Pennsylvania legally requires landlords to meet certain “habitability” requirements for all rental properties. This means that they’re responsible for providing a property that meets specific health and safety standards and for fixing issues that violate them.
Pennsylvania Implied Warranty of Habitability
In Pennsylvania, the implied warranty of habitability means that a landlord must provide and maintain a safe and habitable rental property. “Implied” means the requirement applies whether or not the lease agreement specifically says so and even if the lease tries to waive the obligation.
Examples of clear habitability violations include:
- Exposed electrical wiring.
- A pipe leaking human waste.
- A broken front doorknob that won’t lock.
However, the implied warranty of habitability does not guarantee that anything at the property will be pretty, clean, new or issue-free, so it doesn’t cover things like peeling carpet or dents in a wall. It only guarantees basic health and safety.
Landlord Responsibilities in Pennsylvania
Note: Check local city/county laws and ordinances for additional requirements.
| Item | Has To Provide? | Has To Fix / Replace? |
| Air Conditioning / Heating | Heating Only, in Winter | Heating Only, in Winter |
| Hot Water | Yes | Yes |
| Kitchen Appliances | No | No |
| Washer & Dryer | No | No |
| Smoke/CO Detectors | Yes | Usually Not |
| Window Coverings | No | No |
| Light Fixtures | No | No |
| Landscaping | No | No |
| Garbage Removal | Yes | Yes |
| Garbage Pickup | Not Addressed | Not Addressed |
| Mold | N/A | Yes |
| Pest Control | No | N/A |
| Pest Infestations | N/A | Yes |
| Water Leaks | N/A | Sometimes |
| Clogs | N/A | Usually Not |
Landlord Responsibilities for Heating & Air Conditioning in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania landlords must provide and maintain heating in winter for rental property. They don’t have to provide or maintain air conditioning.
Are Landlords Required to Provide Air Filter Replacements in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania landlords don’t have to replace things like air filters, unless heating equipment in winter won’t work otherwise.
Landlord Responsibilities for Plumbing in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania landlords must provide and maintain working sanitation facilities for renters. State law doesn’t list specific requirements, but a landlord typically must provide at least a working sink, toilet, and shower or bath.
Are Landlords Required To Provide Hot Water in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania landlords must provide and maintain hot running water for rental properties.
Are Landlords Responsible for Fixing Clogged Drains & Toilets in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania landlords must fix clogs that affect sanitation on rental property.
Are Landlords in Pennsylvania Responsible for Fixing Leaks?
Pennsylvania landlords must fix leaks which seriously impact usability of rental property.
Landlord Responsibilities for Kitchen Appliances in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania landlords don’t have to provide or maintain kitchen appliances like microwaves, dishwashers or ovens. However, this is an area where local codes frequently add requirements. For example, in Philadelphia, landlords have to provide a refrigerator and a cooking appliance (like a stove).
Landlord Responsibilities for Electrical Issues in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania landlords are responsible only for making sure there are no electrical issues that endanger basic safety or habitability on the rental property.
Are Landlords Responsible for Replacing Light Bulbs in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania landlords have no specific responsibility to replace light bulbs or fixtures. However, this is an area where local codes frequently add requirements. For example, in Philadelphia, landlords must provide bathroom, laundry, and kitchen lights.
Landlord Responsibilities for Garbage Removal in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania landlords must provide and maintain garbage removal in some form as a part of giving a rental property basic habitability. There isn’t a specific requirement regarding containers, so a landlord can specify the rental agreement that the renter must provide garbage receptacles.
Landlord Responsibilities for Landscaping in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania landlords have no specific obligation to provide landscaping or maintain it with actions like cutting grass. They only have to deal with issues like fallen trees if they create a hazard that prevents the expected use of the property.
Landlord Responsibilities Regarding Mold in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania landlords are responsible for most mold issues. There’s no state requirement for regular testing, but a landlord must investigate and fix mold problems since they threaten health and safety.
Landlord Responsibilities Regarding Pests in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania landlords must fix pest infestations such as bed bugs, mice, roaches, and ants, since they violate the implied warranty of habitability. There’s no specific obligation for the landlord to provide regular testing or control services.
Landlord Responsibilities for Windows & Window Coverings in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania landlords have no specific responsibility to provide or maintain windows and coverings, including blinds and screens, except as required by local building codes or basic health and safety. The landlord has to repair broken windows the tenant didn’t cause, since this is a health and safety issue, and has to provide some window locks, as well.
Landlord Responsibilities Regarding Safety Devices in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania landlords must provide required smoke alarms and/or carbon monoxide (CO) detectors. Unless there’s a fully automated sprinkler system, all residential buildings must have smoke detectors. CO detectors are required only in residential buildings where there’s an appliance that burns fossil fuels.
Are Landlords Responsible for Replacing Batteries of Safety Devices in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania landlords are responsible for replacing batteries in safety devices before move-in, and once a year when testing such devices. Otherwise, maintenance including battery replacement is the renter’s responsibility.
Landlord Responsibilities for Washers and Dryers in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania landlords are not required to furnish their rental properties with a working washer and dryer.
