Facing Eviction in Pennsylvania: What Can I Do?
Your landlord cannot evict you without going to court. This page explains each step of a Pennsylvania eviction. It covers the written notice, the court hearing, the judge's decision, the appeal, and what happens at the end. It also explains how paying what you owe can stop a nonpayment eviction.
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Only a court can evict you in Pennsylvania. An eviction notice from your landlord is not an eviction. If you stay past the date in the notice, your landlord must file a court case. The landlord must win that case before anyone can make you leave.
✓ Sources checked August 31, 2026
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Most evictions must start with a notice to quit (a written notice saying you must move out). For unpaid rent, the notice must give you 10 days, counted from the day it is served. Served means handed to you, left at the main building, or posted on your home.
✓ Sources checked September 11, 2026
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The notice period is longer when the reason is not rent. This applies when the landlord says you broke a lease rule, or your lease ended. For a lease of 1 year or less, the notice to quit (a written notice to move out) gives you 15 days. Count the days from the day the notice is served.
✓ Sources checked September 11, 2026
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You get more time when your lease runs more than 1 year and the reason is a broken rule or a lease that ended. The notice to quit (a written notice to move out) then gives you 30 days. Count the days from the day the notice is served.
✓ Sources checked September 11, 2026
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Your landlord cannot force you out on their own. Changing your locks to push you out is illegal. Shutting off your utilities (water, electric, gas) to push you out is illegal too. Only the court process counts.
✓ Sources checked August 31, 2026
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Check your lease for words that give up your right to this notice. Pennsylvania law allows a lease to shorten the notice time or drop it completely. Many leases do this. If yours does, the first paper you get may be a court summons (an order to appear in court).
✓ Sources checked September 11, 2026
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If you do not move by the notice deadline, your landlord can file a complaint (the paper that starts a court case). The case goes to the magisterial district court, the local court for landlord and tenant cases. The judge must set the hearing 7 to 15 days after the filing. The court sends you a summons (a paper with the hearing date and time).
✓ Sources checked September 11, 2026
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Go to your hearing, and bring proof: your lease, rent receipts, photos, emails, and text messages. You can bring a lawyer. If you miss the hearing or come late, the landlord wins by default. Default means the judge rules for the landlord because you are not there. If you cannot attend, call the court before the hearing date and ask to move it.
✓ Sources checked August 31, 2026
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Bad conditions in the home can be a defense (a legal reason for the judge to rule for you). Every Pennsylvania lease includes the warranty of habitability. That warranty means the landlord must keep the home safe and fit to live in. You can also file your own claim against the landlord, for example over ignored repairs. You must file that claim before the hearing date.
✓ Sources checked August 31, 2026
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If the eviction is only for unpaid rent, paying stops it. This right lasts until the officer actually removes you. Pay the rent you owe plus court costs to the constable or sheriff (the officer who carries out evictions). The eviction then ends and you stay. The officer must give you a signed receipt.
✓ Sources checked September 11, 2026
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You can appeal (ask a higher court to hear the case again). You have 10 days, counted from the date of the judgment (the judge's decision). File a notice of appeal with the court of common pleas, your county's higher court. The office that takes the filing is called the prothonotary (the clerk of that court).
Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Consumer Guide to Tenant and Landlord Rights, Part V.C.4 Pennsylvania Code 246 Pa. Code Rule 1002 B(1)✓ Sources checked August 31, 2026
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An appeal alone does not stop the eviction. To stay in the home during the appeal, you must also deposit money with the court. This pause is called a supersedeas (the court's hold on the eviction during the appeal). The deposit is 3 months of rent, or the amount in the judgment (the judge's decision) if that is less. 3 months of $800 rent is $2,400. If your income is low, you can file a tenant's affidavit (a sworn statement about your income). Then you deposit one third of one month's rent instead: one third of $900 rent is $300. You must keep depositing the rent with the court each month while the appeal continues.
✓ Sources checked August 31, 2026
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Suppose you do not appeal in time and do not pay what you owe. Your landlord can then ask the court for an order for possession (the paper that lets an officer remove you). A constable or sheriff serves it on you, in person or by posting it on the home. You then have 10 days, counted from the day it is served, to move out.
✓ Sources checked August 31, 2026
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You may be removed with your things still inside. Then the landlord must mail you a letter about them. You have 10 days, counted from the postmark date of that letter, to act. Get your things back, or ask the landlord to store them. If you do nothing, the landlord can throw your things away.
✓ Sources checked August 31, 2026
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