The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ensured that tenants have the right to a decent place to live. This is called the Implied Warranty of Habitability. It means that a landlord must provide a home that is safe, sanitary, and healthy. Even if a renter has no lease or signs a lease to take the dwelling “as is”, the Warranty protects you. The Warranty does not require the landlord to make cosmetic repairs, such as new paint or carpet.
Lack of Running Water, Electricity, or Heat: Tenants can report landlords if there is no running water, if they do not have heat in the winter or if the landlord is responsible for paying the utility bills and there is no electricity at the property.
Plumbing and Sewage: Tenants can report broken plumbing or a defective sewage system.
Security: Tenants have the right to locks on all doors and windows.
Waste Removal: Tenants can report a landlord if garbage and other waste is not being removed from the property.
Pests: mice, rats, roaches, bed bugs, or other pest infestation.
Mold can cause health problems. Tenants should call the Pennsylvania Department of Health (814-332-6947).
Lead hazards, such as chipping paint, can pose health risks, especially to young children.
Structural Issues: If a roof leak is causing a ceiling to collapse or other structural issues.
Unsafe floors, stairs, porches, and handrails.
NOTE: A landlord is not responsible for health and safety violations that are caused by the tenant, such as a pest infestation caused by filthy conditions inside an apartment.
You should always try to negotiate with your landlord as a first step. Request in writing that your landlord make repairs. Here's a sample letter. Give them a reasonable amount of time to make the repairs. If it is clear that your landlord does not intend to make the repairs, a code inspection is the next step.
If there are health or safety issues that are not getting fixed, report the problem to the Meadville interior code enforcement officer, Scot Barnes, 814-373-8212. You can allso call the Pennsylvania Department of Health (814-332-6947).
Code Enforcement Officers often respond quickly to tenants’ requests for inspections, and if the problems are very severe, they may require the landlord to fix the problem immediately or face a steep fine.
Inspect the Property: The official will investigate the tenant’s complaint to determine if an actual violation exists and note any other apparent violations at the property they come across during their visit.
Prepare a Report: The report will include the violations that were found at the property, as well as the time frame the landlord has to fix the violations. The official will send a copy of the report to the landlord.
Re-Inspect Property and Issue a Letter of Compliance: The inspector will come back to the property to verify that the violations have been corrected. They will then issue the landlord a letter stating that the property is now in compliance.
Fine Landlord: If the landlord has not fixed the violations, or does not do so within the amount of time allotted, the enforcement office or health department can fine the landlord.
If your landlord refuses to make repairs after an inspection, you have the right to deduct the cost of repairs from future rents. You also have the right to withhold rent until the landlord makes repairs. To protect your rights under the implied warranty law, complete the following steps:
Step 1 - Tell the landlord about the problem in writing and request repairs. Here's a sample letter.
Step 2 -- Give the landlord reasonable time to make repairs. The amount of time depends on the seriousness of the defect. If it is an emergency, the landlord is required to act quickly. For example, if you are without heat in the winter, it is reasonable to expect the landlord to provide heat within 24 hours.
Step 3 - Collect Evidence to Show That the Landlord Did Not Make Repairs. A copy of the notice letter sent to the landlord can be used as evidence; so can pictures, witnesses, or the report of a housing code inspector.
Step 4 - Repair and Deduct. If the landlord does not make the repairs, you can repair and deduct. You should not repair and deduct for repairs that exceed the monthly rent. If the rent is $600.00 per month, then the amount deducted for the repair should not exceed $600.00. Seek legal help if the repair is costly. Call Northwestern Legal Services: 814-452-6957.
The amount paid for the repair must be reasonable. The court will not hold a landlord responsible for repairs that cost an unreasonable amount of money. After the repair is made, send a copy of the receipt for the repair to the landlord with the next rental payment, minus the cost of repairs. Keep a copy in your records.
Remember the repair must fix a serious defect that affects your right to safe, decent housing. The court will not require the landlord to pay for a cosmetic repair like new paint or carpeting.
Under Pennsylvania Law, you can withhold rent if you can prove that the dwelling unit is not habitable and have taken the proper steps of informing the landlord of the problem and given them a reasonable amount of time to fix it.
Here's what you need to do:
Give your landlord written notice using Certified Mail (here's a sample.) Keep a copy of the letter for yourself.
Give the landlord reasonable time to make repairs. Document evidence if the problem continues.
Send a rent withholding letter to landlord (here's a sample letter). Keep a copy for yourself.
Request an inspection to back up your claim that the property is not habitable.
Escrow your rent. Create an escrow account -- seperate from your personal banking account -- where you can put each month’s rent when it is due. If you don't have access to a bank, you can put the rent into money orders and document those. Either way, you should set the money aside (do NOT spend it) in the event of a court case. Judges often ask tenants if they have escrowed the withheld rent money. By saving the money in a bank account, you will show the Judge that you were not trying to live rent-free.
How much rent can you withhold?
There is no exact formula to determine how much of your rent you can legally withhold. One way to calculate this amount is to figure out how much of your home you could not use and for how long.
Example 1: If you have a five-room apartment and you could not use one of the rooms for an entire month due to a roof leak, you might deduct 1/5 (one-fifth) or 20% of your rent for the loss of 1/5 (one- fifth) of the apartment.
Example 2: If you had no heat and were forced to stay with a friend or at a hotel for a week, you might deduct 1/4 (one-fourth) or 25% of your rent for the loss of the use of your entire home for one week out of four.
A word of caution: If the problems indicated in the housing code inspection are very severe and cannot be repaired quickly, the Code Enforcement Officer may condemn the unit. Condemnation is required when habitability problems are very severe, making the unit uninhabitable. In that case, you would have to find alternate housing with very little advance notice, so you make want to consider this possibility before calling the Code Enforcement Officer.
Landlords are prohibited by law from retaliating against tenants for asserting their rights. This is called the City of Meadville Residential Tenant Anti-Retailiation Ordinance. Landlords are not allowed to evict tenants, or increase rent, or refuse to renewe your lease because the tenant called the Code Enforcement Office.
For example, if your landlord files a Complaint with the magisterial district justice to evict you, you can use the inspection report to show that there are problems threaten your health or safety. A code inspection report is excellent evidence of the problems that your landlord refused to fix. In order to offer a code inspection report as evidence in a hearing, you may need to call the housing inspector as a witness and/or provide written certification from the code inspection officer that the report is accurate and part of the municipality’s records.
If you live in HUD-insured and -assisted properties (e.g, public housing, Section 8 housing and vouchers), you can report complaints about poor maintenance, dangers to health and safety, and fraud to HUD's Multifamily Housing Clearinghouse (MFHC). It can be accessed by dialing 1-800-MULTI-70 (1-800-685-8470).
Both residents AND members of the public can report HUD-assisted landlords if they fail to provide safe and decent housing for the poor, while enriching themselves on taxpayer-funded subsidies.
If your landlord has not made the necessary repairs to bring the premises up to Code, you can use the code inspection report as evidence in a subsequent hearing with the court.