Assembly enacted the CPL to “even the bargaining power between consumers and sellers in commercial transactions, and to promote…
Philadelphia’s tax one-year non-collection rate hit a low of 3.9% in 2017, according to a report out in February from the Pew Research Center.[LINK]. This marked the third year in a row that the City has seen a decrease in the number of properties with uncollected taxes, outpacing similar cities with high poverty rates. According…
Payday loans are an abusive form of lending that traps cash-strapped borrowers into a long-term cycle of debt, which leads to significant harms. Pennsylvania has one of the strongest laws in the country to guard against predatory payday lending, but the law is at risk. The payday lenders are lobbying legislators in Harrisburg to weaken…
The forms needed to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy are available at website for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania at http://www.paeb.uscourts.gov/. The Court’s site also includes information on filing bankruptcy without an attorney. You can file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy on your own without hiring an attorney (called filing ‘pro…
There are two main types of bankruptcies that generally apply to consumers: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. Chapter 7 is what most people think of as bankruptcy – it gives you a clean slate without paying your debts. Chapter 13 requires monthly payments for several years. It is most often used to save a house…
