After taking their landlord to court over hazardous living conditions, tenants at one Philadelphia building may end up getting money back while also having unpaid rent wiped away.<\/p>\n
If the proposed class-action deal is approved, roughly 70 renters in a West Oak Lane apartment building would qualify for those refunds and rent cancellations.<\/p>\n
What happened?<\/p>\n
The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/a> reported that residents of Bentley Manor, a 71-unit building in West Oak Lane, reached a proposed settlement with Odin Properties and affiliated companies after suing over unsafe conditions.<\/p>\n The agreement would erase an estimated $67,000 in overdue rent and late fees and refund tenants $75,000.<\/p>\n In November 2024, the Department of Licenses and Inspections deemed Bentley Manor unsafe and cited loose and missing bricks on exterior walls and a leaning parapet that posed an “immediate danger or hazard to health, safety, and welfare.”<\/p>\n Philadelphia law prevents landlords from charging rent when a serious Department of Licenses and Inspections violation remains unresolved for at least 30 days after notice.<\/p>\n Attorneys with the Public Interest Law Center and Hausfeld, the firms representing the tenants, said they believe the case marks the biggest known per-tenant award in a class-action matter under Philadelphia’s rental license and certificate law.<\/p>\n The proposed settlement covers December 14, 2024, through April 28, 2025.<\/p>\n Why does it matter?<\/p>\n Unsafe housing can be both a serious health concern and a financial burden for renters.<\/p>\n What’s being done?<\/p>\n Final court approval is still needed. Before a hearing scheduled for October 26, eligible tenants, including two former tenants, will receive notice and have the opportunity to object or opt out of the agreement.<\/p>\n Odin Properties completed the necessary safety repairs at Bentley Manor after the case was filed in March 2025.<\/p>\n Madison Gray, staff attorney at the Public Interest Law Center, said in a statement, “A settlement was possible because Odin took real steps \u2014 on its own \u2014 to comply with Philadelphia law. All landlords should follow suit.”<\/p>\n “We all deserve a safe place to live, no matter who we are,” said plaintiff Dawn Colbourne. “This agreement is a step forward in making sure that happens, and I’m glad that we’re taking this step together.”<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After taking their landlord to court over hazardous living conditions, tenants at one Philadelphia building may end up…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":992649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,37011,397973,397972,397970,1448,2830,1311,397969,397971,24667,67,586,132,5230,78286,68,2969,213086],"class_list":["post-992648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-america","tag-apartment-building","tag-bentley-manor","tag-department-of-licenses","tag-odin-properties","tag-pa","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-inquirer","tag-public-interest-law-center","tag-tenants","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-unsafe-conditions","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-west-oak-lane"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117070265612246320","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=992648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/992649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=992648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=992648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=992648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}