There is help

created by: jlk44 09/20/2007 08:37AM

As a renter who has had terrible experience, I want to let others know that there is some help. I was told by my manager at work that you can take your landlord to small claims court and it sounds fairly simple. It is only $25 to take them to small claims court and you have an entire 2 years from the incident/renting period to sue. I have not taken my past landlord to court, but I encourage other students like myself to get out there and stick up for yourselves! We are easy prey. We don't know all of the laws and regulations that our realitors must abide by but we certainly know how to tell when we are being wronged. Sue the shit out of your crappy landlord! At the least, even if you dont win the court case, we can let the landlords around the University know that its time to start improving our living conditions and stop ripping us off.

RE:
created by: adamrg07 09/20/2007 07:51PM	I couldn't agree more. The only way for students to stop being taken advantage of is to band together and fight back against injustices. It is also my opinion that renting laws need to be changed so that landlords can be more harshly punished for healthcode violations and for shady operations aimed at ripping off students.

RE:

created by: adamrg07 06/18/2008 07:19PM

Hey leg, coming from a law student, this is what I'd do.... I can tell you that a landlord is only permitted to take money from a security deposit if more damages are done to an apartment than simple wear and tear. In other words, a house and everything in it will deteriorate as time goes by, but that is not the renter's responsibility. Now, if you expedite that deterioration through unusual or reckless means, then the landlord can collect damages from the security deposit....Now of course, it is your word against the landlord's as to the issue of what the condition of the apartment was before you moved in (unless of course you took pictures when you moved in). However, you can generally appear in front of the Pittsburgh housing court for little or no fee and have the issue decided (probably in your favor the way that the city is cracking down on slumlords).....In your situation regarding the complaints that you have proof about, the court should definitely rule in your favor. Now, if you want to get an actual lawyer, I know that Pitt does have a lawyer on retainer and he does give legal advice to students. If you are a student and would like his help, I would suggest calling Pitt and setting up a meeting with him..... I hope this helps :)

RE:

created by: leg8 06/18/2008 03:47PM

I subletted from a friend for three months, and it was the shittiest apartment I'd ever seen. It was even in Shadyside. I was renting from M.J. Kelly Realty, and I will never do it again. A small electrical fire occurred while I was at work one day, and I came home to the distinct smell of smoke and a cloud of smoke along the ceiling. I called the fire dept. and found out that it was a faulty exhaust fan above the stove. It was running, and since it had no blades on it, I didn't even know that it was on. Also, a filter in the furnace had not been changed for several years, and I am sure that some negative health effects can occur from this. Also, I was paying $300 on heat a month during the winter because of poor ventilation or something that I had no control over, and was never told that the apartment was so difficult to heat. Now, since I've moved out, the SLUM lord is charging my friend (whose name is on the lease) for certain things including late rent (which wasn't late; we have proof), an auto-renewed lease (which isn't true because we had e-mail proof of discontinuing the lease) and not returning keys (which I personally returned to their office). Basically, they're scamming us and they're trying to get as much money out of us as they can (about $1300). I want to know if there's anything I can do now. I tried to call the Allegheny Health Department for a housing inspection because of the non-functioning smoke detectors and faulty appliances, but they said that they can't do anything since I'm not living there anymore. What can we do to make sure these assholes don't get away with this stuff anymore!? Please offer some input!