Pa landlord wants an increase of 100.00 to 200.00 a month increase in rent and they are going to make tenant pay heat.. there are so many code violations in the building and most apartments. Electric and plumbling etc.. I took pictures off and on through the years of nothing being done..

First its not a good idea to piggyback your question on someone else's. This can lead to confusion. You should start a new thread. Since it appears you were asking your own question I moved your post to its own thread.

Now its not clear what your question is. Are you asking if the rental raise is legal? Are you asking what should be done about the living conditions? Or what?

Thank you and I am sorry for confusion.. never did this before..
Both rent increases...
The conditions I had reported to code enforcement officer.. last year.. they told me there are a lot of violations in this building.. but, it seems no one does anything.. I feel like its an issue they sweep under the carpet.
Thank you again.. for correcting this..
Have a nice day.. :p

Unfortunately, many minor code violations are overlooked by the city almost anyplace in the country. Especially in lower cost housing. There often are not enough affordable places available and most cities are reluctant to either condemn or take the units out of use for periods necessary to make repairs. Often landlords would not be able to keep the rents low after expensive repairs or modifications. So, if the units are habitable, things get overlooked.

As to the rent increases. Rents, like everything else are going up. 45 years ago, my landlord increased my rent every month 3 months in a row. I was able to buy a "starter" home for my small family and did because of this. You options are very limited. Pay the increase or relocate. If you do get the code violations enforced, you would probably need to find another place to live while the work is being done. When you return, the rents are going to be higher as the owner passes the costs to the tenants.

Unless you are at the end of your lease, or are now on a month to month rental, the landlord cannot just raise the rent.

If it is the end, or a month to month rental, he can raise it as much as he wants, you get to decide if you want to pay it or move.

Yes you are correct.. But, I just feel someone has to stand up for some of the older ones here.. I just wanted to know what I can do and how much time before they can evict me.. My original lease runs out Oct.. 2008 but, with new owner I am told increase will be first of the month..

If you have a written lease until Oct. 2008, and if that lease does not give the landlord the right to increase the rent in the middle of the term, then the new owner cannot increase your rent until your lease ends.

Hello deedee:

I don't think you're listening... Your NEW owner CAN'T raise your rent. If you want to fight, fight THAT!

excon

As Lisa pointed out a new owner has to honor any existing leases. Therefore he cannot come in and increase anyone's rent until their lease expires.

As far as the living conditions, You could organize the tenants and set up an escrow account to pay the rent into. Advise the new owners that they will get their rent when the conditions are fixed, or you will use the accumulated rent to make the repairs yourself.

Thank you all for your input.. I will check into some of your suggestions.. escrow.. well that can be hard to do as we are looking at some major violations.. like the electrical boxes sometimes ark.. there is mold on some walls.. they just paint over it.. windows are out in parts of the building.. major electrical concerns.. there are no water sprinklers in any parts of the building.. we have 10 units here..
But again thank you..

Start looking for a new place to live. It is highly unlikely that your combined rents will be enough to re-wire the building, repair the leaks and replace the windows and walls. It is also highly unlikely that your landlord will repair these things before an electrical fire burns down the building.

Hello again, deedee:

I still don't think you're listening...

Here's another suggestion. I think YOU have an issue with your landlord that will wind up with YOU getting ripped off. I think you better pay attention to your OWN troubles with the landlord.

Yes, I'm sure the landlord is doing this to other people too. But, you haven't a clue what to do to protect YOURSELF, so you're not going to do ANY of those tenants any good unless you ACT.

Nobody here cares about the particular nasty things your landlord does, like painting over stuff. We KNOW about crappy landlords. You don't need to keep telling us that stuff. Tell us, instead, HOW you're going to fix it. What are you going to DO?

We've given you a couple suggestions but your complaints are all over the board. If your rent is being raised ILLEGALLY, as it appears to be, don't you want to know what to DO about it?? Don't you want to know how to handle it legally??

We'll tell you how, but we need to engage you first. I don't think we have.

excon

So you have a bad landlord, there are a lot of them, and I am sure if he is forced to fix it all up, his rent will go up 300 or so a month, normally rent is based on the quality of where you live, But with this everything is going up so a raise is a raise.

I would say if this is such a dump, you should just move.