Yes, oral (verbal) leases are just as valid as written leases. Pennsylvania law protects all tenants, whether they have a written or oral lease.  This means that if your landlord plans to evict you, they must go through the eviction process.  You can protect yourself by doing simple things like getting a receipt each time you pay rent, including when you first rent the unit.  This receipt should show how much you paid, the rental period, the date of payment, and the address of the rental unit.  It is important to save these receipts for future proof that you rented the unit and that you paid your rent.

If you signed a lease a long time ago and are still living in the same unit, you do still have a lease. Most likely, the written lease you signed extends either to month-to-month or year-to-year. You should find language in the lease for the renewal term. 

Usually, most parts of the written lease continue to apply, but the owner may give proper notice to increase the rent as long as it is in keeping with the renewal terms of the lease. The lease may state that any changes must be in writing and agreed upon by both parties. Be aware that any park or complex rules the lease refers to may have changed since you signed your lease.

Eviction notices don’t have to be notarized or witnessed, and usually they are not sent by a lawyer. However, they do have to clearly state that the landlord intends to evict you. Pennsylvania law sets out the process a landlord must take to give you “notice to quit” and evict you. The law requires that a notice to quit must be hand delivered or posted on a door that is regularly used. Note that your lease may waive the requirement for you landlord to give you a notice to quit or might change the length of time that notice is required before filing an eviction. Generally, the owner or property manager must give ten days’ notice to quit if the eviction is for past due rent, and fifteen days’ notice for breach of lease or end of lease term.

If you own a mobile home and live in a manufactured home community or live in subsidized housing, please see special rules that apply for notices.

No, it is not legal.  This is a form of "self-help" eviction. If your landlord has illegally turned off your power or water, there are several options for help. You can contact your local code enforcement office, the attorney general's office, or you can contact NPLS or a private attorney.  If necessary, an attorney can help you get a court order that requires your landlord to turn the water or power back on and to stop them from doing it again in the future.

Note that if you contact code enforcement, they may require the landlord to turn on the utility.  If the landlord does not comply, you may have to move out because the unit may be considered "uninhabitable."  This would be considered illegal "self-help" eviction.  If you file a lawsuit asking the court for money damages, the court may require a landlord pay your expenses and up to three times any damages. If this is happening to you, contact NPLS or a private attorney as soon as possible for help.

If you are behind in rent, or have violated other parts of the lease, you can be evicted no matter the weather, your age, the fact that you lost your job, or the fact that you have a disability. Pennsylvania law does require that your landlord take you to court to evict you.

Manufactured home owners who rent lots in Manufactured home communities may have additional rights.  See our Landlord/Tenant handbook for more info.

No, the police will tell your landlord to go to the magistrate and follow the law. Generally, there are multiple steps the landlord must take to legally evict someone. If the police do get involved without a court order, there may be civil rights violations.  Remain calm and show the police that you are a tenant.  You should contact an attorney to help you enforce your rights.

Depending on how you respond, it can take as few as 28 days before you can be locked out by a constable. During these 28 days, the court will schedule a hearing and make a decision about whether your landlord can evict you. You should go to the hearing so that you can tell your side of the story.  If the judge makes the decision to evict, you have 10 days to file an appeal of the possession.  If you do not file an appeal, the landlord can ask for an "order for possession" that will give you 10 days to get out of the property before a constable can assist the landlord in locking you out.  

If you file an appeal of the Magisterial District Judge's decision, the timeline for eviction could be much longer.  You should contact NPLS or an attorney to talk about this option.

Pay and Stay

If you are being evicted just because you owe rent, the magisterial district judge should enter a judgment that allows you to pay the money owed and avoid eviction.  This is often referred to as "pay and stay." The Notice of Judgment/Transcript will have language that tells you whether or not you can satisfy the order for possession to avoid the eviction.

Within 10 days of the Judgment

If you pay the landlord in full (the amount of rent in arrears and court costs from the Notice of Judgment/Transcript) within 10 days of the judgment. no eviction should be scheduled.  (Make sure you get a receipt from your landlord as proof of payment) 

After 10 days

If you do not pay or file an appeal within 10 days of the judgment, the landlord may request an Order for Possession. An eviction date will be scheduled ten days after the Order for Possession is posted on your door by a constable. The Order for Possession will tell you the amount you must pay to stop the eviction.  You can make that payment up to and including the eviction date on the Order.  

