Pennsylvania lease agreement template

What is a Pennsylvania lease agreement?

A Pennsylvania lease agreement is a contract between a landlord and a tenant that outlines the terms and conditions for renting a property in the state of Pennsylvania.  The legal document covers important details like the amount of rent, when and how to pay it, the duration of the lease, and rules for using the property. 

It also covers responsibilities for maintenance and repairs, security deposits, and what happens if either party wants to end the lease early. This agreement helps ensure both the landlord and tenant understand their rights and duties, making the rental process clearer and fairer for everyone involved. 

Most importantly, a Pennsylvania lease agreement is compliant with the various laws governing the leasing of properties in that state, which we'll cover in more detail now.

Which laws in Pennsylvania are relevant to lease agreement templates?

When creating aPennsylvania lease agreement template, it’s important to be aware of the state’s landlord-tenant laws. These laws are found in the Pennsylvania Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, which outlines the legal requirements for rental agreements. Key provisions include:

• Limits on security deposits: Pennsylvania law limits the amount a landlord can charge for a security deposit. For the first year, it cannot exceed two months’ rent. For the second year and beyond, it cannot exceed one month’s rent. There is also no minimum security deposit sum.
• Return of security deposits: Pennsylvania law also instructs landlords to return the security deposit within 30 days of the tenant vacating the property. If there are any deductions from the security deposit, the landlord must also provide a clear and written list of these within the same period.
• Disclosure requirements: Landlords must disclose specific information to tenants, such as the identity of the property owner and manager, and any known lead-based paint hazards for buildings constructed before 1978.
• Repair and maintenance: Landlords are required to keep the property in a habitable condition, ensuring that essential services like heating, plumbing, and electricity are functional. In some cases, tenants can withhold rent if there are serious habitability problems that the landlord refuses to address.
• Eviction procedures: The law sets out various rules surrounding evictions, including that the landlord must give tenants written notice prior to eviction for reasons like a failure to pay rent or lease violation. There are different notice periods for different incidents.
• Tenant protection against retaliation: Pennsylvania law says that landlords cannot evict their tenants, or increase rent, in retaliation for the tenant exercising their rights under the lease, such as reporting health and safety regulations.

Understanding these laws helps ensure that the lease agreement is legally enforceable and protects the rights of both parties.

What is the purpose of a Pennsylvania lease agreement?

The purpose of a Pennsylvania lease agreement is to legally bind both the landlord and the tenant to the terms and conditions governing the rental of a property. More specifically, it serves several key functions:

• ‍Provides clarity: The lease agreement specifies important details like the rent amount, payment schedule, lease duration, security deposits, and maintenance responsibilities. This ensures both parties are clear on their roles and responsibilities.
• ‍Offers legal protection: It protects both the landlord and the tenant by making their contractual obligations clear. For landlords, it ensures they can enforce payment and property maintenance rules, while tenants are guaranteed certain protections, like habitable living conditions and the right to privacy​.‍
• Prevents confusion and disputes: A written lease provides a record of the agreed terms, which can be used to resolve conflicts or misunderstandings regarding rent, repairs, or lease termination​. This is because it forms a clear point of reference on the exact terms agreed to by both parties.‍
• Ensures compliance with state laws: Lease agreements ensure compliance with Pennsylvania laws, such as those governing security deposits, eviction procedures, and tenant rights. It also serves to clarify legal recourse available to both parties in case of a breach of the contract​.

Who manages Pennsylvania lease agreements?

In Pennsylvania, lease agreements are typically managed by landlords, property managers, or real estate agents. These individuals or entities are responsible for drafting and reviewing the tenancy agreement, to ensure the lease agreement template is properly filled out and compliant with state laws, and managing the collection of monthly rent payments and any associated fees.

They are also responsible for coordinating maintenance requests and ensuring that the property remains in good condition, and handling disputes, in order to address any conflicts between the landlord and tenant, and initiating eviction procedures if necessary.

Property managers and real estate agents often handle these tasks on behalf of landlords, particularly for larger rental properties or when the landlord does not live nearby.

