PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Calling it a first for his office, and possibly for any District Attorney’s office in all of Pennsylvania, the Bucks County DA is taking a landlord to court.
“The Consumer Protection Law in Bucks County is a rarely used power that gives us the ability to bring civil enforcement actions against anybody who will cheat people in Bucks County,” said Bucks County DA Joe Khan.
Khan said the apartment building at 113 South Main Street in Dublin Township was rodent-infested, hasn’t had heat since 2013, and has so many code violations that it’s been condemned.
Khan said they filed a lawsuit that asks the owners of the building, brothers Richard and Robert Goettner, to pay back rent tenants paid, an injunction to prevent them from ever owning other rental properties, and civil penalties.
“We're going to be hopeful that if there are any other conditions like this, any other properties like this, that the landlords will do the right thing — treat their residents, not only fairly but but the way the law requires, so that we don't have to keep coming after them in court.”
Khan said there were six tenants in the 8-unit apartment building, and all six have found other homes, with help from county social services.
“If you're on an operation like this, today's the day to clean up your act. You don't want to have to deal with the District Attorney, because today is a day where we are going to court to get justice for victims.”
Bucks County District Attorney's office
