How to Fire Your Property Manager in Pennsylvania

A step-by-step guide for Pennsylvania landlords switching property managers, covering notice, broker escrow rules, tenant deposits, records and what to collect before you cut ties.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Missed repairs, slow replies, a statement that never adds up. Most landlords wait too long to make the call.

Pennsylvania gives you less leverage on the way out than some states do. There is no statute here giving your old manager a hard deadline to hand everything back. What you do have is the real estate license law, which puts your tenants' deposits in a protected escrow account and gives the State Real Estate Commission teeth over a broker who mishandles them.

Here is how to make the switch without losing a deposit, a tenant or a month of rent.

Step 1. Read your management agreement

Your contract decides how you exit. Look for four things.

Notice period. Thirty days' written notice is common.
Termination fee. Some agreements charge one, some do not.
Leasing fee clawbacks. Check what you owe for tenants the manager placed.
Who "owns" the tenant relationship. Some agreements try to charge a fee if you keep a tenant they found.

Pennsylvania requires a broker's written agreement with a principal to spell out the services, the fees and how the commission and the term were set (49 Pa. Code § 35.331). A listing contract has to carry a definite termination date that is not subject to prior notice (63 P.S. § 455.604(a)(10)). If your paperwork is vague on the exit, that is worth raising.

If the manager broke the agreement, for example by ignoring repairs or sitting on your money, you may be able to end it sooner. That is a question for a Pennsylvania attorney.

Step 2. Send written notice

Put it in writing, by email and by whatever method your agreement names. State the end date, ask for a full handover by that date, and list what you expect back (see Step 4).

Keep the tone flat and factual. You want your records, not an argument.

Step 3. Know the escrow and records rules

A Pennsylvania broker managing your rentals has two separate pots of your money, and they are governed differently.

Security deposits sit in escrow. A broker who takes a security deposit under a lease has to hold it in an escrow account until the tenancy ends (49 Pa. Code § 35.321). That account lives at a federally or state insured bank or a recognized depository (49 Pa. Code § 35.325).

Rents do not. Rent collected as a property manager goes into a rental management account kept separate from both the escrow account and the broker's own business account (49 Pa. Code § 35.321).

The escrow duty cannot be contracted away. No agreement between you, the broker or anyone else can waive or alter it (49 Pa. Code § 35.322).

Records get kept for three years. Failing to preserve transaction records for three years after consummation is a prohibited act under the license law (63 P.S. § 455.604(a)(6)).

Pennsylvania sets no statutory handover deadline the way Georgia does, so the date in your agreement is the date that matters. When a broker stalls on your money or your files, the lever is the license. Violating a Commission regulation, and any conduct showing bad faith, dishonesty or incompetency in a real estate transaction, are both grounds for discipline (63 P.S. § 455.604(a)(15), § 455.604(a)(20)). Complaints go to the State Real Estate Commission through the Department of State.

Step 4. Collect everything

Ask for all of this before the end date.

Security deposits for every tenant, with the amount held for each one and the escrow bank's name and address
Deposit interest records, since interest after the second anniversary belongs to the tenant (68 P.S. § 250.511b)
The rental management account ledger showing rents collected, fees taken and what is still owed to you
Signed leases, renewals and addenda
Any move-in condition reports the tenants signed
Tenant contact details and payment history
Open maintenance requests, vendor contacts, invoices and warranties
Keys, fobs, garage remotes and door codes
Year-to-date income and expense reports for your taxes
Local rental licenses and inspection certificates for the municipality

Step 5. Move the security deposits

This is the step that goes wrong most often, and Pennsylvania has a clear path for it.

The regulation lets a broker transfer a tenant's deposit to another escrow account when ownership or management of the property changes, provided the tenant gets written notice of the new account and where it is held (49 Pa. Code § 35.321).

Your side of that is the deposit statute. Any deposit over $100 has to go into an account at an institution regulated by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the Comptroller of the Currency or the Pennsylvania Department of Banking, and you have to tell each tenant in writing which bank holds it, where that bank is, and the amount (68 P.S. § 250.511b).

Reconcile the number per tenant before you accept the transfer. Whatever lands in your account is the number you will be judged against at move-out, when a missing 30-day damage list forfeits the deposit and an over-withholding costs you double (68 P.S. § 250.512).

Step 6. Tell your tenants

Tenants care about three things. Where to pay rent, who to call for repairs, and whether their deposit is safe. Send one dated message covering all three, with the day the change takes effect, and fold the new bank details into it so you clear the § 250.511b notice at the same time.

Step 7. Take over the day to day

Line up your vendors, set up rent collection, and get a maintenance line that picks up at 2am. This is where most landlords end up back where they started, holding a phone that never stops ringing.

Who can manage property for pay in Pennsylvania

Anyone who manages real estate for another person for compensation is acting as a broker under the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act (63 P.S. § 455.201). The definition covers managing real estate and negotiating leases, so your next manager needs a broker license or has to work under one.

Owners are exempt. An owner of real estate is excluded from the licensing requirement for property they own or lease (63 P.S. § 455.304). A partnership or corporation gets that exclusion for up to five partners or officers, and it does not extend to wholesale transactions.

Onsite employees are narrowly exempt. An employee managing a multifamily residential building can fall outside the act, but the exemption disappears the moment they enter into leases for the owner or negotiate terms of occupancy (63 P.S. § 455.304).

Check any new manager's license on the Department of State's licensee search before you sign.

Your switching checklist

Read the agreement for notice, fees and clawbacks
Send written notice with a firm end date
Confirm which account holds deposits and which holds rent
Collect deposits, ledgers, leases, condition reports and keys
Move deposits into a regulated bank account and notify every tenant in writing
Tell tenants where to pay and who to call
Verify the new manager's broker license, or self-manage under the owner exemption

Switch to Taz

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Where this guide says a state has no rule on something, that means we found no statute setting one, which is not the same as none existing. Local ordinances and court practice can add requirements. Confirm anything you plan to rely on.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Your management agreement and your specific facts matter. Talk to a Pennsylvania attorney before ending a contract. Last checked September 2026.