Pennsylvania Landlord-Tenant Law for DIY Landlords (2026)

Security deposits, late fees, notice to quit periods, the 10-day demand and the eviction timeline in Pennsylvania, in plain English for landlords who manage their own rentals.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Pennsylvania runs most of its rental rules out of one old statute, the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 (68 P.S. § 250.101 and following). The parts a small landlord touches every year sit in about six sections. The eviction steps come from a separate rulebook, the magisterial district court rules, and those were amended on January 1, 2025 according to the rule text as currently published. Confirm the current rules before relying on them.

Here is what you have to get right in Pennsylvania, with the section behind each rule.

Security deposits

Two months' rent in year one. During the first year of a lease you cannot require more than two months' rent in escrow (68 P.S. § 250.511a(a)).

One month from year two on. After the first year the deposit you may hold drops to one month's rent, so the extra comes back to the tenant (§ 250.511a(b)).

No increase after five years. A tenant in possession five years or longer cannot be made to top up the deposit when you raise the rent (§ 250.511a(d)).

Anything over $100 goes in a bank. Deposits above that sit in an escrow 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. Tell the tenant in writing which bank holds it, where that bank is, and how much you put in (§ 250.511b).

Interest starts after two years. Once the deposit passes its second anniversary, the interest belongs to the tenant and gets paid out each year at the lease anniversary. You may keep one percent per year of the deposit as an administrative fee (§ 250.511b).

Thirty days to send the list. Within 30 days of the lease ending or the tenant handing back the keys, whichever comes first, send a written list of damages and the money you are not keeping (§ 250.512(a)).

Miss the list and you get nothing. Skip the 30-day written list and you lose the right to withhold any of the deposit, and you lose the damage claim behind it (§ 250.512(b)).

Withhold too much and you pay double. A tenant can sue for twice the amount you held back above your actual damages, including unpaid interest, and you carry the burden of proving those damages (§ 250.512(c)).

One escape hatch. A tenant who never gives you a forwarding address in writing releases you from liability under this section (§ 250.512(e)).

A lease cannot sign any of this away. Waivers of the deposit cap and of the return rules are void (§ 250.511a(f), § 250.512(d)). All of it covers residential rentals only (§ 250.511a(e), § 250.512(f)).

Late fees

The Landlord and Tenant Act sets no late fee cap and no grace period. That is an absence, not a loophole. Your lease is the only thing setting the number, and a judge can still refuse a charge that looks like a penalty rather than a fair estimate of what late rent costs you.

Put the fee and the day it starts in writing, keep it modest, and apply it the same way to every tenant.

Rent increases and rent control

There is no statewide rent control in Pennsylvania and no statutory cap on what you can raise rent to. The Act sets no notice period for a rent increase either.

On a fixed term you raise at renewal. On a month-to-month the practical route is the notice period in § 250.501, giving the tenant the same warning you would give to end the tenancy and offering the new rate. Some cities and boroughs add their own rules on rental licensing and notice, so check the local code for the municipality your property sits in.

Entering the unit

Pennsylvania has no statute setting a notice period for landlord entry. Write one into your lease. A 24-hour written notice for anything that is not an emergency keeps the record clean and keeps the tenant on your side.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

The notice to quit period tracks the length of the lease term (§ 250.501).

Fifteen days for a term of one year or less, or a tenancy for an indeterminate time, which covers most month-to-month arrangements
Thirty days for a term longer than one year

A lease can shorten that period or waive the notice altogether if the tenant agreed to it in writing (§ 250.501). Many Pennsylvania leases do exactly that.

When rent isn't paid

For non-payment, the notice to quit gives the tenant ten days from the date it was served to pay or get out (§ 250.501(b)).

Serve it by handing it to the tenant or by posting it on the property. Date it, keep a copy, and photograph the posting. If the lease waives the notice, you can file straight away, though sending one anyway costs you very little and often ends the problem without a hearing.

The eviction process step by step

Serve the notice to quit. Ten days for non-payment, fifteen or thirty days otherwise (§ 250.501).
File the complaint. A landlord-tenant complaint goes to the magisterial district judge for the district where the property sits (§ 250.502).
The hearing gets set. The judge picks a date not less than 7 and not more than 15 days from the day you file (Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. 504).
The tenant gets served. The court mails a copy first class, and a sheriff or certified constable hands it over and posts it on the property, at least 5 days before the hearing (Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. 506, as amended).
Judgment. The judge can award possession, unpaid rent and damages for holding over (§ 250.503(a)).
Request the order for possession. For a residential lease you file that request after the 10th day following judgment and within 120 days of it (Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. 515).
Service and removal. The sheriff or constable serves the order within 48 hours of receiving it, and the tenant has 10 days from that service to leave before force can be used (Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. 517).

Pay and stay. In a case built only on unpaid rent, the tenant can stop the whole thing at any point before the order is actually executed by paying the rent in arrears plus costs (§ 250.503(c)). Budget for that.

Possession comes from the court and nowhere else. Changing the locks, pulling a door or shutting off utilities to move someone along is not a shortcut in Pennsylvania, and it hands the tenant a claim against you.

One more protection worth knowing. You cannot terminate or refuse to renew a residential lease over a tenant's involvement in a tenants' organization (§ 250.205).

Repairs and habitability

Every residential lease in Pennsylvania carries an implied warranty of habitability, and neither side can waive it. That came from the state Supreme Court in Pugh v. Holmes, 486 Pa. 272 (1979), not from the Act.

A tenant facing a real defect that you were told about and did not fix has remedies. They can repair and deduct, withhold rent into escrow, or raise the condition as a defense at your eviction hearing. Fast repairs are the cheapest form of legal protection you have.

The short version

Deposit cap of two months in year one, one month from year two on
Deposits over $100 in a regulated bank, with the bank and amount named in writing to the tenant
Interest to the tenant after the second anniversary, minus your one percent
Written damage list within 30 days, or you forfeit the deposit and pay double on the overage
No statutory late fee cap, no grace period, no rent control, no entry notice rule
Ten days' notice for non-payment, fifteen days to end a month-to-month
Hearing 7 to 15 days after filing, order for possession after day 10, then 10 more days to vacate

Let Taz handle the paperwork

Taz is an AI property manager for landlords who would rather not live in the code books. It tracks deposit deadlines, sends rent reminders, takes maintenance requests day and night, and keeps the records a Pennsylvania magisterial district judge would ask for. See how Taz works.

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. Laws change, and your city or borough may add rules. Talk to a Pennsylvania attorney before acting on a specific situation. Last checked September 2026.