(Adapted from the Equality Housing Center's Know Your Rights as a Renter in Pennsylvania handbook)
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 state law gives you the right to a home that is safe and sanitary.
To be safe and habitable, a rental unit should have:
Heat (at least 68°F in winter months)
Working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors
Hot water and safe drinking water
Safe electrical wiring
Adequate garbage disposal and sewage
Functioning/locking windows and doors
Functioning bathrooms
Safe floors, stairs, and handrails
No insect or rodent infestation
Note: the law does not require the landlord to make cosmetic repairs -- for example, faded paint or new carpeting. But the landlord must repair serious defects that affect your health and safety -- for example, a broken furnace, broken plumbing, holes in the floor, dangerous wiring, a badly leaking roof, lack of water.
Notify the landlord of the problem and request repairs in writing. (Here's a sample letter.)
Make sure to send the letter through Certified Mail (a USPS service that provides proof of mailing via receipt).
Allow the landlord reasonable time to make repairs.
Reasonable time will depend on the nature of the problem. For example, reasonable time to fix a damaged roof might be a few weeks, but a lack of heat in the winter should be fixed in a few days. If you decide to take further action, you must be able to show a judge that the landlord was either unwilling or unable to repair the property within a "reasonable" amount of time after being given notice of the problem.
Document the problem.
Take pictures and videos, get witnesses. These will be good to have if you're required to appear in court.
Report the problem and request an inspection:
Call the Meadville interior code enforcement officer, Scot Barnes, to do an interior inspection: 814-373-8212.
This will certify that there's a problem.
It also will establish a paper trail if you're required to appear in court.
It will also put pressure on the landlord to do the repair.
The tenant has the right to terminate the lease and move out if you have given notice of the premise’s defects and the landlord was unwilling or unable to make the repairs. If you decide to use this remedy, you have to move out; you cannot terminate the lease and remain in the property.
Under Pennsylvania Law, you may withhold rent if you can prove the dwelling unit is not habitable and have taken the proper steps to inform 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 letter.) Keep a copy for yourself.
Give the landlord reasonable time to make repairs. Document evidence if the problem continues.
Send a rent withholding letter to the landlord (here's a sample letter). Keep a copy for yourself.
Request an inspection (814-373-8212) to back up your claim that the property is not habitable.
Escrow your rent. Create an escrow account -- an account that is separate 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). 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.
This remedy permits you to repair the defect and deduct the cost from the rent.
The amount must be reasonable and necessary to make the dwelling unit habitable.
You are not permitted to deduct for expenses that make the dwelling unit more desirable. Only costs incurred to make the premises safe and compliant with the warranty of habitability are deductible.
Before proceeding, give your landlord notice in writing that you intend to exercise this remedy and submit cost estimates (here's a sample letter.)
You must wait a reasonable amount of time before proceeding.
Notify your landlord again when the work is completed.
This option may be good for you if your problem is something specific that a repair person can fix and the cost of the repairs will be less than what you pay for one month’s rent.
Make sure that you keep all receipts of any costs incurred and provide them to the landlord.
This may be a good option for you if you have already spent some of your own money on repairs or if you are moving out and think you deserve a retroactive rent reduction because the home had serious issues of habitability. You can take this legal action if you are still living in the home or if you are moving out. The burden is on the tenant to prove that expenses or other losses have been incurred due to the landlord’s breach of the Implied Warranty of Habitability.
BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH ANY REMEDY, KEEP IN MIND THE FOLLOWING:
Each of these remedies carries risk. Any of them could cause your landlord to try to evict you. If your landlord is not providing a habitable rental unit, they cannot evict you in retaliation for properly using one of these remedies. But they can still evict you for non-payment of rent if you withheld rent improperly or have violated the lease in other ways.
Make sure you can prove that the problem exists. Testimony in court from friends and relatives is acceptable but a letter from code enforcement and photographs that clearly show the problem are better.
Always think ahead and be prepared in case the landlord takes you to court. You will need to have documentation of the defects that made your apartment uninhabitable—photos, code inspection reports, proof that you gave the landlord notice in writing, and proof that you gave the landlord a reasonable time to make the repairs, and proof that the repairs were not made.