Types of Pennsylvania lease agreements

When you think of lease agreements, residential rentals are probably the first thing that springs to mind. While these are the most common type of lease agreements in Pennsylvania, they're certainly not the only type used.

Commercial lease agreements are also common, and these are used for renting commercial properties like retail spaces, offices, and industrial facilities. Commercial leases are typically more complex, with negotiable terms tailored to the needs of the business. Types of commercial leases include:

• Gross lease: where the tenant pays a single lump sum of rent and the landlord covers most property-related expenses.
• Net lease: where the tenant is responsible for paying the base rent plus certain property expenses, like taxes, insurance, and maintenance.
• Percentage lease: where the tenant pays a base rent plus a percentage of their sales if it is a commercial lease

Lease agreements will also vary in their length. For example, you'll often find month-to-month lease agreements, or short-term rental agreements in Pennsylvania. Month-to-month leases automatically renew at the end of each month unless either party gives notice to terminate, and they're popular for tenants who need short-term arrangements or are in transition period. Short-term rentals are more common for vacation properties, airbnb rentals or apartment leases.

What should a Pennsylvania lease agreement template include?

While there are various lease agreements operating in Pennsylvania, each with different terms and conditions, most Pennsylvania lease agreements will cover the following things as standard:

A comprehensive Pennsylvania lease agreement template should include the following elements:

• Names of parties: the lease should clearly state the full legal names of both the landlord and the tenant. This ensures there is no ambiguity about who is legally bound by the contract.
• Description of the property: the agreement should also provide a detailed description of the rental property, including its address and specific unit or lot number, if applicable. This avoids confusion over the exact premises being rented, and where the boundaries start and end.
• Length of the lease: templates should also detail he start and end dates of the lease, specifying whether it is a fixed-term lease or month-to-month agreement, for example. This clarifies how long the tenant has rights to the property, and whether these will be renewed.
• Payment terms and schedules: the document must also specify the rent amount, due dates, and acceptable methods of payment. Having a clear schedule for these payment obligations reduces the risk of missed payments and clarifies late fees where needed.
• Security deposit details: the agreement should provide details on the amount of the security deposit taken from the tenant, when it is due, and the conditions for its return. Remember that Pennsylvania has specific laws on how these deposits are handled, too.
• Ownership of maintenance responsibilities: the contract should specify which utilities are the tenant’s responsibility and outline maintenance expectations for the landlord, too. For example, the tenant could agree to keep the premises clean and notify the landlord of any needed repairs, while the landlord is responsible for major repairs such as plumbing and heating.
• Usage restrictions: the agreement should also include a clause covering any restrictions on how the property can be used. This is where you can prohibit things like sublease agreements, or commercial usage if the lease is a residential one.
• Termination processes: like most contracts, the lease agreement should cover contract termination processes in detail, including if, and when, the agreement can be terminated earlier than originally planned.
• Eviction procedures: the agreement should cover the various legal grounds for evictions, including the amount of notice that needs to be provided and how these evictions will be conducted.
• Right of entry: you should also specify when and how the landlord can enter the property for inspections or repairs. This is crucial for protecting the tenant's privacy and quiet enjoyment of the property.

Tips for managing Pennsylvania lease agreements

1. Cut jargon as much as possible

When drafting any kind of lease agreement, it's important to remember the end user and the level of knowledge they have about real estate laws and regulations. In most cases, the tenant won't be a real estate professional, or a legal expert, particularly if you're working with residential properties.

This means you should focus on keeping your agreements as accessible as possible by drafting a plain language contract that prioritizes the tenant's experience instead. Not only will this make the contracting process more pleasant for both parties, but it will also make the terms more likely to be followed and enforced because they're better understood.

"The difficulty with lengthy, complex contracts is that they often go unimplemented because business people simply do not understand them" – Marie Potel-Saville, CEO of Amurabi​

2. Keep in the know about legislative changes

Our next piece of advice is to make a conscious effort to keep up with any developments in Pennsylvania's landlord and tenant legislation. This will help you to protect yourself from a legal misstep and reduce the risk of you having to enter into a costly legal dispute in the future. As a landlord or real estate professional, you have the responsibility of knowing these laws and updating contract templates to ensure compliance.

