Pennsylvania Lease Agreement: What to Include

A Pennsylvania residential lease needs to reflect this state's actual rules on security deposits, entry notice, late fees, and required disclosures — not a generic template written for a different state. The figures below come from Pennsylvania's residential landlord-tenant statute; where the state sets no fixed number, that's stated plainly rather than glossed over, since "the state doesn't specify" is itself something you need to know.

Security deposit

Security deposit limit: 2 months first year; 1 month after first year; deposit reductions/interest after 2 years. Pennsylvania requires landlords to pay interest on held deposits — check the current statutory rate and any escrow requirements before you hold tenant funds. Return deadline after move-out: 30 Days.

Entry notice, late fees, and rent increases

Entry notice: No statewide statute. Late fees: No statewide fixed cap; should be reasonable and stated in lease; no statewide grace period requirement. Rent increase notice for month-to-month tenancies: No statewide rent-increase notice statute; lease/notice-to-quit/local rules govern days. (Entry notice citation: No statewide statute.)

Required disclosures

A Pennsylvania lease should include or accompany:

• • Federal lead-based paint
• • plain-language consumer notices
• • local rental registration/lead where applicable

Eviction notice for nonpayment

For nonpayment of rent, Pennsylvania's standard notice period is 10 days. This is the minimum notice before you can move to the next step in the eviction process — actual court timelines run longer once a case is filed. (Eviction notice citation: 68 Pa. Stat. § 250.501 (10 days; commonly waived in lease).)

What actually distinguishes Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania caps the security deposit at: 2 months first year; 1 month after first year; deposit reductions/interest after 2 years.

Pennsylvania is one of a smaller group of states that requires landlords to pay tenants interest on held security deposits — factor that into how you hold the funds.

There's no statewide statutory notice period for landlord entry in Pennsylvania, which means the lease is the only thing establishing that expectation — silence in the lease leaves it genuinely undefined.

Rent increase notice for month-to-month tenancies in Pennsylvania is No statewide rent-increase notice statute; lease/notice-to-quit/local rules govern days — different from the 30-day default most other states use, so don't assume the general rule applies here.

Sources and the bottom line

The figures above reflect Pennsylvania's residential landlord-tenant statute as summarized on LeasePilot HQ's Pennsylvania landlord-tenant law page, which lists the specific sources behind each number. Security deposit rules specifically are codified at 68 Pa. Stat. § 250.511a (2 months year 1, 1 month thereafter), with the return deadline set by 68 Pa. Stat. § 250.512 (30 days). Primary and cross-reference sources used in compiling this page:

• • https://ipropertymanagement.com/laws/security-deposits
• • https://www.justia.com/real-estate/landlord-tenant/information-for-landlords/right-of-entry/
• • https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/state-landlord-tenant-laws

State landlord-tenant law changes through legislative sessions and court decisions — treat the numbers above as a starting point, verify against Pennsylvania's current statute (linked above) before relying on them for an actual lease, and see LeasePilot HQ's full Pennsylvania landlord-tenant law summary for the complete breakdown, or generate a lease with Pennsylvania-specific clauses built in automatically.