landlord not making serious repairs

[juliakinter]

Hello! I'm a new member living in Philadelphia, Pa and have been struggling with repair issues since September of 2002. I had a hole in my living room window and a crack in my bedroom ceiling leading to the outside (in which I could see the sky at night...seriously). After several calls to the landlord and several responses of "I'll send someone out to take care of it." months later, the windows are now replaced but don't fit the building properly and don't lock. (not a comforting idea when you live in philly. Also, the repair in the ceiling was just a cover-up - the problem is now wose and just yesterday, when all the snow melted, all of my bedroom was soaked and water was running down the walls. What I'm afraid of is an electrical fire. There are wall sockets directly under the leak! My land lord has been giving me a run-around for 6 months and these are just some of the repairs. I'm starting to think that this is a serious health/living hazard. What should I do? Can I legally withhold rent and will i have to pay it back? Someone help me!

[mjr203]

this board is for NYC, not philadelphia

but given the extent of the problems you should have already contacted your municipal government who should inspect and take action against your LL.

a quick google search shows that the Dept of Licenses and Inspections in Philly is the relevant govt dept.

http://www.phila.gov/li/index.html
http://www.phila.gov/li/faq/index.html

"How do I make a complaint and what happens next?
Call Services and Operations at (215) 686-2463 to register a complaint. An inspection will be scheduled within 15 days to ensure the validity of the complaint. If the complaint is valid, we will inform the property owner to take corrective action within a designated time frame. After the designated time, we will re-inspect the property. If no action has been taken, the property owner or responsible person may be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law"

good luck