Council advances amendment to tenant bill of rights to require two‑page notice at lease signing

The Erie City Council on Wednesday adopted on first reading an amendment to the city's tenant bill of rights that would require landlords to give renters a two‑page tenant‑rights notice at lease signing rather than a full printout of the entire section of the city code.

Susanna Faulkner, an Erie resident and housing advocate, told the council the amendment corrects a "clerical error" and restores the ordinance's original intent: that landlords provide a concise two‑page tenant bill of rights at lease signing instead of printing the longer text of section 3‑54 of the city code.

"This amendment is a simple change that just specifies in the tenant bill of rights that instead of having to print out all 20 pages of section 354 of our local code, landlords at lease signings only need to print out the 2 pages of the tenant bill of rights," Faulkner said, adding the change followed "months of conversations" among advocates, city staff and landlord groups.

Faulkner also urged the council to move swiftly and to consider broader local housing protections in light of changes at the federal level she said have weakened fair‑housing enforcement and housing assistance.

Council read and adopted council file ordinance 16‑5‑22 on first reading; the motion was sponsored by Council Member Titus and seconded by Council Member Flores. The roll call for the first reading was recorded as Brzezinski, Flores, Shoff, Troop and Titus voting in favor.

Faulkner asked the council not to delay the amendment, saying the change will help implement the tenant bill of rights more effectively at the local level.