Resources offered to Pittsburgh college students in bad landlord relationships

A stained carpet and filthy kitchen filled with trash, dirty dishes and other people's food on the day they moved in was just the beginning.

During the two years that five Point Park University students lived in their Oakland rental house, electrical outlets failed, a pipe ruptured and flooded the basement with sewage and their landlord didn't seem to care, said Hannah Morris, 21, one of the students who lived there but now rents in East Liberty.

“When you're thrown with a slumlord, it's terrifying,” Morris said. “We just had to find out all of our rights.”

Their landlord, Ron Loevner, 61, of Scott said the students agreed to take the house as is, including an unclean kitchen and broken outlets. He paid to have the carpet cleaned and reimbursed the students for cleaning the kitchen.

The pipe, he said, was not broken, but clogged. Morris disputes that.

“Tenants torture landlords as much as landlords torture tenants,” Loevner said.

Pittsburgh's universities start classes at the end of the month, and many students at Point Park and Duquesne universities have moved into rental properties for the year. Most University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University undergraduates will move into dorms and rentals in and around Oakland starting Sunday.

Kevin Stiles, University of Pittsburgh's head of the Office of Off-Campus Living, said inexperienced renters and experienced landlords — ones who likely have had bad tenants before — lead to contentious situations.

“There are some landlords that are definitively in it to get as much money out of their buildings as they can,” Stiles said.

The office offers students a renter's guide including a checklist, a list of landlord and tenant obligations, an explanation of tenant rights, tips for understanding a lease and apartment listings. Stiles urges students to visit homes or apartments several times before signing a lease, discuss questions with their landlords, ask previous tenants about the rental and get everything in writing.

His office distributes a student survey in which tenants assign A, B, C or D letter grades to their landlords and rental properties. They report whether they would recommend the landlord and if they filed a complaint.

“People are more prone to report negative things,” Stiles said. “Sometimes students have a bad experience with a good landlord.”

Nine out of the 15 students who took the survey said they would not recommend Robert Eckenrode, who owns properties in Oakland. He said the survey did not matter and would not comment further. McKee Place Associates had five out of nine negative recommendations and declined to comment.

Stiles' office doesn't blacklist landlords, he said.

The city investigates complaints and cites landlords for unsafe living conditions, said Maura Kennedy, head of the Department of Licenses, Permits and Inspections. Students with a concern should call 311 to report it, she said.

The department increased inspectors from nine to 12 and retrained them to follow the city's maintenance code, Kennedy said. Debris outside homes, couches on porches and unsafe wiring are the most common violations. The city is building a searchable database of citations.

The city plans to reintroduce stalled landlord registry legislation in the fall, said Tim McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto.

Pitt's Student Government Board offers free legal advice to students with serious landlord issues. Morris and her roommates took Loevner to court and won.

When Morris and her roommates moved out, Loevner kept their $1,000 security deposit. He claimed they didn't vacuum, piled up trash so high the garbage truck wouldn't take it, left food and chipped paint off the walls. He sent them a $2,000 bill for cleaning and repair.

Morris called it normal “wear and tear” and noted the sewage issue.

On July 28, District Judge Eugene Ricciardi ruled in favor of the students and ordered Loevner to pay $2,113.50. Loevner appealed Friday.

Loevner estimates damages to the plumbing and house could top $30,000. He intends to sue the students.

“I don't know if I can win in court, but I can spend the few hundred dollars to sue them,” he said.

Aaron Aupperlee is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7986 or aaupperlee@tribweb.com.