Man returns to apartment, finds 2 naked strangers

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A college student in Pennsylvania is upset after he says he returned to his rented apartment after being away for a month and found two naked strangers living there.

“I opened the door, I walked in, and everything in the kitchen that that was there, that I had there, was no longer there. and there was new pots, there was new pans, there’s a candle,” Maverick Crupi said.

He not only walked in to what appeared to be the wrong apartment, Crupi said he found two strangers in the nude inside his Skyvue apartment in Oakland last month.

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“And this lady, she’s probably like, 35, 40, just naked, walks out, looks at me and starts screaming,” he said.

Crupi says he was given no notice that his former roommate apparently sublet his room. He says after reviewing his contract, he believed it was in total violation of his rights as a tenant.

“If you’re going to rely on the contract to have me pay you rent every month and utilities and follow whatever addendums you have in there, then you, as the person that made the contract, need to follow it to a T, too,” Crupi said.

A clause in the contract states replacing a resident or subletting is allowed only when expressly given consent in writing.

The remaining resident and replacement residents must sign an entirely new lease contract.

KDKA Investigates learned the contract Crupi signed was a by-the-bed lease, meaning while his apartment was a two-bedroom with a shared living space, he was only renting, paying for and leasing his bedroom.

Several local attorneys say, therefore, Skyvue was not in breach of the contract.

“Because these were individual separate leases, then that’s, that’s something where he’s not really going to have much of a claim to the breach of the covenant of quiet and enjoinment here, just because new tenants were put in there without his prior knowledge or consent,” attorney Daniel Stoner said.

He said had Crupi and his former roommate signed a joint lease together, the subletting clause in his contract would have been effective.

But even then, Stoner says it comes down to landlord discretion.

“Now it is true that the landlord, that’s really at their discretion and option if they want to enforce those clauses or not, and sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t,” he said.

Several attorneys KDKA talked to say most tenant-landlord contracts typically are more-landlord-friendly and weigh in-favor to the property owner.

“Look at your contract. Look at the laws that are in the city. Try to see if you’re getting what you’re entitled to,” Crupi said. “At the end of the day, what you are, the bare minimum, hopefully, at least you’re getting that, and people are following their contract.”

How can tenants protect themselves from a situation like this? Stoner said make sure you’re reading and understand your contract and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

“I think those are questions that you certainly should be asking, particularly if you are entering into a lease where you’re renting out an individual bedroom and you’re living in a unit with other people that are that are renting,” Stoner said.

If you need help with a contract, he says contact an attorney or use AI. He also suggests just having good communication with your roommates.

Even so, Stoner says the landlord could have done a better job making sure this wasn’t the surprise that it turned into for Crupi.

“Frankly, if somebody did get hurt, the landlord could potentially be liable for all this,” Stoner said. “This could have been easily preventable just by giving the guy a call or sending him a text or email to let him know this is happening.”

Different states have different laws concerning subletting.

Be sure to check out resources online before entering into a sublet arrangement.

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