My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Pennsylvania
Ok first let me say thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this somewhat lengthy post. I had to move due to a job relocation. Me and my wife decided to rent until we got familiar with the area and to then choose a forever home. When we started the rental search I was contacted by a couple with a rental close to work and all amenities that we wanted to be close by. The lease was a 6 month lease with the option to extend. Well when the dropped it off for us to sign it, it was a 12 month lease but the told me they would honor it for 6 months and if we stayed longer it would go to 1 year but if we decided to leave at 6 months we would not be penalized. The kind of guy I am I trusted them as the seemed like good people.
They still occupied the residence when we viewed the house. There was a few things we asked to be fixed before we moved in and they agreed to make the necessary repairs before move in( rear steps were severely loose, front porch had loose steps). These were never repaired. There was a few spots on the interior ceiling that had previous water damage due to a leaking roof and I asked if the proper repairs had been made to correct this problem. The landlord assured me the proper repairs were done and there was no leaking. I also asked about the basement getting wet during rain storms and he assured me it didn’t get wet only sometimes damp in a long heavy rain. I asked if it could be repaired and he told me he would look at it as he used to work for a basement waterproofing company. Now it comes time to move in, at this time I’m currently living in a hotel until they finalized on there new house and could move out of the house we were going to rent.
I figured I would take a few days to thoroughly clean the place and get things done. When I arrived the first night to clean the place I was in shock. I ended up throwing 5 garbage bags away of nothing except expired food that they picked thru and left behind. There was dirty dishes in the sink from them eating a few days beforehand and garbage and busted furniture left throughout the house. I personally cleaned I up and paid for it to be hauled away. We finally get moved in and settled. When we were hooking up the washer and dryer I noticed the washer drain hose was ran to a slop sink and there was no dryer vent to hook the dryer hose up. I called the landlord and he informed me he would look into installing one , but in the mean time to just leave it vent into the basement as the smell will help cover up the basement musty smell. I kept calling on this topic multiple times and he finally got smart and told me he can’t install one and he used it like that for years without problem, pretty much telling me in SOL.The kitchen sink had a horrible leak one day. I notified the landlord and he informed me he would fix or when he got time( he is unemployed and on Disability). I fixed it the best I could so we could use the sink to wash dishes until he got there. After multiple calls to fix it he finally showed up 2.5 weeks later and replaced a seal and left. It still dropped on occasion but wasn’t nearly as bad. I called him back to inform him the bottom of that cabinet was rotted out from the water and his neglect to fix it ASAP and that it still leaked but was only a drip. 3 weeks later and many many phone calls he finally replaced the bottom of the cabinet. After a few summer storms I noticed the water spots on the ceiling had got bigger and bigger and the ceiling started to sag. I again called him to inform him of this issue but problem and again almost a month and several phone calls and me threatening to hold the rent he shows up with a friend and they climb onto the roof and spray flex seal around the areas and leave, it took them longer to climb up on the roof than to actually repair anything. They never once came inside to make an attempt to repair the ceiling that was now sagging and cracking, there was pieces falling onto the floor.
This made me mad as my 1.5 year old daughter would pick up small pieces out of her toys. It also caused water Damage to a $1000 dollar piece of furniture that we were unaware of. All “repairs” were also done while I was at work and not in the area. Only my wife and daughter were home at the time. This here is what finally put me off for good. I stored all my hunting and fishing gear off the floor in the basement along with tools and winter clothes and a lot of other things as we didn’t have much storage upstairs in the “living quarters”. The basement got wet even with a light rain as long as the ground got saturated the basement got wet. We stored everything off the ground on blocks and pallets. I went down one night to grab hunting gear for a upcoming weekend hunt and everything was covered in mold. All my hunting and fishing gear and clothing. Items stored in totes was destroyed, personal items, pictures, blankets ect ect, even my great grandmothers chest she gave me before she passed was covered in mold. ALL these items were stored OFF the floor. There was other things covered in mold as well but you get the point. We tried to salvage what we could but a lot of items were destroyed.
We estimate $3500-4000 dollars. In the mean time we started looking for a new rental as it now posed a health concern not only to my wife and me but to a 1.5 year old little girl. We found a new rental and I informed them we were moving. Keep in mind our 6 months was up, they informed me and I quote “ you can’t move you have a 1 year lease. I reminded them of our discussion and they replied we don’t remember saying that. We decided to move anyways since there was not only health concerns but I was informed by a friend that without a proper dryer vent to the outside is a building and fire code violation. They are now threading to take this to court for their “6” months unpaid rent since we “broke” lease early according to them.
I know what your going to say. I should of got what they told me in writing but I didn’t. If this goes to court what are my chances of them winning the case. i have over 100 picture to prove the mold and ceiling. One other thing, since moving into this home we have had different illnesses almost every month and my daughter has had to go to the hospital on 3 separate occasions for unexplainable rash’s that the doctors said are from an allergic reaction to something she has touched. Even though we “broke” the lease I feel like I did the right thing getting my family out of harms way with the seriousness of mold. I’ve also noticed mold on the furnace vents which means mold spores are in the ducts and have made there way upstairs to the rest of the house . Also we have noticed mold starting to develop on furniture that was upstairs near the heat vents. I have not been sued yet but I have lost my security deposit. They are threatening to sue though. Again thank you for reading this.
