Best of the Legal Hotline: All Things Rental

PAR’s webinar “Best of the Legal Hotline: All Things Rental” covered a number of topics, including landlord/tenant questions that are frequently asked on the Legal Hotline and a Standard Forms update. Many of the topics addressed already have their own legal resources to help members. 

Fair Housing and Screening Tenants 

There are many protected classes to consider in housing, including those covered by the federal Fair Housing Act, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and local laws or ordinances. The webinar reviewed the state and federal protected classes, with a reminder to check for additional protections at the local level. While there are some exceptions to these rules, those exceptions are also different at the state and federal levels – but these exceptions often apply to landlords and not licensees or Realtors®, so members should be very careful if a client claims that they are covered by an exception and always refer the client to local counsel for further advice.  

Security Deposits 

There are a number of rules and limitations around landlords collecting “security deposits” for rental units, including limits on how much can be collected. Specifically, during the first year of a lease, the law allows no more than the equivalent of two months’ rent to be held in escrow for this purpose of protecting against non-payment of rent or damage to the property. There have not been any recent changes to the actual landlord-tenant law, but a court case from several years ago clarified that any money collected for this purpose is covered by the rules, regardless of what it’s called.  For example, a landlord could not collect a two-month “security deposit” plus a one-month “pet deposit,” since all those funds are meant to protect against property damage. Similarly, the landlord could not collect a two-month “security deposit” plus the last month’s rent, since the additional pre-paid rent is generally to protect against tenants who might leave without paying for that last month. Members doing rentals or property management should be sure their landlord clients are aware of and following these limits. 

Unexpected Tenants 

Attendees were reminded to keep a close eye on rental units to be sure that those who appear to be living there are all accounted for appropriately on the lease. Paragraph 9 of the PAR Residential Lease (Form RL) contains language where a tenant can be required to identify all the individuals they expect to live in the property. If there’s someone who appears to reside there, the landlord could potentially take action to either have that person removed or possibly just added to the lease as an additional tenant. This can help ensure that the individuals actually meet the screening criteria for tenancy and that if the original tenants leave, the newer individuals are actually bound to the lease. And of course, it clarifies how an eviction might be handled if that becomes necessary.

Evictions 

Members often call with questions about evicting tenants, but PAR attorneys noted that this is beyond the scope of the assistance that can be provided by the Legal Hotline. There are many details that will dictate exactly what a landlord has to do and how a tenant might stop the process – including the reason for the eviction and the terms of the existing lease – and PAR cannot provide that sort of legal advice to callers. Landlords with questions about the eviction process should always be directed to experienced local counsel, especially since some of the variables could come down to local preferences and practices of the Magisterial District Judge who hears the case.  

Forms Update 

In the fall of 2024, the Landlord-Tenant Act was amended to include a definition of a “tenant” for the first time. The new definition says that a tenant is “a person who occupies the land or premises of another in subordination to the other’s title and with the other’s express or implied consent, including, but not limited to, oral or written leases or acceptance of rent by an owner or their agent.” 

In some residential transactions, the parties may want to agree that the seller can stay in the property for some time period after closing, or that the buyer might get possession of the property for storage, repairs or even move-in prior to closing. PAR has two forms for these purposes: the Pre-Settlement Possession Addendum to the Agreement of Sale (Form PRE) and the Post-Settlement Possession Addendum to the Agreement of Sale (Form POS). These forms previously stated that they were only for temporary short-term use, and that they were not creating a landlord/tenant relationship. With the new changes to the law, we simply cannot make that guarantee anymore, so we have removed all statements making that claim. A notice was also added for parties to consult with an attorney so that parties can fully understand what type of relationship is being created between the parties by executing either Form PRE or Form POS. 

Other topics discussed included assistance animals, abandoned personal property and death of a tenant. You can find those resources and watch the webinar recording on PAR’s website.