Before looking for an apartment or house

What law applies to a Landlord Tenant agreement? A landlord tenant agreement is a consumer contract between the property owner and renter. A landlord and tenant also have a relationship based on the property owner giving the tenant exclusive possession of the rental property. Landlord-Tenant law is governed by federal, state and local laws. There are also important court decisions and rules of court that govern Landlord-Tenant law.

The Pennsylvania Landlord-Tenant Act includes the process for Magisterial District Court evictions, limitations on the length of verbal leases (three years), and rules about security deposits. It includes a process for appeal to the Court of Common Pleas in that county. You have to also look at court decisions. For example, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that there is an implied warranty of habitability in every residential lease. This implied warranty of habitability is a requirement that the property meet certain minimum standards. But it is still important that the tenant consider any new lease carefully, because there are many other agreements in the lease in addition to basic habitability.