How to become a landlord in Pennsylvania

Prepare the property and paperwork before taking applications: check local permissions, plan the costs, document the home’s condition and set up a clear lease and management process. State-level guidance does not replace the requirements for the property’s municipality (Philadelphia: new landlord checklist).

• Compare similar rentals by location, size, condition and included utilities. Build a budget for taxes, insurance, repairs, turnover and time without rent, and record the assumptions behind your asking price. Keep repair reserves and the property’s operating records separate from security deposit accounting. Review the deposit limits and account rules before collecting money (68 P.S. § 250.511a).See Deposit account and interest on the Pennsylvania page
• Check zoning, rental licensing, inspections and safety requirements for the address. Philadelphia’s new-landlord guide, for example, covers zoning and activity-license steps before a Rental License, plus lead-safety and tax-compliance requirements. Its tenant-document checklist includes the Rental License, Certificate of Rental Suitability, lead certification, housing brochure and bed bug notice. Use the city’s current instructions for details and exceptions; this example is not a statewide licensing rule (Philadelphia: new landlord checklist).
• Prepare consistent lawful criteria before advertising and screening. Review the screening and fair-housing sections, including the selected Philadelphia requirements where relevant. Use a readable lease that clearly identifies the parties, home, rent, deposits, utilities, dates, payment arrangements and notice contacts. Check the required disclosures and retain signed copies and delivery records (73 P.S. § 2205; Plain Language Consumer Contract Act § 4(b)).See Application and screening fees on the Pennsylvania page
• Record the starting condition with dated photos and a written checklist. Give the tenant clear instructions for rent, repair requests and urgent problems. Keep a ledger and organize receipts, notices, communications and maintenance records with appropriate access limits. Calendar lease events and deadlines; software can help organize the work while you remain responsible for decisions and follow-through (Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951).See Move-in condition on the Pennsylvania page

Pennsylvania's plain language law treats a residential lease of $50,000 or less as a consumer contract: it must be written so it is easy to read and understand and must state any waivers of the tenant's rights (73 P.S. § 2205; Plain Language Consumer Contract Act § 4(b)).

• The plain language rules do not apply to commercial leases or to contracts for more than $50,000 (Plain Language Consumer Contract Act § 4(b)(2), (b)(8)).
• A lease must include a statement of the contract's waivers of the consumer's rights in residential leases (73 P.S. § 2205(d)(1)(ii)).
• Once the deposit escrow rule applies, tell the tenant in writing the name and address of the bank holding the deposit and the amount (68 P.S. § 250.511b(a)).See Deposit account and interest on the Pennsylvania page

The Landlord and Tenant Act does not require you to give the tenant your name, address or a manager's contact details. No other Pennsylvania law on this was read for this page (Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951).

• Your phone number and address do go in the abandoned property notice, so the tenant can reach you about the items (68 P.S. § 250.505a(e)).See Abandoned property on the Pennsylvania page

None of the Pennsylvania laws read for this page requires a landlord to disclose flood risk or flood history to a tenant (Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951).

• The Landlord and Tenant Act, read in full, has no flood disclosure rule (Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951).

In a building of three or more households, each apartment that has a fossil fuel heater or appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage must have an approved, working carbon monoxide alarm near the bedrooms and the heater or fireplace. No state smoke alarm rule for rentals was read for this page (Carbon Monoxide Alarm Standards Act § 4; Carbon Monoxide Alarm Standards Act § 5).

• The owner installs the alarm, replaces one that went missing or stopped working during a prior occupancy, and makes sure the batteries work when a new occupant moves in (Carbon Monoxide Alarm Standards Act § 5).
• During the tenancy, the occupant keeps the alarm in good repair, tests it, replaces batteries and any stolen or broken alarm, and tells the owner in writing about any problem (Carbon Monoxide Alarm Standards Act § 5).
• Willful failure to install or maintain a required alarm is a summary offense with a fine of up to $50 (Carbon Monoxide Alarm Standards Act § 6).

The Landlord and Tenant Act sets no rule on locks, rekeying or other security devices. No other Pennsylvania law on rental security devices was read for this page (Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951).

• In buildings of three or more households, common areas you control must be kept reasonably safe (68 P.S. § 250.502-A).See Repairs and habitability on the Pennsylvania page

During the first year of a lease you may not require a deposit of more than two months' rent. From the second year on, and during any renewal, the deposit may not be more than one month's rent (68 P.S. § 250.511a).

