Illegal, Unsafe, and Non-maintained apartment

Posted 3 years ago

We rented the apartment at 1526 W. Ritner St., Philadelphia, PA 19145 from April 2017 to January 2019 at $1,000 a month from Sam Cacia who along with his family owns numerous rental properties in South Philadelphia. This apartment was located above Cacia's Bakery. It was not properly converted into a proper living space. Major problems included: 1.The landlord failed to obtain a rental license for this apartment or the apartment below it. That means it was illegal for him to rent it or collect any amount of rent from us. It also had no Certificate of Rental Suitability, meaning it was not inspected by the city. He only obtained a license after I reported him to the city. Look this up on the ECLIPSE website. 2. The means of egress was probably illegal and definitely unsafe. There is only one entry and exit and that is via a metal spiral staircase. The front door swung out so it made entering the unit very unsafe, especially when carrying items while trying to enter the unit. The front door was not properly attached to the hinges so it was crooked and unstable. There is a door in the unit that connects to the apartment below (see photo of staircase leading to locked door) which is always locked, so noise from downstairs was a major problem. It should have been sealed for security reasons as well. The spiral staircase steps are very steep and soon became a source of physical pain in our knees. They were also very slippery during rainy/snowy weather. According to friends who work in the medical field and in home construction they did not at all seem code compliant and certainly were not safe. 3. There is a heavy mouse infestation in the apartment and mouse feces and dead mice were regularly found. 4. There is moisture buildup in the wall to your left when you step into the apartment. The wall is palpably soft and moist from the moisture. 5. Water pressure in the bathroom sink was barely a trickle. We brought this to Mr. Cacia's attention but with a straight face, he said nothing could be done about it. We had to brush our teeth and wash our hands in the kitchen as a result. About a year later, a plumber came to repair a drainage problem in the bathtub because the pipes were falling apart, causing a flood in both units. He quickly unclogged the faucet of whatever was obstructing the water flow. When we moved out, Sam Cacia refused to return any of the security deposit without a reasonable explanation or providing documentation of expenses. He also kept the last month's rent. So he had $2,000. We even left him with three air conditioners, a new vacuum cleaner, and more. He instead sent me angry texts with lame and unfounded excuses. He even had the audacity to claim that we owed him more money! We made repeated attempts to collect our money, including filing a complaint with the state AG, with no success. We moved too far away to sue him in small claims court. Upon moving in, there were numerous problems and the place was not ready to move into. The ceiling light fixture in the bedroom did not work. The unit became unbearably hot in the summer and we had to buy three air conditioners. Even with all at full blast, the unit was unbearably hot. The door handle to the fridge was broken off and the landlord refused to repair it, claiming it was too expensive! This man is very wealthy and not hurting for money. Plus, the bakery is open 363 days a year so the noise of the mixers at night and the heat from the ovens is a constant annoyance. If we had not been so pressed for time and if we had more income, we would have not chosen this apartment. Don't be fooled by the smiling baker. A friend also rented from his father in the same area and he also tried to keep his deposit. He had to move out after a month because the apartment had no heat and they refused to do anything about it. This was in the dead of winter! He had to put up a huge fight to get his money back.

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