Local rent issue (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Kingston: rental, house, neighborhoods)

[auntieannie68]

Would someone please inform me if landlords in luzerne county must under local ordinances fix furnaces if they no longer work and no heat is in the home???

[sheena12]

Auntieannie, in Wilkes-Barre, as with most cities I believe that they do. Not providing heat after October 1st is in most municipalities, in violation of local ordinances.

I know that you do not live with in the city of Wilkes-Barre, but I still think that the law is on your side.
Send me a DM or call. Let's see if we can get to the bottom of this!

[sheena12]

Oh as bad as this sounds I know this fact is true almost anywhere. Do NOT with hold the rent payment because you are not getting heat. Continue to pay. Send him a certified letter stating that your home has not been heated since, and request that he remedy the situation.

You are not the owner, he is, and as such this is his responsibility. Also, you may have some recourse with the borough of Kingston.

[DE_NePA]

Originally Posted by auntieannie68

Would someone please inform me if landlords in luzerne county must under local ordinances fix furnaces if they no longer work and no heat is in the home???

PA state law requires a rental home house adhere to zoning ordinances, and those ordinances require working heating system and plumbing.

[sheena12]

That was what I thought, De_NePA, but since I am not originality from the area, I was not sure if it also applied to smaller boroughs or only to cities such as Scranton or Wilkes-Barre.

[thecoalman]

Keep in mind it could be they are having trouble finding someone to fix it. This is their busy season to begin with and with all the flood damaged homes most companies are swamped.

[auntieannie68]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

Keep in mind it could be they are having trouble finding someone to fix it. This is their busy season to begin with and with all the flood damaged homes most companies are swamped.

true but they have a friend that stated he needs ll okay to get parts--was 5 days ago--no heat for 8 days-----no excuse----it's winter--am sure he could well afford a replacement furnace plus this is an occupied home--old person--me----health issues--me--ll not even responding to us personally(except 4 wife screaming at us cause borough is involved per other person notifying them)--even that would be something

[Magritte25]

Yes, they must fix it. My landlord had our furnace fixed within 2 days in January 2004 - one of the coldest, most frigid winters in memory. There really is no excuse for this landlord to not have it fixed by now. There are as many HVAC companies in the area as there are bars and funeral homes.

Good luck to your friend, annie.

[auntieannie68]

Originally Posted by Magritte25

Yes, they must fix it. My landlord had our furnace fixed within 2 days in January 2004 - one of the coldest, most frigid winters in memory. There really is no excuse for this landlord to not have it fixed by now. There are as many HVAC companies in the area as there are bars and funeral homes.

Good luck to your friend, annie.

this is proof that slumlords are located even in small towns and some nice ones can be found in wilkes barre---so nice neighborhoods do not equal good landlords

[auntieannie68]

i lived in a very poor area years ago in paterson,new jersey and most of the landlords were nice------now i am in a neighborhood deemed"middle class"and i am in a nightmare and will be looking at wilkes barre