RHLS Senior Staff Attorney, Bob Damewood, continues his advocacy for tenant rights in Western Pennsylvania. He has drafted an ordinance for the Borough of Sharpsburg that will prohibit landlords from terminating or refusing to renew a lease or to amend any term or condition of an existing lease in response to the tenant or any member of the tenant’s household engaging in lawful activities such as organizing and participating in a tenants’ association.
This law is to protect tenants from retaliation if they engage in individual or collective action to pursue healthy and safe housing conditions. Poor living conditions in a rental property are against the law, but some landlords do not address problems, and tenants may be fearful of asking them to improve the property for fear of losing their homes.
Damewood described the rationale behind the ordinance, “Tenants are often reluctant to advocate for safe housing conditions or file a complaint with the code official because they are afraid that if they do that they’ll be evicted. Protecting tenants against retaliation for exercising their legal rights will help remove that barrier and promote safer and healthier housing.”
It also prohibits landlords from retaliating against a tenant for speaking to the media about the condition of their rental property, testifying at a public hearing, or filing a complaint with a government agency or public official in charge of enforcing building codes or similar laws. Borough governance in Sharpsburg, just to the north of Pittsburgh along the Allegheny River, passed this ordinance in late January.