Renter’s Rights for Repairs in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania renters have the right to repairs for issues they didn’t cause which affect health and safety or otherwise prevent the expected use of the property. The landlord must fix issues within a reasonable time after getting notice about the problem from the renter.
If the landlord fails to do repairs in a timely manner, the renter could take any of the following actions:
- Move out and cancel the rental agreement.
- Self-help for repairs and deduct the cost from rent.
- Withhold rent (usually by paying rent into an approved escrow account).
- Seek a fine or injunction in court.
- Use failure to repair as a defense in eviction or payment actions.
Sources
- 1 Kuriger v. Cramer, 345 Pa. Super. 595, 606 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1985) (internal citations omitted)
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“A warranty of habitability is implied in all residential leases in this Commonwealth, by the terms of which the landlord warrants that the leased premises will be free of defects ‘of a nature and kind which will prevent the use of the dwelling for its intended purpose to provide premises fit for habitation by its dwellers.’”
Source Link - 2 McCandless v. Findley, 86 Pa. Super. 288, 292 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1925)
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“There is an implied covenant for the quiet enjoyment of the demised premises.” Kelly v. Miller, 249 Pa. 314, 316 (1915). The covenant of quiet enjoyment is basically defined as a right to the ordinary use of the property for the purpose it was rented: “The lavatory, the kitchen sink and the blinds were part of the demised premises at the date of the lease and the change resulting from their removal was a violation of the tenant’s implied covenant for quiet enjoyment of the premises.”
Source Link - 3 Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Consumer Guide to Landlord and Tenant Rights, § IV.C. (June 2022)
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Nonbinding guidance from the Attorney General typifies the general standard:
“Examples of uninhabitable conditions include: Lack of utility services (heat in the winter, hot and cold running water, and sanitation); Rodent infestation; Leaking roof; Unsafe floors or stairs; Broken locks on doors and windows.”
Source Link - 4 Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. 69th St. Retail Mall, L.P., 126 A.3d 959, 975 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015)
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In the classic case addressing the subject, repeated flooding that caused business meetings to be moved elsewhere rose to a violation of quiet enjoyment on the property. “[If flooding] follows regularly upon rainstorms and is sufficiently serious in extent to amount to a substantial interference with use and enjoyment of the premises for the purpose of the lease, the test for constructive eviction has been met. Additionally in our case, the defective condition of the driveway, exterior and foundation walls which permitted the recurrent flooding was obviously permanent in the sense that it would continue and probably worsen if not remedied. There was no obligation on the tenant to remedy it.” Reste Realty Corporation v. Cooper, 53 N.J. 444, 458-59 (N.J. 1969) (cited as authority in Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. 69th St. Retail Mall, L.P., 126 A.3d 959, 975 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015))
Source Link - 5 Phila. Pa. Prop. Maint. Code 2019, § 404.6.2
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Philadelphia local code requires for three-occupant units that “the unit shall be provided with a kitchen sink, cooking appliance and refrigeration facilities.”
Source Link - 6 Phila. Pa. Prop. Maint. Code 2019, § 605.3
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Philadelphia local code requires that in occupied buildings “Every public hall, interior stairway, toilet room, kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, boiler room and furnace room shall contain at least one electric luminaire.”
Source Link - 7 34 Pa. Code § 55.52 (2022)
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As usual, requirements are complex, and summarized here such as to cover all except edge cases. See 34 Pa. Code § 55.52 (2022) and 34 Pa. Code § 57.52 (2022).
Source Link - 8 Carbon Monoxide Alarm Standards Act, Act of Dec. 18, 2013, P.L. 1229, No. 121
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“Each apartment in a multifamily dwelling, which uses a fossil fuel-burning heater or appliance, fireplace, or an attached garage, must have an operational, centrally located and approved carbon monoxide alarm installed in the vicinity of the bedrooms and the fossil fuel-burning heater.”
Source Link - 9 Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Consumer Guide to Landlord and Tenant Rights, § IV.C. (June 2022)
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Nonbinding guidance from the Attorney General summarizes tenant options:
“If a defect exists that impacts your ability to live in the unit, you must notify the landlord and
give the landlord a reasonable opportunity to correct the problem. If the landlord fails to remedy the defect, you may have remedies under the law. … Some legal options include: Making the repair and deducting the cost from rent; Terminating the lease and moving out; Withholding rent until the defect is fixed; Taking legal action against the landlord; Raising the violation as a defense against eviction.”
Source Link - 10 Pennsylvania City Rent Withholding Act, 35 Pa. Stat. § 1700-1 (2022)
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“During any period when the duty to pay rent is suspended, and the tenant continues to occupy the dwelling, the rent withheld shall be deposited by the tenant in an escrow account in a bank or trust company approved by the city or county … No tenant shall be evicted for any reason whatsoever while rent is deposited in escrow.”
Source Link - 11 Kuriger v. Cramer, 345 Pa. Super. 595, 606 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1985)
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“A breach of the implied warranty may be the basis of a complaint, as well as a defense or counterclaim to a landlord’s suit for rent or possession.”
Source Link
