Renters' Rights Question. Having problems with landlord.?

Question

I rent an apartment in PA, and live above a Family from India. Well I have no porblems with the family they cook a lot of ethnic food, and some of the spices they use can really couse some harsh odors if you are not used to them. These odors have started to travel up into my apartment, and make me very uncomfortable. When I approched my landlord with this he informed me that there is nothing he can do regarding cooking smells. My lease does state however that the comfort and rights of other tenants must not be interfered with. Excessively annoying sounds, odors, activities, and lights are not allowed. The landlord claims that cooking odors are not covered by this. My question in regards to this issue is can anyone tell me if I have any sort of rights legally or otherwise in making the landlord take action in this matter? if so can someone please provide me with a link to any additional info that might be useful on this topic.

Answer 1

You have a problem. The landlord cannot tell the lower tenants not to cook their type of food. It would be discrimination.
The odors stated in the lease means like dog poo or excessive garbage smell, etc, not cooking. So, that being said, if you are on a lease, you are stuck until the end of it, if on a month to month, give ;your 30/60 day notice and move.

Answer 2

Now I'm starting to see how cops feel. C'mon buddy, most of us aren't evil. Problems with landlords usually arise more out of their ignorance of the modern housing laws rather than maliciousness on their part. Without having had any formal legal consultation, a landlord will naturally think that since it's his property, he can do pretty much anything he wants. That's why when you apply for an apartment you need a rental agreement IN WRITING that clearly and specifically outlines both your's AND the landlord's responsibilities so that both of you know what's legally expected of each other. There were only 2 times I withheld part of the security deposit when a couple of my former tenants left. One of them had a pair of large dogs, and they were well-behaved but they damaged the floors pretty badly with their claws so they needed refinishing. I deemed that to be "excessive wear and tear" as when they moved in the floors looked like new, and when they moved out much of the varnish was gone and the wood underneath was scratched, and they had no problem with that. Another tenant left the apartment in good shape, except that she left the oven a grungy greasy mess. So I charged $20 for cleaning it. Perfectly reasonable, I think. And for every @sshole landlord, I can guarantee you that there is an equally @sshole tenant who moves into an apartment and then thinks he owns the entire building and can do whatever he wants just because he pays rent there. It's because tenants have so many legal rights these days that if you wind up with a bad one, it can take months or even years to evict him through the housing courts and in the meantime he can trash your property, make your life a living hell, and you may not even be able to find him to collect for the damages after he leaves.

Answer 3

I believe you have the right to move and if there is a lease ,
Just make a polite pest of yourself and they may release you without liability .
Look for a single level place where food smells will not rise to your unit .

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Answer 4

contact a lawyer about the lease and start looking for a new place to live.

Answer 5

Sounds like he is liable to fix the problem you are having because of the rental agreement. I'd contact a lawyer to find out more about what I could do.

Answer 6

Unfortunately, your landlord is correct. Your problem is not uncommon, but isn't something the landlord can control.