When you rent an apartment or house, your landlord guarantees that s/he will make the repairs that are needed to keep the rented premises safe and sanitary. This guarantee is called the Warranty of Habitability, and it cannot be waived by tenants. If repairs are not made as requested, you need some way to motivate your landlord to make the repairs quickly.
You also may need proof that the repairs were not make in order to assert your rights. (For more information on how to request repairs and what your rights are if your landlord does not make the repairs, see MidPenn's brochure entitled Repair & Deduct: a Tenant's Right to Safe and Decent Housing.)
For serious problems, often the best way to get your landlord to make repairs is to arrange for a housing code inspection.When you have asked your landlord to make repairs, and the repairs have not been made, you can call the Housing Code Enforcement Officer. Code Enforcement Officers often respond quickly to tenants' requests for inspections, and if the problems are very severe, the Code Enforcement Officer may require the landlord to fix the problem immediately or face a steep fine. The fines are often very expensive, so many landlords will make the repairs rather than paying the fine.