If you pay before the eviction date, you should make arrangements with the landlord and the constable and keep a receipt for proof of payment. If you plan to pay on the date of the eviction, you will have to pay the constable directly. Make sure you have the money owed in cash. If you try to pay by check, the constable will not take the money and the eviction will proceed as scheduled. If you paid the landlord in full, the landlord should tell the MDJ to have the judgment marked “satisfied.” Call the court to make sure the landlord did this.

Possession Granted

If the Notice of Judgement/Transcript does not allow you to satisfy the judgment by paying the rent in arrears and you disagree with the judgment, then you must file an appeal at the Court of Common Pleas within 10 days of the judgment date.  A bond will be required if you need to stay in your rental unit while the appeal is being decided.

If you are a victim of Domestic Violence, you have additional time to appeal.  

If a judgment for possession (eviction) is entered against a tenant with a residential lease, who is a victim of domestic violence, there is an extended appeal period. That tenant may appeal the judgment within 30 days after the date it was entered by filing a notice of appeal with the Prothonotary/Clerk of Court of the Court of Common Pleas, along with a copy of the official “Domestic Violence Affidavit” form. A victim of domestic violence is “a person who has obtained a protection from abuse order against another individual OR can provide other evidence of abuse.” See Pa.R.Civ.P.M.D.J. No. 1001(10); 68 P.S. § 250.513

A tenant who is a victim of domestic violence may file the Affidavit with the Magisterial District Court to stop an eviction, even after an Order for Possession has been issued. The tenant should file the Affidavit with the Magisterial District Court prior to filing an appeal with the Court of Common Pleas. If the Affidavit is filed with the Magisterial District Court, the tenant should attach a copy of the Affidavit to the Notice of Appeal. If the tenant does not file the Domestic Violence Affidavit with the Magisterial District Court or does not appeal to the Court of Common Pleas within 21 days following the entry of the Judgment, the tenant is at risk of eviction. This Domestic Violence Affidavit is not a public record, and it shall not be publicly accessible. 

The form is available online from the AOPC: Domestic Violence Affidavit 

Withholding rent is one of the options that a tenant can take to make sure a landlord repairs a property when there are serious problems with the rental unit that make it dangerous to live there. Before taking this drastic step, you must notify the landlord in writing and give them an opportunity to fix the problems. If the repair is not made, you should talk to NPLS or a private attorney about whether you should use this option and how to do it the right way.  Once you have withheld rent, it is important that you not spend the money.  If your landlord does not agree with you, they may file an eviction action where a judge will decide how much rent you owe.  If you do not have the money to pay that judgement, you could be evicted.

Look at the Self-help Handbook for Tenants (Getting Repairs chapter) for more information about needed repairs, including sample letters you can send to your landlord.

When you move out, you should take pictures of the entire rental unit in case the landlord does not return your full deposit or tries to charge you for damages you did not cause. You must give your landlord written notice of an address where you can receive mail, but it doesn’t have to be your new address. It can be a PO Box or a family member’s address.

Your landlord has 30 days to mail you the security deposit. If they do not return the full amount, they must send you a list of damages that you caused and how much it cost to fix the damages. If you do not agree with the list of damages, or if they do not send one, you can file a lawsuit at the local Magisterial District Court in the area the rental unit was located.  You can ask for up to twice the security deposit or amount that should not have been held back. You can use the pictures you took when you moved out to prove that you left the unit in good condition.

If you are renting a mobile home from the owner or not living in a community, then the landlord tenant rules apply. But because manufactured homes are usually a much more significant investment, there are special rights to help avoid loss of the property.

You can only be evicted from a manufactured home community for the following reasons:

• Non-payment of rent;
• Violating the rules of the community more than once in a six-month period;
• If the community closes; or
• If the community changes its use.

You cannot be forced to move without written notice and court hearing.  The notice must be sent by certified or registered mail. The notice must state the reasons why you are being asked to move. If you are being evicted for non-payment of rent, the notice must give you:

• 30 days between September 1 & March 31 OR
• 15 days between April 1 and August 31

If you are being evicted for a breach of the lease or the end of the term, the notice must give you:

• 90 days if your lease is for a year or more OR
• 30 days if your lease is for less than a year.

If you are being evicted for violating the community rules or the lease, the notice must state exactly what you did to violate the rules.  The community owner must enforce the rules against everyone in the community in the same way. If you only violate the rules once, you cannot be evicted.  If you violate the rules a second time within six months, you can be evicted if the owner gives you the proper notice and goes through the eviction process.

Visit the Manufactured Homes section of the Self-help Handbook for Tenants to learn more about your rights.