Pennsylvania eviction law

If the tenant fails, after your demand, to pay rent that is due, a written notice to quit must give the tenant 10 days from the date it is served to move out before you can file for possession.

68 P.S. § 250.501(a), (b)

• Serve the notice by handing it to the tenant, leaving it at the main building on the property or posting it conspicuously on the leased home. 68 P.S. § 250.501(f)
• The notice may be shorter, or waived by the tenant, if the lease says so. 68 P.S. § 250.501(e)
• In a case based only on unpaid rent, the tenant can cancel the writ of possession any time before it is carried out by paying the officer the rent actually in arrears and the costs. 68 P.S. § 250.503(c) See Eviction process on the Pennsylvania page

To recover possession for a breach of the lease, give a written notice to quit: 15 days from service where the lease is for one year or less or for an indeterminate time, and 30 days where the lease is for more than one year.

68 P.S. § 250.501(b)

• The Act does not give the tenant a right to cure; this is a notice to leave, not a notice to fix the problem. 68 P.S. § 250.501(a), (b)
• A first conviction for selling, making or distributing illegal drugs on the property, a second drug law violation there, or a police seizure of illegal drugs on the leased premises is a breach that supports a 10-day notice to quit. 68 P.S. § 250.505-A 68 P.S. § 250.501(d)
• A lease may shorten the notice or let the tenant waive it. 68 P.S. § 250.501(e)

After the notice to quit runs out, you file a complaint with the magisterial district judge (in Philadelphia, the Municipal Court). The Act says the summons sets a hearing 7 to 10 days after it issues, but under the court rules magisterial district judges follow, the hearing is set 7 to 15 days after you file the complaint; if you prove the case, the judge enters judgment for possession, damages and unpaid rent.

68 P.S. § 250.502(a) 68 P.S. § 250.503(a) 42 Pa.C.S. § 1515(a)(2) 42 Pa.C.S. § 1123(a)(3) 246 Pa. Code Rule 504(a)

• Under the court rules magisterial district judges follow, you may request an order for possession after the 10th day but within 120 days after a residential judgment. On or after the 11th day after the order is served, the officer may remove anyone still in the home, and an order cannot be carried out more than 60 days after it is issued. 246 Pa. Code Rule 515(B) 246 Pa. Code Rule 519(B), (C)
• The Landlord and Tenant Act itself still says the writ may issue after the fifth day after judgment; the court rules set the longer wait so the tenant's 10-day appeal period runs first. 68 P.S. § 250.503(b) 246 Pa. Code Rule 515(B)
• In a case based only on unpaid rent, the tenant can stop the writ any time before it is carried out by paying the rent actually in arrears and the costs. 68 P.S. § 250.503(c)
• Either side may appeal to the court of common pleas within 10 days of a residential judgment, or 30 days for a tenant who is a domestic violence victim. The Act ties the stay to paying the judgment, but under the court rules the tenant's appeal stops the eviction if the tenant deposits the lesser of three months' rent or the rent actually in arrears, then deposits the monthly rent within 30 days after the appeal and every 30 days after that. 68 P.S. § 250.513(a), (b) 246 Pa. Code Rule 1008(b)(1)
• A tenant who cannot afford the deposit may file the tenant's affidavit the court rules provide instead. 246 Pa. Code Rule 1008(c)
• A tenant who is a domestic violence victim may file a domestic violence affidavit that stops the order for possession from being carried out, with no money posted, until the tenant appeals, the 30th day after the judgment or a common pleas order, whichever comes first. 246 Pa. Code Rule 514.1(c)
• While the appeal is pending, the court releases escrowed money to you, on request, for the tenant's use of the home. 68 P.S. § 250.513(c)
• If the tenant is a Pennsylvania National Guard or reserve member called to active duty other than for training, or a Guard member called to State active duty, no eviction from a home the member or the member's family lives in may proceed without leave of court, and on the member's application the court must stay the case for six months unless the service has not materially affected the tenant's ability to pay rent. 51 Pa.C.S. § 7312(a), (b)
• The notice to quit rule does not apply when you are removing a person who is not and never was a tenant. 68 P.S. § 250.501(g)
• For a magisterial district court complaint, the judge sends a copy by first-class mail to the tenant's last known address and delivers a copy to the sheriff or a certified constable for service. The officer hands it to the tenant or an adult temporarily in charge if found, and posts it conspicuously at the premises. Posting is required in every case; service must occur at least five days before the hearing. 246 Pa. Code Rule 506
• A tenant who wants to assert an occupancy-related claim within the magisterial district judge's jurisdiction must file a cross-complaint before the hearing on the prescribed civil complaint form. Rule 508 sets a joint hearing seven to fifteen days after that filing, with service on the landlord at least five days before the hearing. Its official note states there is no filing fee for this cross-complaint. 246 Pa. Code Rule 504 246 Pa. Code Rule 508
• An occupant who is not named in the complaint may still be affected by an eviction. Before the hearing, the occupant may file a verified intervention request on the court's form, stating that they are the landlord's tenant, their occupancy length, to whom they paid rent and whether they are a party to a lease. They must attend and offer evidence; the judge adds them as a tenant only after finding that tenancy. 246 Pa. Code Rule 504 246 Pa. Code Rule 513.1
• An intervening occupant with an occupancy-related claim within the judge's jurisdiction must file that cross-complaint with the intervention request. The court serves the request on the parties; its notice gives the landlord grounds to seek a continuance. If intervention is granted, the underlying case and cross-complaint proceed together, and the added tenant may be liable for a landlord's judgment, including rent, damage, costs and fees. 246 Pa. Code Rule 513.1