• Once a tenant has been in possession for five years or more, a rent increase cannot come with a required increase in the deposit (68 P.S. § 250.511a(d)).
• These limits apply only to residential rentals, and a tenant's agreement to waive them is void (68 P.S. § 250.511a(e), (f)).
• Instead of holding the deposit in escrow, you may guarantee its return, less the cost of necessary repairs and with interest, with a bond from a bonding company authorized in Pennsylvania (68 P.S. § 250.511c).See Deposit account and interest on the Pennsylvania page

After the second anniversary of the deposit, deposit money over $100 must be kept in an escrow account at a bank 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 must tell the tenant in writing the bank's name and address and the amount deposited (68 P.S. § 250.511b).

• Do not rely on a noninterest-bearing account after the second anniversary: the Act mentions both kinds of account, but from the third year the deposit is returned together with interest, and the Act speaks of money required to be deposited in an interest-bearing escrow account. Of the interest earned you may keep 1% a year as your only administrative fee; the rest belongs to the tenant and is paid each year on the anniversary of the lease (68 P.S. § 250.511b(a), (b); 68 P.S. § 250.511a(c)).
• If you hold the one-month deposit in the third or a later year of a lease, or in a renewal after two years of tenancy, it is returned with interest when the lease ends or the home is surrendered and accepted (68 P.S. § 250.511a(c)).
• You may use a guarantee bond instead of an escrow account (68 P.S. § 250.511c).

The Landlord and Tenant Act does not require a move-in inspection, a condition checklist or photos. A written record signed at move-in still helps you prove damage under the 30-day deposit rule (Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951).

• If you keep deposit money for damage, you carry the burden of proving the actual damage the tenant caused (68 P.S. § 250.512(c)).See Deposit return on the Pennsylvania page

The Landlord and Tenant Act sets no limit on application or screening fees. No other Pennsylvania law on these fees was read for this page (Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951).

• Screening decisions are still subject to the state fair housing law (43 P.S. § 955(h)).See Fair housing on the Pennsylvania page
• An application may not ask about race, color, familial status, age, religious creed, ancestry, sex, national origin or disability (43 P.S. § 955(h)(6)).See Fair housing on the Pennsylvania page
• The FTC explains that consumer reports include credit, rental, eviction and criminal-history reports, screening recommendations and reports from a reference-checking service. Obtain a report only for a permissible purpose and certify to the reporting company that you will use it for housing. Apply the separate fair-housing rules to the decision (FTC: report types and permissible purpose).
• An adverse-action notice can be required when a report influences a denial, higher rent or deposit, or a co-signer requirement. The FTC says the report need only play a part in the decision, including when it prompts further investigation. These examples do not authorize a charge or condition that another applicable law prohibits (FTC: adverse actions and mixed reasons).
• The notice must identify the reporting agency with its name, address and phone number, explain that it did not make the decision and cannot give the reasons, and state the person's rights to dispute report information and request a free report from that agency within 60 days. The FTC recommends a written record, although the basic notice may be oral, electronic or written (FTC: adverse-action notice contents).
• If a credit score was used for the adverse action, the FTC describes additional written or electronic disclosures: the score, its source and creation date, the model's score range, and the key negative factors in order of importance. A general statement that credit was checked does not replace those disclosures (FTC: additional credit-score disclosures).
• Investigative reports based on personal interviews carry additional written notice and disclosure duties. The FTC also directs secure disposal of consumer reports and information derived from them when their use is finished. Review those separate requirements and any record-retention duties before collecting interview reports or disposing of records (FTC: investigative reports and secure disposal).
• For a Philadelphia rental, the city’s Renters’ Access Act guidance says to give written or electronic screening criteria before accepting an application or fee. Do not screen solely by a credit or tenant-screening score or an eviction record. After rejection, give written or electronic reasons and the relied-on third-party reports within three business days, subject to applicable report-disclosure restrictions. The guidance gives an applicant 48 hours to say they will dispute or request reconsideration and seven business days to provide corrective or mitigating evidence. If that evidence demonstrates an ability to meet tenancy requirements, an owner of five or more city rental units must offer the next available comparable-size, comparable-rent unit. Review the city’s full prohibited-criteria and exception rules for the particular application. These city steps are additional to the federal consumer-report duties above (Philadelphia: Renters’ Access Act tenant-screening guidelines).
• Before relying on a report, match it to the applicant and examine the dates, duplicate entries and case outcomes. A court filing does not establish the final result. If the applicant points out an error or supplies corrective records, keep that information with the report and direct report disputes to the reporting company. Track the criteria used, relevant facts, communications and any notice or reconsideration deadlines; Philadelphia's additional steps above must be considered separately. Do not describe a report as a complete or error-free history (FTC: disputing tenant background report errors).