Pennsylvania HB 734: An Act amending the act of April 6, 1951 (P.L.69, No.20), known as The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, in tenement buildings and multiple dwelling premises, further providing for landlord's duties; and providing for tenant relocation.

Bill Text

PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 758 PRINTER'S NO. 983
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 734
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY MADSEN, HOWARD, RABB, SANCHEZ, SCHLOSSBERG, HILL-
EVANS, FIEDLER, CIRESI, McANDREW, FLEMING, OTTEN, DEASY AND
GREEN, FEBRUARY 25, 2025
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, MARCH 17, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of April 6, 1951 (P.L.69, No.20), entitled "An
act relating to the rights, obligations and liabilities of
landlord and tenant and of parties dealing with them and
amending, revising, changing and consolidating the law
relating thereto," in tenement buildings and multiple
dwelling premises, further providing for landlord's duties;
and providing for tenant relocation.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 502-A of the act of April 6, 1951
(P.L.69, No.20), known as The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951,
is amended to read:
Section 502-A. Landlord's Duties.--(a) The retention of
control of the stairways, passages, roadways and other common
facilities of a tenement building or multiple dwelling premises
places upon the landlord, or other possessor, the duty of
reasonable care for safety in use. This responsibility of the
landlord extends not alone to the individual tenant, but also to
his family, servants and employees, business visitors, social
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guests, and the like. Those who enter in the right of the
tenant, even though under his mere license, make a permissible
use of the premises for which the common ways and facilities are
provided.
(b) The landlord shall provide a tenant a habitable
dwelling.
Section 2. The act is amended by adding an article to read:
ARTICLE V-C
TENANT RELOCATION
Section 501-C. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this article
shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Displaced tenant." A temporarily displaced tenant or a
permanently displaced tenant.
"Permanently displaced tenant." A tenant that is required to
and does vacate rental housing for 60 days or more because the
rental housing is condemned as unfit for human habitation by a
municipality or determined to be uninhabitable by another
governmental entity with oversight of the property through no
fault of the tenant.
"Temporarily displaced tenant." A tenant that is required to
and does vacate rental housing for less than 60 days because the
rental housing is condemned as unfit for human habitation by a
municipality or determined to be uninhabitable by another
governmental entity with oversight of the property through no
fault of the tenant.
Section 502-C. T emporary displacement.
(a) Requirement.--For a temporarily displaced tenant, a
landlord shall comply with the provisions of this section within
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60 hours of the posting of condemnation on the rental housing.
(b) Alternative offer from landlord.--
(1) For a temporarily displaced tenant, a landlord may
offer any alternative available dwelling unit of comparable
size and rental price for the temporarily displaced tenant
and the temporarily displaced tenant's belongings for the
full temporarily displaced period.
(2) A temporary displacement period shall not exceed 60
days.
(3) If a displaced tenant accepts a landlord's offer of
an available dwelling unit under this subsection for the
remainder of the temporary displacement period, the landlord
shall have no other requirements under this article.
(c) Movement of tenant's belongings.--
(1) At the beginning of a temporary displacement period,
a landlord shall either:
(i) provide p ayment for the costs of the immediate
relocation of the temporarily displaced tenant and the
tenant's belongings; or
(ii) with the tenant's written approval, move the
tenant's belongings at the landlord's expense.
(2) At the end of a temporary displacement period, a
landlord shall either:
(i) provide payment for the costs to move the
temporarily displaced tenant and the temporarily
displaced tenant's belongings back to the tenant's
original rental housing; or
(ii) with the tenant's written approval, move the
tenant's belongings.
(d) Lease terms.--If a temporarily displaced tenant returns
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to the tenant's original housing, all lease provisions,
including provisions regarding the length of the lease term and
the amount of rent due at the time of the displacement shall
remain in place for the remainder of the lease in effect at the
time of the tenant's displacement.
Section 503-C. Permanent displacement.
If a tenant has been displaced for more than 60 days, the
tenant shall be considered a permanently displaced tenant.
Within 72 hours of the 60th day of displacement, the