Students learn their rental rights

From many of the stories circulating among Pitt students, one might get the impression that… From many of the stories circulating among Pitt students, one might get the impression that the world of apartment rental is like the Old West – a constant struggle for justice, fairness and peace that blurs the line between right and wrong, good and evil.

But those who run into problems with landlords and subleases are not necessarily in for a gunfight at the OK Corral. There are rules, and as long as renters understand and follow them, justice will more than likely be served.

Pitt senior Nate Starun walked through the door of his new apartment to find workers knee deep in a full renovation. And it only got worse.

“The building was pretty dirty, but the agent told me that the whole place was being overhauled and that everything I saw would be brand new by the time I moved in a month later,” Starun said.

When he finally moved in, the building was dirtier than before. The refrigerator and shower handles were broken. There were cigarette burns on the new carpet and the worst cockroach infestation he had ever seen, Starun said.

He notified the landlord and gave the company a week to fix the problems.

According to the Pennsylvania Landlord-Tenant Law, landlords must repair or replace those elements that are broken when a tenant moves in and are responsible for making repairs within a reasonable time after being notified.

Starun had been documenting the happenings since the first day he moved in and brought it to the city health department’s attention, claiming the apartment was “uninhabitable.”

“It is best for the tenant to not sign the lease before any of the problems have been fixed,” Pitt law professor Dan Friedson said. “If the tenant does sign it, then they get annoyed and hound the landlord, but once the lease is signed, there is really nothing they can do.”

Under the law, the tenant has the right to a habitable residence. Habitability means that the apartment must meet minimal construction, maintenance and safety standards of the municipality having jurisdiction, according to Pitt’s Office of Off-Campus Living website.

In Starun’s case, he decided to take matters into his own hands. “I realized early that the situation would probably result in legal proceedings,” he said.

“When I felt like I had enough cards in my hand, I vacated the apartment, returned my keys with a letter explaining why the apartment was ‘uninhabitable,’ took the things that I had already moved into it to a storage unit, bombed the thing with all kinds of pesticide and braced myself for a lawsuit.”

Under Pennsylvania law, the tenant is responsible for providing the landlord with written notice at least a month prior to moving. When vacating an apartment, the tenant must leave the property in the same condition he or she found it, return the keys and provide a forwarding address for the security deposit.

“When going to court it’s not what you know, but what you show,” Friedson said. “You need to have evidence and make a list of any problems.”

The landlord sued Starun because he failed to provide notice of his intent to vacate a month in advance.

But in October 2007, District Magistrate Eugene Ricciardi ruled in favor of the defendant, Starun.

Even though Starun did not provide sufficient notice, the judge found that he showed sufficient evidence to support his claim that the apartment was uninhabitable.

Ricciardi ordered the landlord to pay Starun $271, including court costs.

Starun’s landlord did not respond to multiple phone calls and e-mails asking for a comment on the case.

Pitt sophomore Genevieve Redd ran into legal issues when she decided to sublease an apartment for this past semester.

“Because I was a transfer student, I did not get on-campus housing when I first applied, but I wanted to live on campus,” Redd said. “I told my lessor that I wanted to try to get on campus again and if I couldn’t I was going to move at the change of the semester anyway.”

When she returned to school earlier this month after winter break and moved into campus housing in Holland Hall, the lessor informed Redd that she was still accountable for the sublease since she had not found a replacement.

“If I couldn’t pay for the lease, I was supposed to sublease the sublease until she decided whether or not she could live with that new roommate,” Redd said.

According to the Off-Campus Living Office’s website, a landlord must give the tenant notice if he or she feels that the tenant is violating the lease.

Redd did not provide her lessor with written notice of her intention to move out for the spring semester and had not returned her keys.

Under Pennsylvania law, the tenant must have done both for the sublease to be legally broken.

“A tenant must give the landlord 30 days notice,” Friedson said. “It’s about being as transparent and communicative as possible,” she said.

Knowing that the landlord of the building was unaware of her sublease, Redd did not think it was necessary to follow standard procedures.

Redd said the person she was subleasing from never told her that any such notice was necessary.

“I wasn’t living there legally, and I refused to honor the lease that probably wasn’t even legal. Most leases have a policy and subleases refer to the original lease, mine did not,” she said.

Redd took her case to the Off-Campus Living Office, who referred her to a lawyer.

“I had them look over [the sublease], and they made sure I understood it, what it says and what it doesn’t say,” Redd said.

She said she believed that most landlords and sublessors are decent people and tried to negotiate in order to avoid legal action. The dispute has not yet been resolved and Redd’s sublessor did not respond to multiple e-mails asking for a comment. Friedson said that those who are thinking of taking a sublease should keep in mind that signing on the dotted line means a lot in legal terms.

“Once you sign the lease, you’re on the line for the remainder of the lease, unless it is unlivable. Once you sign, you’re stuck there.”