Asked by user in Pennsylvania. Answered by Enjuris Editors.
I’m sorry this happened to you.
I’m assuming that you live in an apartment complex.
In Pugh v. Holmes, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that landlords have a legal duty to provide their tenants with a unit that is safe, sanitary, and reasonably comfortable. This legal obligation is called the “warranty of habitability.”
Due to the collapse of your ceiling, your unit is no longer safe, sanitary, or reasonably comfortable. As a result, your landlord has a legal duty to repair the ceiling in a reasonable amount of time.
The first thing I would recommend is sending your landlord a written letter requesting that they fix your ceiling. Send the letter “certified mail with return receipt requested” so there’s proof the landlord received the letter.
If your landlord fails to fix the ceiling in a reasonable amount of time, you have 3 options under Pennsylvania law:
End your lease and move with no further duty to pay rent,
Make the repairs yourself and deduct the cost of the repairs from your future rent (keep receipts and invoices), or
Withhold all or part of the rent until the landlord fixes the problem. If you withhold rent, put the withheld rent in a separate bank account until the problem is resolved.