Breaking a lease in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania lets certain military tenants, and the estate of a sole tenant who dies, end a lease early. No statute read for this page gives other tenants a general right to leave before the term ends (51 Pa.C.S. § 7315; 51 Pa.C.S. § 7315.1; 68 P.S. § 250.514).

• A Pennsylvania National Guard member called to active duty (other than for training) or to State active duty, or a reserve member called to active duty, for 30 consecutive days or more may end a dwelling lease signed before the duty began, without penalty, by written notice; for a monthly lease, the end date is 30 days after the next rent due date (51 Pa.C.S. § 7315(a) to (c)).
• A service member or full-time Guard member who gets permanent change of station orders, temporary duty orders of more than three months, orders to government quarters, or is honorably discharged or released from active duty may end the lease by written notice effective at least 30 days after you receive it, with a copy of the orders or a commanding officer's letter before the end date (51 Pa.C.S. § 7315.1(a), (b)).
• Under that rule, final rent is prorated to the end date and rent paid in advance for later periods is refunded within 30 days (51 Pa.C.S. § 7315.1(c) to (e)).
• Holding the member's belongings or deposit to cover rent after that end date is a summary offense (51 Pa.C.S. § 7315.1(h)).
• You may ask a court, before the end date, to modify the relief as justice and equity require (51 Pa.C.S. § 7315(d); 51 Pa.C.S. § 7315.1(f)).
• If a sole tenant dies, the estate's executor or administrator may end the lease on 14 days' written notice, effective on the later of the last day of the second calendar month after the month of death or the surrender of the home with all belongings removed; the estate still owes rent and debts up to then but no early termination penalty (68 P.S. § 250.514).
• For domestic violence victims, the state rule is about appeals, not early termination: the tenant gets 30 days instead of 10 to appeal an eviction judgment (68 P.S. § 250.513(b)).See Eviction process on the Pennsylvania page

In a city of the first, second, second A or third class, if the city's licenses and inspections or public safety department, or the health department of the city or of its county, certifies a home as unfit for human habitation, the tenant's duty to pay rent is suspended and the tenant pays rent into an escrow account at a bank or trust company the city or county approves (35 P.S. § 1700-1).

• If the home is certified fit within six months of the unfit certification, the escrowed rent is paid to you; if not, it goes back to the tenant, though it may be used to make the home fit and to pay utilities you were required to pay (35 P.S. § 1700-1).
• No tenant may be evicted for any reason while rent is being paid into that escrow (35 P.S. § 1700-1).
• The certifying agency sends you a monthly statement of the escrowed funds by first class mail (68 P.S. § 250.206).
• If you are the utility customer of record and do not pay, tenants who pay the utility to keep service on may deduct those payments from rent (66 Pa.C.S. § 1529; Utility Service Tenants Rights Act § 9).See Lockouts and utilities on the Pennsylvania page

Pennsylvania has no statute that sets a general rule on whether a tenant needs your consent to sublet a home. The lease controls, so state in it whether the tenant needs your written consent (Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, 68 P.S. § 250.101 and following).

• A subtenant is bound by the terms of your lease with the tenant (68 P.S. § 250.105).
• A lease for more than three years may be assigned only in a writing signed by the person assigning it or that person's agent, unless the assignment happens by operation of law (68 P.S. § 250.203).

To end a month-to-month tenancy, give the tenant a written notice to quit that allows at least 15 days from the date it is served (68 P.S. § 250.501(b)).

• The 15 days apply to a tenancy for an indeterminate time and to any lease of one year or less; a lease for more than one year needs 30 days (68 P.S. § 250.501(b)).
• The Act sets no notice period for a tenant who wants to leave, so the lease should set one (Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951).
• The lease may shorten the notice or let the tenant waive it (68 P.S. § 250.501(e)).

Within 30 days after the lease ends or the tenant surrenders the home and you accept it, whichever comes first, give the tenant a written list of the damages you claim and pay back the deposit, with any unpaid interest, less the actual damages (68 P.S. § 250.512(a)).

• You may also keep deposit money for unpaid rent or for the tenant's breach of another lease condition (68 P.S. § 250.512(a)).
• If you do not send the written list within the 30 days, you lose the right to keep any part of the deposit and the right to sue the tenant for damage to the home (68 P.S. § 250.512(b)).
• If you do not pay the balance within the 30 days, you can owe double the amount by which the deposit and interest exceed the actual damages, and you must prove the damages (68 P.S. § 250.512(c)).
• A tenant who does not give you a new address in writing when the lease ends or the home is surrendered releases you from liability under this section (68 P.S. § 250.512(e)).
• A tenant's waiver of these rules is void, and they apply only to residential leases (68 P.S. § 250.512(d), (f)).
• For each damage deduction, record the condition at move-in and move-out, describe what the tenant damaged, and retain dated photos and repair invoices or other evidence of the actual loss. This is practical evidence guidance: section 512 requires a written damages list and puts proof of actual damage on the landlord. Routine turnover work alone does not show damage caused by this tenant (68 P.S. § 250.512(a), (c)).