Widow says she's stuck in lease at Pittsburgh-area apartment after husband's death

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A woman whose husband died after a multi-organ transplant says she's not only grieving, she's battling her landlord over their lease, even though she doesn't even live in Pittsburgh anymore.

Jennifer Kunkle reached out to KDKA Investigates' Meghan Schiller to find out her rights after her husband died. She says her landlord won't let her out of her lease.

"This is a business, you know, apartments. They're a business. But I think we're taken aback by the lack of compassion," Kunkle said.

Kunkle and her husband Bryan moved to Pittsburgh in September of last year with hopes of a happier and healthier future. Bryan needed a high-risk heart and kidney transplant.

"When someone's listed for a transplant, there are requirements of how far you can live away from the hospital so we're just over 1,200 miles here in Dallas from Pittsburgh, so we of course had to be closer," said Kunkle.

The couple signed an 18-month lease for a two-bedroom apartment at Hawthorne Manor in Oakdale.

"Originally, they had told us that after his transplant he would need to stay a whole year just for follow-ups and physical therapy and things like that. So, we thought, well, that's really not that big of a deal, because, you know, we knew that he wasn't going to get a phone call the next day," said Kunkle.

Bryan got the exciting call on Father's Day and the surgery went better than expected. But then, at just 61 years old, he took a turn for the worse. 

"He developed something called DIC, which is a blood clotting disorder and then from that he developed multiple other things, and ultimately sepsis pneumonia in his body," said Kunkle.

Shortly after Bryan's death last month, and wanting to return home to her children in Texas, Kunkle said she approached Hawthorne Manor's leasing office to explain what happened.

"I offered to pay, give a 60-day notice and pay for two months, and at that point they could have released the apartment, therefore, not losing any money. They refused. So they just weren't willing to work with me at all."

KDKA Investigates discovered the death of a tenant can get complicated in Pennsylvania. Since Kunkle co-signed the lease with her husband, she found herself needing the landlord's cooperation.

"When there's two names on a lease, they have what is known as joint and several liability which means they're both equally on the hook," said Daniel Stoner, a real estate and housing attorney.

Stoner is an expert in landlord and tenant law in Pennsylvania. He says this also applies to a roommate who decides to up and leave. For Kunkle's situation though, Stoner thinks Pennsylvania law is on her side.

"Pennsylvania law imposes what is known as a duty to mitigate damages which means that if it becomes clear that a tenant — even if the tenant is breaking the lease for no good reason whatsoever — the landlord still has to make efforts to find a new tenant to replace them," said Stoner.

He recommends people first make it clear that they intend to break the lease. Stoner said this will trigger the landlord's "duty to mitigate damages" and the landlord must then start to try to find a new tenant.

"Anyone can break a lease, it's just, what are the consequences of that? And Pennsylvania law is clear that the consequences are that they're going to be liable for the time it takes for a landlord to find a new tenant, but the landlord still has that duty to mitigate damages," said Stoner.

Kunkle said she offered to do just that, but said the Butler County-based landlord A.R. Building Co. refused to work with her.

"And I understand they have to make money. I own a business, so I completely understand that. But I also understand people sometimes have situations that come up that are out of their control, and you try to work with people, but they didn't."

KDKA Investigates reached out to A.R. Building Co., the owner of Hawthorne Manor and more than 20 apartment complexes across Pennsylvania, according to the Office of Attorney General. They did not respond to requests for comment.

Of note, the Pennsylvania attorney general's office did just reach a $50,000 settlement with A.R. Building Co. in August regarding its alleged unlawful billing, leasing and debt collection practices. The lawsuit alleged this landlord used leases with unfair and unenforceable terms and engaged in unfair debt collection practices.

KDKA-TV reached out to the Office of Attorney General for comment on this situation and they recommended any consumer who feels they have been harmed should file a complaint with their office.