Mt. Airy renters say their landlord illegally collected rent. Now they’re suing

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The owner of a Mt. Airy apartment complex is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that he illegally collected rent from tenants while the property posed a “danger to life,” violating Philadelphia law.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Common Pleas Court, alleges that ownership continued to demand and collect rent at Upsal Garden Apartments despite the property being declared “unsafe” by the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections.

The designation, issued in August, was the result of “deteriorated stone foundation, fractured exterior masonry walls and deteriorated interior floor joists” — conditions the department determined were an “immediate danger or hazard to health, safety and welfare,” according to public records.

City and state law requires landlords to keep their properties safe and habitable. In Philadelphia, violators are barred from collecting rent until the property is compliant. To date, ownership has not addressed the violation.

“It’s hard to sleep at night after you see a declaration from L&I that the property is unsafe and that the building may need to be vacated or demolished if the violations are not corrected,” said the Upsal Garden Tenants Council in a statement. “We just want real accountability and the conditions fixed. Everyone should get to live with dignity, and we won’t stop until that’s the reality for all residents here.”

The complaint was filed on behalf of three tenants at the 144-unit complex, which was built in 1927. They are represented by the Public Interest Law Center, Face to Face Legal Center and John T. Crutchlow, partner at Youman & Caputo LLC.

The tenants — Geraldine Brown, Carl Williams and Dennis Scott — filed the lawsuit following the “unsafe” designation in August. But the city has cited Upsal Garden Apartments for nearly 80 code violations over the past five years, according to the lawsuit. Over the past year, the seven-building complex has failed at least seven inspections conducted by L&I.

Scott, a 70-year-old military veteran, has lived at Upsal Garden since 2019 and dealt with a “collapsed bathroom ceiling, recurring leaks, mold growth, and deterioration of the walls, ceilings and floors,” according to the complaint.

Brown and Williams reported facing similar conditions.

These renters are calling on the defendants to make any necessary repairs and for them to return any unlawfully paid rent.

“Philadelphia law is clear. If a landlord wants to do business in Philadelphia, their buildings must be safe,” said Sari Bernstein, senior attorney at the Public Interest Law Center, in a statement. “And landlords who do not address unsafe code violations will face consequences.”

Alan Lieberman, who owns Upsal Garden, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The lawsuit also names as defendants 246 Associates LLC and Real Properties Management, a company that oversees approximately 1,000 rental units in Philadelphia.

Steven Beppel, who leads Real Properties, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is the second lawsuit of its kind filed this year by the Public Interest Law Center.

In March, tenants at Bentley Manor filed a similar lawsuit against Odin Properties, one of Philadelphia’s largest landlords.

The city also deemed the 71-unit apartment building unsafe, giving Odin 30 days to make the repairs and avoid falling out of compliance with the city’s rental code. However, the lawsuit alleges the company continued to collect rent illegally over the next four months, leading tenants to take the unusual step of filing a class-action lawsuit against their landlord.