. >> reporter: temple university student anjelica gibbs says her landlord ignored her repeated requests to fix the problems. >> there's nothing here. as you can see, chain and lock that's not a way out. >> reporter: while the average student might give up in sheer frustration, not this aspiring >> this isn't a safe place to be. it's again unacceptable. >> reporter: at first anjelica tried the tactic of withholding rent. she says when that failed she took her battle to city hall. filing a complaint against her landlord. housing inspectors found a number of safety violations, including missing carb mikds detectors, a broken fire alarm box, inproperly barred windows. anjelica's gambit worked. while the landlord blamed the tenants for the problems and said they didn't pay rent, she did fix the violations. >> the ultimate goal is to help someone out so they don't have to deal with it. >> reporter: meanwhile in boston -- >> dozens of city inspectors have been canvassing -- >> reporter: there are signs of positive change in the wake of the "globe's" investigation. >> we have found 120 housing