Who would I file a complaint with in Scranton for a rental related issue? (section 8)

[jazz2122]

I live in a 4-apartment building where all utilities are included except for electric. Our heat is included, and the lease we signed states we will have heat from October 1st to May 1st, unless they anticipate the temperature to stay above 40 degrees Fahrenheit at night. I have a 2 1/2 month old son, and this past weekend was extremely windy and cold. The "landlord" (it's a company that owns the building, not just one person) shut our heat off on Friday afternoon, even though the temperature was 33 degrees that night. Saturday night was 32 degrees, and tonight it's expected to be about 37 degrees. They aren't in the office over the weekend, so my baby, my boyfriend, and I have been freezing in the house at night because they don't have an emergency line to contact someone about the heat. Also, this isn't the first issue we've had with the company. We moved in December 1st and only had heat in the master bedroom, one of the other bedrooms(there are 3 bedrooms altogether), and the bathroom on occasion. There was water damage to the ceiling tiles in the kitchen and bathroom after about 2 weeks of being here, and our bathtub started backing up. We contacted them countless times, and they kept saying they'd send a maintenance person out and never did. We went all winter with basically no heat in the living room, dining room, one bedroom, and kitchen. We only just got a maintenance person sent out 2 weeks ago to fix stuff. I told my boyfriend we shouldn't have paid rent until stuff got taken care of, but he didn't want problems, so we've been paying on time every month since December. There were also times during the winter where all the heat went out in every room, and every apartment in the building. Same goes for the hot water. It's not Section 8 or government housing. I'm wondering if this is legal, and if not, what I can do about it. I have a small, electric space heater, but it stopped working a couple of months ago and isn't exactly helpful in heating up more than one room anyway. Any advice?

[fisheye]

First are you sure that they shut off your heat? It was not that the furnace stopped working or that it ran out of fuel (oil, etc.). Secondly; why did you not have a good emergency contact number? Also 40 degrees seems pretty cold for any landlord to turn off the heat. You had better get a better backup emergency heater or find another rental unit and landlord.

Anyway; good luck contacting them today and I hope you get a speedy resolution to your problem.

PS Has anybody else heard of landlords turning off the heat at 40 degrees nighttime temperatures?

[Wells5]

Contact the mayor's office. They will direct you to the right department. You can also contact the Governor's Action Center at 800 932-0784 to direct you to the proper agency.

[jazz2122]

Yep, it's shut off. None of the other apartments have heat, and the furnace is in working condition. A neighbor checked it out for us. We have a number for the office and that's it. They didn't provide any other numbers in the lease. We're also stuck with a 1 year lease agreement and cannot move until December. I'll probably see if my boyfriend and I can find a new space heater or something, especially if it gets cold before they decide to turn the heat on in the winter.

We're going to try and call the office today, but if they don't do anything to fix this, I'll try calling the mayor or the action center mentioned.

All I know is my infant son woke up with ice cold hands again this morning, and it's like being in a barn in this place. Way too cold.