Ok first let me say thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this somewhat lengthy post. I had to move due to a job relocation. Me and my wife decided to rent until we got familiar with the area and to then choose a forever home. When we started the rental search I was contacted by a couple with a rental close to work and all amenities that we wanted to be close by. The lease was a 6 month lease with the option to extend. Well when the dropped it off for us to sign it, it was a 12 month lease but the told me they would honor it for 6 months and if we stayed longer it would go to 1 year but if we decided to leave at 6 months we would not be penalized. The kind of guy I am I trusted them as the seemed like good people.
They still occupied the residence when we viewed the house. There was a few things we asked to be fixed before we moved in and they agreed to make the necessary repairs before move in( rear steps were severely loose, front porch had loose steps). These were never repaired. There was a few spots on the interior ceiling that had previous water damage due to a leaking roof and I asked if the proper repairs had been made to correct this problem. The landlord assured me the proper repairs were done and there was no leaking. I also asked about the basement getting wet during rain storms and he assured me it didn’t get wet only sometimes damp in a long heavy rain. I asked if it could be repaired and he told me he would look at it as he used to work for a basement waterproofing company. Now it comes time to move in, at this time I’m currently living in a hotel until they finalized on there new house and could move out of the house we were going to rent.
I figured I would take a few days to thoroughly clean the place and get things done. When I arrived the first night to clean the place I was in shock. I ended up throwing 5 garbage bags away of nothing except expired food that they picked thru and left behind. There was dirty dishes in the sink from them eating a few days beforehand and garbage and busted furniture left throughout the house. I personally cleaned I up and paid for it to be hauled away. We finally get moved in and settled. When we were hooking up the washer and dryer I noticed the washer drain hose was ran to a slop sink and there was no dryer vent to hook the dryer hose up. I called the landlord and he informed me he would look into installing one , but in the mean time to just leave it vent into the basement as the smell will help cover up the basement musty smell. I kept calling on this topic multiple times and he finally got smart and told me he can’t install one and he used it like that for years without problem, pretty much telling me in SOL.The kitchen sink had a horrible leak one day. I notified the landlord and he informed me he would fix or when he got time( he is unemployed and on Disability). I fixed it the best I could so we could use the sink to wash dishes until he got there. After multiple calls to fix it he finally showed up 2.5 weeks later and replaced a seal and left. It still dropped on occasion but wasn’t nearly as bad. I called him back to inform him the bottom of that cabinet was rotted out from the water and his neglect to fix it ASAP and that it still leaked but was only a drip. 3 weeks later and many many phone calls he finally replaced the bottom of the cabinet. After a few summer storms I noticed the water spots on the ceiling had got bigger and bigger and the ceiling started to sag. I again called him to inform him of this issue but problem and again almost a month and several phone calls and me threatening to hold the rent he shows up with a friend and they climb onto the roof and spray flex seal around the areas and leave, it took them longer to climb up on the roof than to actually repair anything. They never once came inside to make an attempt to repair the ceiling that was now sagging and cracking, there was pieces falling onto the floor.
This made me mad as my 1.5 year old daughter would pick up small pieces out of her toys. It also caused water Damage to a $1000 dollar piece of furniture that we were unaware of. All “repairs” were also done while I was at work and not in the area. Only my wife and daughter were home at the time. This here is what finally put me off for good. I stored all my hunting and fishing gear off the floor in the basement along with tools and winter clothes and a lot of other things as we didn’t have much storage upstairs in the “living quarters”. The basement got wet even with a light rain as long as the ground got saturated the basement got wet. We stored everything off the ground on blocks and pallets. I went down one night to grab hunting gear for a upcoming weekend hunt and everything was covered in mold. All my hunting and fishing gear and clothing. Items stored in totes was destroyed, personal items, pictures, blankets ect ect, even my great grandmothers chest she gave me before she passed was covered in mold. ALL these items were stored OFF the floor. There was other things covered in mold as well but you get the point. We tried to salvage what we could but a lot of items were destroyed.
We estimate $3500-4000 dollars. In the mean time we started looking for a new rental as it now posed a health concern not only to my wife and me but to a 1.5 year old little girl. We found a new rental and I informed them we were moving. Keep in mind our 6 months was up, they informed me and I quote “ you can’t move you have a 1 year lease. I reminded them of our discussion and they replied we don’t remember saying that. We decided to move anyways since there was not only health concerns but I was informed by a friend that without a proper dryer vent to the outside is a building and fire code violation. They are now threading to take this to court for their “6” months unpaid rent since we “broke” lease early according to them.
I know what your going to say. I should of got what they told me in writing but I didn’t. If this goes to court what are my chances of them winning the case. i have over 100 picture to prove the mold and ceiling. One other thing, since moving into this home we have had different illnesses almost every month and my daughter has had to go to the hospital on 3 separate occasions for unexplainable rash’s that the doctors said are from an allergic reaction to something she has touched. Even though we “broke” the lease I feel like I did the right thing getting my family out of harms way with the seriousness of mold. I’ve also noticed mold on the furnace vents which means mold spores are in the ducts and have made there way upstairs to the rest of the house . Also we have noticed mold starting to develop on furniture that was upstairs near the heat vents. I have not been sued yet but I have lost my security deposit. They are threatening to sue though. Again thank you for reading this.
Water Damage and Mold Growth
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