I rent a house in Pa. There is no furnace in the house. To heat the house the lanlord has gas wall heaters (3). Some of the rooms are always cold. In April I sent an email to the landlord telling him the heater in the living room would not stay on. He sent his brother in law to pick it up in October. We did not hear anything back from the so tried to reach them by phone, email and hand written letters. Nothing so finally we called landlords brother in law. He said that the heater has been recalled and it would not be sent back for 4 to 6 weeks. He just got to sending it out in December. It is 4* degrees oitside today. I have to children and it is freezing in here. Does he have to provide heat in the state of PA?

What are the Landlord Heating Requirements in PA?

Hello n:

Landlord/tenant laws don't deal with the minutia of renting. Unless your lease was written on a napkin, there's more than likely a paragraph that provides relief... If your lease doesn't provide relief, then we'll take another tact.

Why don't you tell us the whole story? The more facts we have, the better our answers will be.

excon

I rent a house in Pa. There is no furnace in the house. To heat the house the lanlord has gas wall heaters (3). Some of the rooms are always cold. In April I sent an email to the landlord telling him the heater in the living room would not stay on. He sent his brother in law to pick it up in October. We did not hear anything back from the so tried to reach them by phone, email and hand written letters. Nothing so finally we called landlords brother in law. He said that the heater has been recalled and it would not be sent back for 4 to 6 weeks. He just got to sending it out in December. It is 4* degrees oitside today. I have to children and it is freezing in here. Does he have to provide heat in the state of PA?

Yes, the landlord has to provide heat. Your town may have an ordinance specifying the temp that the landlord must provide. Contact the health dept. to find out.

He said that the heater has been recalled and it would not be sent back for 4 to 6 weeks. he just got to sending it out in December. Does he have to provide heat in the state of PA?Hello again, n:

In addition to Lisa's advice, I'll offer the following... It's great that you told us the whole story, because the landlord fell down in his legal responsibilities here in LOTS of ways. You've got a slacker for a landlord. I'll bet HE has heat... You're not going to turn him into a wonderful landlord, but maybe you can intimidate him into doing his landlord duties...

You're going to need to send a letter. IF you find a local ordinance, you're going to need to send a letter informing him of that. Send your letter certified, return receipt requested. Send another copy by regular mail, and if you really want to have an impact, I'd HAND deliver another one.

If your town DOESN'T have such an ordinance, you're still going to send the letters because he's violating the law in any case... The law I'm referring to is called the "Warranty of Habitability". That means the landlord MUST provide a "habitable" residence. One with NO HEAT in the winter does NOT qualify as habitable.

Secondarily, you may have some relief, wherein you can have the problem fixed yourself and deduct the cost from your rent. Plus, you may also have the right to WITHHOLD rent, until he fixes it...

In your letter, give him 48 hours to fix it, or you will do _____________ (fill in the blank).

excon

PS> (edited) I see that I left out some stuff. If you use the Warranty of Habitability as your grounds, and I would, tell him that if he doesn't comply with the aforementioned 48 hours, you'll move into a nice warm hotel and charge him for it.

If you do what Lisa and I suggest and this ever proceeds to a courtroom, you'll WIN.

First thing tomorrow morning call up the City and speak to them about this problem. The landlord is proving a "furnace" in the form of wall heaters but the one heater in the livingroom should be working. And the fact you have kids in the home should warrant the heat in the livingroom. No excuses from landlord. Sick the city on them since you have tried to resolve this problem.

So do all the other rooms have wall heaters ? Are they all working except for the one in the one room ?

How warm or how cold is it in the house

Hello again, n:

We talked about it over here: https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/real-estate-law/landlord-heating-requirements-pa-430882.html

You don't need to ask more than once.

excon