The Landlord and Tenant Act gives landlords a court process to recover possession, carried out by a constable or sheriff under a writ, and no section of it allows changing the locks or removing a tenant yourself. Court decisions on self-help evictions were not read for this page.

68 P.S. § 250.501 68 P.S. § 250.503(b)

• If you are the utility customer of record and fall behind, the utility must notify the tenants before it shuts service off, and the tenants may pay to keep or restore service. The Public Utility Code covers utilities the Public Utility Commission regulates; a separate act covers a municipal utility serving inside its own limits. 66 Pa.C.S. § 1523(a)(3) 66 Pa.C.S. § 1527 Utility Service Tenants Rights Act § 3(a)(3) Utility Service Tenants Rights Act § 7
• Tenants who pay the utility may deduct those payments from rent or get them back from you, and a waiver of these rights is void. 66 Pa.C.S. § 1529 66 Pa.C.S. § 1530 Utility Service Tenants Rights Act § 9 Utility Service Tenants Rights Act § 10
• If your building has units that are not individually metered, tell each utility that you own the building and rent it out; if you do not, you are still responsible for paying for the service. 66 Pa.C.S. § 1529.1(a), (c)
• You may not take control of belongings in a home that is still lived in without the tenant's express permission. 68 P.S. § 250.505a(f) See Abandoned property on the Pennsylvania page

Before you remove or dispose of belongings left behind, send the tenant a written notice by first class mail, to the rental and to any forwarding or emergency address, in the form the law gives. The tenant then has 10 days from the postmark to collect the items or ask you to store them for up to 30 days from the notice, at the tenant's cost.

68 P.S. § 250.505a(d), (e)

• Property may be treated as abandoned only when the tenant has left after a written lease ended; has left with nearly everything after a possession order was entered; a possession order has been carried out; has given a forwarding address in writing and left with nearly everything; or has left without saying they would return, with rent more than 15 days late, and you have since posted notice of their rights. 68 P.S. § 250.505a(b)
• Use ordinary care with stored items and make them reasonably available for pickup. 68 P.S. § 250.505a(d)
• Never take control of belongings in a home that is still lived in without the tenant's express permission. 68 P.S. § 250.505a(f)
• If a possession order was carried out and you know of a protection from abuse order for the tenant or the tenant's family, wait 30 days from the notice before disposing of anything, and store on request for up to 30 days. 68 P.S. § 250.505a(h)
• A deceased tenant's belongings are handled under the probate code, not this rule. 68 P.S. § 250.505a(c)
• A written lease controls if it conflicts with this rule, except for the protection from abuse rule; a landlord who violates the rule faces treble damages, attorney fees and costs. 68 P.S. § 250.505a(g), (i)

You may not end or refuse to renew a residential lease because the tenant or a family member takes part in a tenants' organization or association.

68 P.S. § 250.205

• A tenants' organization is a group of tenants organized for any purpose directly related to their rights or duties as tenants. 68 P.S. § 250.102
• If you are the utility customer of record, you may not threaten or take reprisals against tenants who pay the utility to keep service on and deduct it from rent; damages are two months' rent or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney fees. 66 Pa.C.S. § 1531 Utility Service Tenants Rights Act § 11
• Under that utility rule, a termination notice, rent increase or substantial change in terms within six months after the tenant acted is presumed to be a reprisal, unless the termination is for rent not lawfully withheld. 66 Pa.C.S. § 1531 Utility Service Tenants Rights Act § 11