July 09, 2026
Daniella Heminghaus/USA Today via Reuters Connect
For the first time, Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan, above, is using consumer protection law to sue a landlord over deceptive business practices.
Bucks County is suing a pair of "crooked" landlords who allegedly exposed tenants to black mold, rodents and other unsafe living conditions while collecting weekly rent.
The lawsuit, spearheaded by District Attorney Joe Khan, has grown since its initial filing this spring to include 11 people who rented rooms from Richard and Ronald Goetter. The brothers, who did business as R & R Enterprises, owned an eight-bedroom home at 113 S. Main St. in Dublin Borough that was condemned in April after "years of disinvestment and disrepair," per court documents. Recent inspections had revealed vermin infestations, no working smoke detectors, mold, blocked hallways and exits, only one functional bathroom and a total lack of heat.
The latter issue had been ongoing since at least 2013. Tenants told investigators that the Goetter family had repeatedly refused to fix the heat, leaving them to procure space heaters to warm their rooms. The devices were found all over the property, attached to extension cords that snaked across poorly lit common areas, posing "trip and fall hazards" along with fire risks. Tenants claimed the power frequently went out due to the high electrical usage.
The suit also documents a "structurally unsound" front porch with rotted support beams "ready to collapse over their heads at any moment." A healthcare professional who visited a client at the property said the collapsing porch was held up with broomsticks, cardboard boxes and rocks.
The landlords had been cited for numerous building and health code violations over the past 13 years. Upon the building's condemnation in April, six remaining tenants lost their housing.
Khan said the Goetters targeted vulnerable, low-income people who subsisted on Social Security or had recently left shelters or group homes. The tenants in the lawsuit include a 63-year-old amputee who lived on the second floor with no elevator and a mother and her 11-year-old child.
The litigation is the first instance of Khan's office using Pennsylvania consumer protection law to sue a landlord for deceptive and unfair business practices. He is seeking restitution for all of the tenants in the lawsuit and civil penalties of $1,000 per violation of the law, and $3,000 for every violation involving a victim aged 60 or older. Khan has also asked the court to bar the Goetters from advertising or renting rooms at 113 S. Main St. until Dublin Borough deems it habitable.
The district attorney's office is urging any other past residents of the property to come forward by calling 215-348-6344.
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