Relevant Laws

Follow the links below or scroll down to learn about Landlord-Tenant laws: 

• Landlord Tenant Act
• Fair Housing
  
• Warranty of Liability
  
• Quiet Enjoyment
  
• Eviction
• Security Deposit
  

Landlord Tenant Act

Visit the Student Affairs website contains helpful tips and information on landlord-tenant laws, security deposits, lease review, subletting and more. 

Contact

Student Legal Services
Phone: 814-867-4388
Email:  PennStateSLS@psu.edu
Location:
248 East Calder Way, Suite 303
State College, PA 16801

How to find our office

Need Legal Help?

For advice about your specific situation, please complete our intake form to request an appointment with an attorney.

Fair Housing

Fair Housing laws apply to anyone renting property to others. Some types of discrimination in housing are prohibited under federal and state laws. Who and what is protected differs slightly different between the federal law, the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601-3631, and state law, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, 43 P.S.§ 951 et seq. If the housing is in State College Borough, there is also a local ordinance (Borough of State College Ordinances Chapter V, Part E) that provides even more expansive protections than the Federal or State laws.

Unlawful acts include, but are not limited to:

• Refusing to sell or lease housing to you
• Discriminating in terms, conditions, services or privileges
• Saying that a dwelling is not available when it is
• If you are disabled, refusing to permit you to make changes in your home to suit your disability

If you are in a protected class and want to request a reasonable accommodation to make housing accessible to you, North Penn Legal Services offers educational resources you can use to formulate that request. They also offer a detailed chapter on the law, how to pursue remedies, and time limitations on making a complaint.

A common question in State College is whether emotional support animals are permitted in 'no pet' housing, what documentation is needed to demonstrate the need for the emotional support animal and how to request the accommodation. The Judge David L. Bazelton Center for Mental Health Law has a helpful information sheet on that topic.

If you feel you've been discriminated against, talk to a lawyer. To take action on your own, fair housing complaints can be filed online with the appropriate federal, state, or local agency.

Warranty of Habitability

The good news: Pennsylvania implies a warranty of habitability into every residential lease contract.

The bad news: It is a pretty limited warranty. Landlords are required to keep the property in a safe, sanitary and livable condition. Only serious issues like the absence of a working toilet or inadequate heat in the winter are covered.

What you can do:

1. First, notify the landlord of the condition in writing.

2. Second, give the landlord reasonable time to fix the problem. ' Reasonable' is not well-defined, but is connected to the seriousness and immediacy of the defect. For example, a hole in the roof in a dry week in the summer doesn't have to be addressed as quickly as a hole in the roof in the middle of a snowstorm.

If the problem is still not repaired, you have several options. These options are only available if you can show that the defect created a serious, unsafe condition, the landlord was provided with written notice of the condition, and the landlord did not repair the condition within a reasonable period of time.

1. 'Repair and deduct'. You can repair the condition and deduct the cost from your rent.

2. Terminate the lease. If you choose this option you must give notice to the landlord and completely move out of the apartment.

3. Damages. You can file a lawsuit and request damages you incurred as a result of the uninhabitable property. This suit can be in addition to repairing it yourself or ending the lease, or as its own remedy.

4. Specific performance. The tenant can ask the court to force the landlord to make the necessary repairs. This is an unusual remedy, but available if nothing else is adequate.

Hint: These remedies can be risky! If an apartment is uninhabitable, there is usually a fire, safety or housing code that is being violated. Contacting the appropriate municipal agency can help you determine whether the property is really uninhabitable, and can help get the problem fixed more quickly. For the appropriate municipal agency, go to the Centre Region Code Agency website.

Quiet Enjoyment

The good news: Pennsylvania also implies a covenant of quiet enjoyment into every residential lease contract.

The bad news: It doesn't mean exactly what it sounds like it means.

Here's why:

• It typically applies only to the actions of the landlord and the landlord's agent. Thus, the landlord can't restrict your use of the leased premises by, for example, moving the dumpster onto your patio.
• It typically does not apply to the actions of your neighbors. So when your neighbor keeps playing a wall-shaking stereo at 3 am, that isn't a breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment. There may be exceptions to this where the lease includes noise restrictions and the landlord refuses to take action to enforce those restrictions.
• You can bargain it away. When you sign a lease that allows a landlord unrestricted access to your apartment, or prohibits pets, you are agreeing to restrictions on your use of the property.

What to do: Before taking any other action, notify the landlord of the problem in writing. In extreme cases, you can file a lawsuit asking for damages resulting from the broken covenant.

What you can't do:  In most cases, the apartment is still habitable, so you can't move out and terminate your lease.

Eviction