Reading tenants lose legal help as eviction program fades

Without legal help, fewer Reading tenants prevail in eviction cases

Resources for a successful eviction diversion program dried up as filings increased in Berks County’s busiest eviction court. New efforts to fill the gap are missing a key piece of the original program — free legal advice for tenants.

Reading tenants lose legal help as eviction program fades

READING — An eviction diversion program in Reading that offered tenants hands-on legal help and rental money has been greatly diminished as grants, federal funding, and volunteer assistance have dried up. The collaboration between volunteer lawyers, the city’s Human Relations Commission, and Magisterial District Judge Tonya Butler launched in 2020 during the economic turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2021 and 2023, the program rec…