Please help! Need advice on my rights as a tenant. (Canonsburg: apartment, rental)

[glittergrrl1313]

The building my apartment is in is divided into 3 units. The left half is a 2 bedroom place, and the right is 2-1 bedroom places (I have the top floor of this side).

When I moved in, I agreed to pay my share of the utilities (1/2 my side of the building) with the stipulation that I received copies of the bills. There isn't anything in the lease that mentions anything about the utilities, other than I am responsible for 50% of each. The landlord has kept the utilities in his name. At the end of every month, I get a slip of paper from him saying how much I owe him for each utility.

I have repeatedly requested photocopies of the bills to no avail. I feel like I'm getting ripped off. My apartment is absolutely frigid as it is, but my gas bill is nearly $200 which is outrageous for the size of my place. I feel like it should be 80 degrees in here for that!

Not only do I have no way of monitoring his integrity, I also have no access to the thermostat. My neighbor downstairs is never home, and isn't exactly approachable when she is.

I was under the impression that PA law required the landlord to pay utilities if there were not seperate meters in the building for each unit. The two halves are seperate, but I'm wired in with my neighbor downstairs. Does anyone have any insight on what to do, or know where I can find that statute?

Thanks,
Poor Freezing and Pissed in Canonsburg

[Katarina Witt]

You probably should hire an attorney. I have never heard of such a statute. If you think it's too expensive to hire someone, think of what you're now paying in heat!

[PeterRabbit]

Do you have receipts or canceled checks indicating your $200 (or whatever they are) payments for (gas) heat?

What is the actual temperature in your apt.? Some people are cold when it's 75 and 70 isn't warm enough for a lot of people. If you don't know get a thermometer and read it., take photos of it with dates.

If your temp. readings are too low tell the landlord he'll have to do something about it so you're comfortable. That's what you're paying for.

Call the gas company and tell them you are considering renting at (your address) and will be responsible for 1/2 of the gas bill and would like to know how it averages. They'll tell you. Now you can figure out if you're getting ripped off or not.

If reasonable efforts aren't made to insure you aren't too cold you can call the health dept. and tell them your story. They can be a landlord's worst nightmare. They should send someone out to investigate and will issue the landlord what he has to do and how long he has to do it which is usually only a few days. When that time is up and if nothing seems improved for you call the health dept. again and tell them. They may send someone out again to verify your story and can issue the owner a citation including heavy fines per day until the problem is fixed and even claim the building is uninhabitable unless fixed.

There is a Landlord-Tenant Act which seems to be the laws governing this relationship. I've been told it heavily favors the landlord. You can probably look it up online somewhere.

[By~Tor]

Simply put, if you don't have your own separate utilities meters, then it's not a "legal" apartment, and you only have an informal agreement, sub-leasing an area of someone else's "home".

The landlord IS responsible for making sure you have power & heat, but only insofar as you can make formal complaints to the health department (they CAN shut him down), but that may actually backfire on you.

Best advice, is to start looking for a real apartment, or at the very least, a responsible landlord.

[glittergrrl1313]

Originally Posted by By~Tor

Simply put, if you don't have your own separate utilities meters, then it's not a "legal" apartment, and you only have an informal agreement, sub-leasing an area of someone else's "home".

I did, however, sign a lease, binding me, right? I suppose, more to the point, can I get out of it based on this?

Originally Posted by By~Tor

The landlord IS responsible for making sure you have power & heat, but only insofar as you can make formal complaints to the health department (they CAN shut him down), but that may actually backfire on you.

Best advice, is to start looking for a real apartment, or at the very least, a responsible landlord.

I've already spoken with the landlord about breaking the lease and he shot me down, no questions asked. It was an absolute refusal to even hear me out. I need to relocate for work anyway, and the freezing cold is only 1 of about 1000 problems I've had. There was a rotten smell radiating from my bathroom that was making me sick. He made me live with for over month before getting a plumber in, and only because I started calling him night and day. As far as I can tell (the problem was only addressed a week ago) it is resolved, so I guess I lost a good opportunity to throw some fire at him. I only did some research and found out what "Warranty of Habitability" really means, yesterday. :-(

[pitt_transplant]

Why dont you start nagging multiple times a day about the bill...Guess thats what he needs you to do to get things done. I would start calling three times a day.

[PeterRabbit]

Constructive eviction

... If the landlord does not correct the defects within a reasonable amount of time, the tenant may then be able to leave the rental property and not be responsible for payment of rent ...
Constructive eviction

[NHMS Paul]

www.attorneygeneral.gov/uploadedFiles/Consumers/landlord_tenant_act.pdf -

I used this for a reference when I couldn't get my damage deposit back from a aprtment complex. I got it all back when the cited the PA code to them and threatened to file suit in district court. Its very easy to do. District judges handle tenant landlord disputes all the time. You can hadle it yourself.

I was in a situation at another complex were the heating bill was divided up between the whole complex. I had a 1 BR with the temp always set at 62. I was getting 250 a month bills. There was no incentive to conserve so some people kept theirs at 75.

[steelcity24]

I am having the same EXACT problem in Bridgeville. We have a 2 bedroom duplex and have agreed to pay half of the utilities because there is only one meter. Our gas bill was $350 last month(that's half of the bill)!!!

[PeterRabbit]

^ Gas bills run high in old places that aren't insulated, weatherproofed, single-pane windows.
Ask ahead of time so you know what to expect.