Landlord-Tenant Law Articles

If you are a landlord in Lehigh County that has been notified that their tenant filed an appeal from an eviction judgment entered in a Magistrate District Court (MDJ) to the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas, you may be wondering what happens next. In this article, I will outline the procedures to follow when a tenant files an appeal in Lehigh County.

Whenever a tenant appeals an eviction judgment entered in the Magistrate District Court (MDJ) to the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas, the eviction process stops if the tenant is granted a supersedeas. A tenant is able to obtain a supersedeas if they pay the lesser of the actual rent in arrears as determined by the Magistrate District Court (MDJ) or three month’s rent. However, in most cases, there is a process that tenants utilize to seek an exemption from this requirement. In the majority of …

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Many landlords in Northampton County, Pennsylvania are receiving notice that their tenant has appealed a Magistrate District Court (MDJ) judgment to the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas and they are wondering what steps they have to take next. First, when an appeal is filed, a supersedeas is signed by the Northampton County Prothonotary, which is a court order which places a stay on the eviction proceedings. This means that the landlord cannot evict the tenant once a tenant files an appeal. A tenant is typically required to deposit rent with the Prothonotary in order to obtain a supersedeas.

If the Magistrate Court found that the tenant was past due on their rent at the time of the Magistrate District Court (MDJ) hearing, the tenant is obligated to deposit the lesser of the actual rent in arrears or three month’s rent at the time their appeal is filed in …

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This article is intended for Pennsylvania landlord-tenant appeals from the Magistrate Court to the Court of Common Pleas. Particularly, when a tenant submits a false affidavit to the court alleging that rent was paid in the month their appeal was filed. This article reviews the applicability of Rule 1008 and potential remedies.

I see it happen all the time — a landlord successfully obtains a judgment to evict a tenant based on the tenant’s failure to pay rent, the tenant files an appeal, and lies to the court saying they paid rent for the month the appeal was filed. What is the landlord suppose to do?

Pennsylvania Landlord-Tenant Appeal Overview

When a tenant appeals an eviction judgment within ten (10) days of the Magistrate Hearing to the Court of Common Pleas, the Pennsylvania Rules of Procedure require the tenant to pay the lesser of the rent actually in arrears or …

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Is a tenant permitted to withhold rent in Pennsylvania if there are problems with the rental property?  In some cases, a tenant can withhold rent, but proper procedure must be followed. In most cases, tenants do not follow the proper procedure in withholding rent and are in breach of the Lease Agreement by withholding rent.

A typical scenario occurs when a tenant has a complaint about a certain problem existing on the property such as mold, lack of heat, water leaks, insect or rodent infestation, or code violations. The tenant has a duty to inform the landlord of the problem and give the landlord a reasonable period of time to fix the problem. In the event the landlord is not diligent in fixing the problem within a reasonable period of time, the tenant is able to exercise their remedies under law.

The tenant generally has three remedies when a landlord …

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In Pennsylvania, a tenant is required to provide the landlord with their forwarding address in writing in order to receive the return of their security deposit.  Once the landlord receives the tenant’s forwarding address, the landlord must then return the unused portion of the tenant’s security deposit with an itemized list of damages within thirty (30) days. A landlord is permitted to use the tenant’s security deposit to cover items related to physical damages, unpaid rent, and unpaid utilities that the tenant is responsible for under the terms of the lease. If an itemized list of damages is not sent to the tenant within thirty (30) days of receipt of the tenant’s forwarding address, the landlord will forfeit the right to withhold any portion of the tenant’s security deposit and the tenant is able to seek double the amount of the security deposit.

What if I sent the tenant a

Throughout the years, Pennsylvania’s laws regarding abandoned property of a tenant have faced uncertainty. If property was left behind by a tenant, landlords were unsure of what their duties were with respect to that property, at what point the property would be considered abandoned by a tenant, and whether they were permitted to dispose of or sell property that was left behind.

That uncertainty has been resolved with the passage of Act 129 of 2012, the Abanonded Property Bill. Act 129 was signed by Governor Corbett on July 5, 2012, and went into effect September 2012. Act 129 deals with the disposition of personal property left behind after a tenant relinquishes possession of real property.

When Personal Property Becomes Abandoned

There are two ways where a tenant will have relinquished possession of real property: (1) an order of possession is entered by a magistrate court following a hearing, …

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