Rent Escrow

Rent withholding is a program designed to improve Pittsburgh’s housing by allowing tenants in substandard housing to pay their rent to an escrow account rather than their landlord until violations are corrected. If violations are not repaired within a specified time, the owner may be prosecuted. If the violations are not corrected within six months, the tenant may have his/her rent returned.

You must follow the county’s procedure for rent withholding. Do not just stop paying rent to your landlord!

Before you consider escrow, try and work things out with your landlord. Send your request in writing, and keep a copy for yourself. Document everything you do, and keep track of everything that happens with respect to the issue.

As a tenant, you can have your apartment inspected for violations as part of normal code enforcement or as part of a complaint. If you feel your home is not safe or in good repair, you may be eligible for rent withholding. Before your case can be evaluated, you must have your apartment inspected, which you can do by calling either of these numbers:

· Allegheny County Health Department (412) 350-4046 or (412) 678-2243 for health code deficiencies

· Pittsburgh Bureau of Building Inspection (412)-255-2175 for building code issues

After your apartment is inspected, you will be notified of whether or not you are eligible for rent withholding. The needed repairs must be substantial to qualify. If you qualify, you should take your inspection sheet to Allegheny County Health Department, Rent Withholding Section, 3190 Sassafras Way, near the Strip, to get an ID card, which you need to open an account. You will then send your rent checks to the rent withholding office. As long as you pay the full rent, you cannot be evicted for failure to pay.

The rent withholding period is six months. If the landlord makes the repairs within six months, the county will return the rent money to the landlord. If the landlord does not make the repairs, the money is returned to the tenant.

To contact the Health Department, you can call (412) 350-4046, and ask for information about Rent Withholding.