Ask a Lawyer

By: Steven M. Williams

How much notice do I have to give tenants before I can raise rents?

The notice period depends on how long the lease is and whether you will require your tenants to sign new leases, amendments or addenda to their leases. The Pennsylvania Manufactured Home Community Rights Act (MHCRA) requires a 60-day notice if the term of the lease is greater than 60 days and/or you require that your tenants sign new leases or amendments or addenda to their leases. In all other circumstances, the notice required is 30 days.

Can I raise rent whenever I want?

Yes, but with two exceptions. First, you cannot raise rent during the term of the lease. For example, if the lease term is one year, you may not raise rent until the end of the year. Second, the MHCRA prohibits more than one rent increase in any twelve-month period.

Can I serve rent increase notices by certified mail?

The MHCRA requires that rent increase notices be mailed to all residents via first-class mail and posted in the rental office or conspicuously in some other area of the community where the residents will see them. So long as you do this, you can also send the notices by certified mail if you want. The MHCRA does not require it, though.

Does Pennsylvania law restrict how much I can raise rent?

There is no state law that restricts how much you can charge for rent. However, if your rent increases are too big, they may attract the attention of the Attorney General. If your rent increases were deemed to be price gouging or unreasonably high, you could face scrutiny from the Attorney General, whose job includes protecting consumers. As a side note, rent increases have been attracting the attention of some state legislators who have introduced various forms of rent control bills in recent years. So far, none of them have passed. Whether the General Assembly would be successful in passing rent control legislation remains to be seen. Certainly, if the industry is reasonable in its rent increases, legislators may be less inclined to consider rent control.

A tenant passed away recently, and her home is run-down and has no value, and rent has not been paid for two months. Her sister, the only family left, is not interested in the home, but she has opened an estate at the courthouse. However, she has not cooperated with me regarding the removal of the home or the rent payments. How can I get rid of the home and collect rent? I do not know if the taxes have been paid, but I know there is no lien on the home.

When a tenant dies, her estate becomes your tenant. The estate is entitled to all rights under the lease and is responsible for all obligations under the lease. You can proceed against the estate in the same way you would proceed against a tenant. Thus, you can proceed with the eviction/abandonment process against the estate. On the Landlord and Tenant Complaint, you should list the defendant/tenant as “the Estate of _________.” If the estate has any money, you may be able to collect the rent that is owed.

I recently purchased a new community. The prior owner did not do much to maintain tenant records. None of the tenants have written leases, and the rents are low. Can I require the tenants to sign my lease, and can I increase rent?

Yes, you can require the tenants to sign your lease. You should provide them with a copy of the lease documents (including the fee disclosure and required notices) and ask that they sign and return them. You can also increase their rent as long as it has not been already increased in the last twelve months. You will need to send the lease documents and the notice of the rent increase to each tenant via first-class mail and post them in the rental office. The new lease terms and rent increase cannot take effect until at least the 61st day after the notice is mailed and posted.

I intend to increase my tenants’ rents. I am not going to have them sign a new lease, and instead, just want to send them a notice of the rent increase. I know that I also need to post the notice. How much notice do I have to give my tenants of the rent increase?

If you do not require the tenants to sign a new lease or lease amendment, and if the lease term is month to month, you only need to give 30 days’ notice of the rent increase. If the lease term is more than 60 days, you must provide at least 60 days’ notice of the rent increase.

I do not have a rental office in my community. Where can I post notices that are required to be posted?

The Manufactured Housing Community Rights Act requires that certain notices be posted in the rental office or some other “conspicuous” place in the community. That other place can be an information board you install or it can be at the mailbox bank if you have one. The key is that the notices must be posted in a place where you can ensure that the residents will see them.