It was when I am living in one of the apartments in Philadelphia, I have seen my neighbor, who is a renter, had conflict with his landlord and he used to hold the rent to force his landlord to get agree on his demands. In far too many cases of landlord-renter conflict, this is the weapon that many renters this is best and use as the way to get leverage. Withholding rent should be used only as an ultimate resort and is often times a lease breaker if the renter uses it in the wrong situation.
One of the major reasons why renters and landlords fight is over arguing about whose job it is to fix things or fixing things in the apartment. If the bathroom taps drips or if your windows need to be cleaned, this can be a frustrating and boring battle to wage, but they aren’t grounds for holding rent. The only time you can really get away with holding rent is if your apartment has become unlivable due to things like pest infestation, lack of heat in the wintertime, lack of water or other catastrophic issues like this. The rules when it comes to renters rights vary from state to state so make sure you have a clear understanding of when it is ok to withhold rent where you live. If you end up having to go to court or go in front of an arbitrator and they find out you withheld rent for a less than major reason, you can expect to lose your case hands down.