Fortunately, the process of updating these templates at scale is made a lot easier by automated contract templates and contract management software. Just ask Placemakr who consolidated 12 templates into just one with the help of Juro.

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3. Build a process that makes contracting repeatable

The amount of work involved in managing a lease agreement will vary depending on the number of properties you lease. For a landlord operating independently with just a handful of properties, manual workflows will work just fine. But if you're a successful property management or real estate agency that works across these transactions day-to-day, you'll need a better solution as time passes.

More specifically, you'll benefit from a solution that enables you to perform certain actions at scale, whether that's signing 100 contracts in one go, or automating how they're shared for approval, and when. In these instances, you'll benefit from real estate contract management software like Juro that offers bulk actions, and the ability to automate repetitive admin work.

4. Cut out terms creating unnecessary friction

As a landlord or letting agency, it's important to remember that your objectives are actually aligned with those of a tenant. They want somewhere to live or operate their business, and you want a property to be occupied for a healthy fee. This is something you should keep front of mind during negotiations, and even when drafting this type of contract.

If a clause doesn't afford you much protection or add value, but it scares the prospective tenant from signing, it's probably worth either cutting it altogether or softening it at least.

According to The Most Negotiated Terms 2020 report, the terms most frequently negotiated are rarely the most important ones. It's worth speaking to a lawyer to see how you can reduce friction while still protecting your interests.

How can Juro streamline real estate contracts?

Juro’s contract management software offers a range of features designed to simplify and streamline the management of Pennsylvania lease agreements, along with other real estate contracts. Here's how:

• Juro allows landlords to create, customize, and automate lease agreement templates that can then be used to generate watertight lease agreements with just a few clicks. These templates can include conditional clauses that adapt based on the specific details provided, reducing the risk of errors and ensuring compliance with state laws.
• Juro’s approval workflows make it easier than ever to make sure the right people review the contract at the right time. Landlords can set up sequences of approvers and use rules and conditions to determine if and when approvals are required. This ensures that all stakeholders review and approve lease agreements promptly, without creating friction for those that don't require sign off.
• Managing multiple leases can be time-consuming, but Juro’s mass actions feature allows landlords to sign and send multiple contracts to prospective tenants at once. This is particularly useful for property managers who handle a high volume of leases.
• Juro’s contract repository provides instant visibility into all of your lease agreements, making it easy to track and monitor contracts. If you manage leases beyond Pennsylvania, you can filter the agreements in the dashboard by state, and report on contract data with ease.
• Juro's automated reminders help landlords stay on top of key dates, such as lease renewals and termination deadlines. This feature ensures that landlords and tenants are notified in advance, preventing lapses in the lease agreement.

By leveraging Juro’s contract management software, landlords and property managers can enhance their efficiency, reduce risks, and ensure compliance with Pennsylvania lease agreement requirements.

Juro’s AI-native contract automation platform empowers all teams to create, agree, execute and manage contracts up to 10x faster than traditional tools. To find out more, hit the button below to book your personalized demo. 

Managing lease agreements in other states?

If your property portfolio extends beyond Pennsylvania, you may benefit from these other free lease agreement templates, too:

• Arizona lease agreement template
• California lease agreement template
• Colorado lease agreement template
• Delaware lease agreement template
• Florida lease agreement template
• Georgia lease agreement template
• Illinois lease agreement template‍
• Indiana lease agreement template‍
• Maryland lease agreement template‍
• Massachusetts lease agreement template‍
• Michigan lease agreement template
• New Jersey lease agreement template
• New York commercial lease agreement template
• North Carolina lease agreement template
• Ohio commercial lease agreement template
• Oklahoma lease agreement template
• Oregon lease agreement template
• Tennessee lease agreement template
• Texas lease agreement template
• Virginia lease agreement template