Sam Cacia Apartment was not licensed, poorly maintained and landlord kept All our security deposit Philadelphia Pennsylvania

I only save the most egregious cases for this site because a review here can't be edited or removed once it is posted. My fiance and I rented an apartment at (((REDACTED))), Philadelphia, PA (((REDACTED))) from April 2017 to January 2019 at $1,000 a month from Sam Cacia who along with his family owns rental properties in South Philadelphia.

This apartment was located above Cacia's Bakery. Upon moving in, there were numerous problems and the place was definitely not ready to move into. The ceiling light fixture in the bedroom did not work. The unit became unbearably hot in the summer and we had to buy three air conditioners. Even with all at full blast, the unit was unbearably hot in the warmer months.

The front door handle, for some reason a swivel handle, was defective, awkward to use, and soon fell apart. The door handle to the fridge was broken off and the landlord refused to repair it, claiming it was too expensive! This man is very wealthy and not hurting for money. Plus, the bakery is open 363 days a year so the noise of the mixers at night and the heat from the ovens is a constant annoyance.

We did not sleep well in that apartment. If we had not been so pressed for time and if we had more income, we would have not chosen this apartment. It was the cheapest one in the area and he seemed like a laid back, conscientious person, which we found not to be the case at all.
Major problems included:

1.The landlord failed to obtain a rental license for this apartment or the apartment below it. That means it was illegal for him to rent it or collect any amount of rent from us. It also had no Certificate of Rental Suitability, meaning it was not inspected by the city. He only obtained a license after I reported him to the city. You can look this up on the Philadelphia ECLIPSE website.

2. The means of egress was probably illegal and definitely unsafe. First of all you have to climb two flights of stairs to get to the apartment. There is only one entry and exit to the unit and that is via a metal spiral staircase. The front door swung out so it made entering the unit very unsafe, especially when carrying items while trying to enter the unit.

The front door was not properly attached to the hinges so it was crooked and unstable. There is a door in the unit that connects to the apartment below which is always locked, so noise from downstairs was a major problem. That is also legally questionable. The spiral staircase steps were very steep and soon became a source of physical pain in our knees. They were also very slippery during rainy/snowy weather.

There were no rubber treads on the steps. According to our friends who work in the medical field and in home construction, the stairs did not at all seem code compliant and certainly were not safe. The pain became so bad in my knees that I had to move out of the apartment a year early and stay with family because I couldn't take the pain or the noise any more while my fiance stayed because of work obligations.

3. There was a heavy mouse infestation in the apartment and mouse feces and dead mice were regularly found.

4. There was moisture buildup in one of the walls. The wall was palpably soft and moist from the moisture, indicating the possible presence of mold. Again, something the building inspector would check for.

5. Water pressure in the bathroom sink was barely a trickle. We brought this to Mr. Cacia's attention but with a straight face, he said nothing could be done about it. We had to brush our teeth and wash our hands in the kitchen as a result. That's a direct code violation. About a year later, a plumber came to repair a drainage problem in the bathtub because the pipes were falling apart, causing a flood of water in both units. He quickly unclogged the faucet of whatever was obstructing the water flow.

The tenants downstairs were extremely noisy and were an ongoing nuisance. They played video games and listened to music using a subwoofer every day. It was so loud that I could feel the floor vibrating and I could name every song they listened to. I brought this matter to the attention of the landlord, and he must have made no meaningful attempt to stop them because they continued to make their noise until my fiance had to confront them himself.

When my fiance moved out, Sam Cacia refused to return any of the security deposit without a reasonable explanation or providing documentation of expenses. He also had the last month's rent of $1,000 so rent was paid to the end of January and my fiance moved out mid-December. We even left him with three new air conditioners, a bed, and a new vacuum cleaner.  The apartment had been thorougly cleaned. 

A few belongings were left due to lack of time and the difficulty of moving things in and out of the apartment, so we weren't even going to ask for all the security back.  Mr. Cacia sent me rude and obnoxious texts with lame and unfounded excuses. He even claimed that we owed him more money! We made repeated attempts to collect our money, including filing a complaint with the state Attorney General, with no success.

We moved too far away to sue him in small claims court. Unlike Mr. Cacia, we are poor. I am on a fixed income and my fiance only recently found part time work for eight dollars an hour. We were counting on at least part of the security money to cover our living expenses until he found work. We didn't think he would be that vicious. What this man did caused us a lot of damage to our lives.

It was added insult to the injury of living in a poorly maintained and unsafe apartment that wasn't even legal. He ended up being fined by the city for renting it as well as the apartment below it. Its shameful behavior because he knew better. His other apartments had licenses. He just chose to ignore the law and disregard his obligation to ensure the safety of his tenants. In the end it cost him as well. Shortly after Licenses and Inspections found him in violation, the other tenants moved out too. And he was forced to stop listing either apartment until he obtained the licenses and had them properly inspected.