A Philadelphia judge approved a settlement requiring Odin Properties and affiliated companies to forgive about $67,000 in unpaid rent and late fees and refund $75,000 to 68 tenants at the Bentley Manor apartments in West Oak Lane. Tenants sued the landlord in March 2025 over unsafe conditions at the 71-unit building, which city inspectors had declared unsafe in November 2024 because of loose and missing bricks and a leaning parapet. The agreement covers the period from Dec. 14, 2024, through April 28, 2025, and provides the largest known per-tenant award in a class-action lawsuit under Philadelphia’s rental license and certificate law, according to the Public Interest Law Center. The settlement comes ahead of the Nov. 1 effective date of Philadelphia’s Safe Healthy Homes Act, which advocates say will make it easier for tenants to obtain rent refunds when landlords fail to address serious housing violations.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 10/27/2026