The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has agreed to a settlement with a State College landlord accused of charging tenants illegal fees and providing residences with poor living conditions.
Hendricks Investments owner Rodney Hendricks will pay $30,000 in restitution and court costs, according to a consent decree approved by Centre County President Judge Jonathan Grine on Jan. 21. Hendricks manages more than 100 properties in State College and surrounding areas, many of them rented to Penn State students.
The lawsuit filed in November 2021 alleged that Hendricks charged tenants hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars for normal wear and tear and maintenance, “effectively offloading to tenants the cost of doing business or profiting from the unlawful retention of tenants’ security deposits,” a deputy attorney general wrote in the complaint.
It also accused him of providing poorly maintained properties in a different condition than advertised, and included complaints that Hendricks and his employees entered residences without the required prior notice and authorization, sometimes without even knocking
“For many, student housing marks their first experience living independently, but this landlord turned it into a negative experience for many tenants,” Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a statement. “All Pennsylvania property managers must abide by landlord/tenant laws, and this settlement ensures that Hendricks Investments will no longer provide subpar properties or make excessive deductions from security deposits.”
Under the settlement, $20,000 will be distributed as restitution to tenants who filed complaints and $10,000 will be used to reimburse the Attorney General’s Office for costs of pursuing the case and court fees.
Among other terms of the settlement, Hendricks agrees to comply with all requirements of Pennsylvania’s Landlord/Tenant Act and Consumer Protection Law. He must provide tenants with an itemized list of actual damages for security deposit deductions upon move-out and cannot make deductions for normal wear and tear.
He also must add a disclaimer to all photos used in advertisements for rentals that “the actual condition of the property may not be accurately depicted,” and anyone applying to rent one of his properties must personally view the premises prior to signing a lease. All tenants also must be given 24 hours notice before Hendricks or his workers enter
Hendricks admits no liability or unlawful conduct under the settlement, which both parties agreed to in order to “avoid the costs and uncertainties of a civil trial,” according to the agreement.
Hendricks did not respond to a message seeking comment on Friday.
He previously reached a settlement with the Attorney General’s Office in 2016 for allegedly charged tenants with improper administrative fees and fines that were deducted from their security deposits. As part of the settlement, Hendricks agreed to stop the practices, pay restitution and fines and be bound by an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance.
Despite that, a deputy attorney general wrote in the 2021 complaint, the Bureau of Consumer Protection continued to receive “myriad complaints” detailing “acts of deceptive conduct and misrepresentation,” including some of the practices Hendricks agreed to cease in 2016.
The case was brought under then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who was elected governor a year later and who Hendricks’ attorneys accused of using the lawsuit as a “politically motivated” publicity stunt.
“The Attorney General’s intent is clear: To file a formbook complaint without any substantiating facts with only unspecific, generalized averments, then run to the press and publicize that the Attorney General is fighting on behalf of consumers to assist in his current campaign for Governor,” Hendricks’ attorneys wrote.
Hendricks also filed his own lawsuit against the Attorney General’s Office and Penn State in February 2023.
It claimed that the university, through a Student Legal Services attorney, pressured student renters to file consumer complaints about him and that the state attorney general’s office abused legal processes to bring the 2021 lawsuit against him.
Hendricks’ lawsuit was dismissed by a Centre County Senior Judge Pamela Ruest in July 2023.
