Small landlord exemptions from just-cause eviction and rent control laws
If you own a duplex in Scranton or four rowhouse units in Pittsburgh, here is the bottom line: Pennsylvania gives small landlords no special exemptions because it has nothing to exempt you from. There is no statewide just-cause eviction law and no statewide rent control, so the unit-count carve-outs and owner-occupied exceptions you may have read about in California or Oregon coverage simply have no Pennsylvania equivalent. The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, 68 P.S. § 250.101 et seq., applies identically whether you hold one unit or ten thousand.
That cuts both ways. The rules are light, but they are the same light rules for everyone — and the duties that do exist, like habitability under 68 P.S. § 250.206 and anti-retaliation under 68 P.S. § 250.205, never shrink with portfolio size. What follows is what a 1-10 unit Pennsylvania owner actually has to get right.
The term "mom-and-pop landlord" typically refers to an individual or family that owns a small number of residential rental units, often 1 to 4, and frequently lives in or near the property. In states with tenant-protection legislation, the legislature has carved out exemptions recognizing that small landlords operate differently from large institutional property managers.
Pennsylvania has no statewide just-cause eviction law and no active rent control, so all residential landlords, small or large, operate under the same straightforward statutory framework. There is no formal "small landlord" exemption because none is needed: you may terminate a month-to-month tenancy with proper notice without providing a reason, and you may set or raise rent to any amount you choose.
In states with just-cause eviction or rent caps, the interesting question for a mom-and-pop owner is whether an exemption applies — an owner-occupied duplex here, a sub-four-unit building there. Pennsylvania skips that entire framework. With no just-cause statute and no rent-control statute on the books, there is no threshold to fall under and no paperwork to file proving you qualify. The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 governs every residential tenancy in the Commonwealth on identical terms.
Practically, that means a Pennsylvania small landlord should ignore the exemption checklists written for regulated states. Your questions are different: did you give the right termination notice under 68 PS §250.501, is the unit habitable, and are you steering clear of retaliation and fair-housing traps. Those four items are essentially the whole statewide rulebook.
For a month-to-month tenancy, 68 PS §250.501 requires 15 days' written notice to terminate when the tenancy has run less than one year, and 30 days' notice once it has run a year or more. You do not need to state a reason. The same notice mechanics are the practical route for a rent increase on a month-to-month tenant: since there is no cap, you propose the new rent and the tenant either accepts it or the tenancy ends on proper notice.
Owning few units exempts you from nothing that actually exists in Pennsylvania law. Four obligations follow you at any scale:
Because the statewide rules are thin, your lease does most of the legal work. Put the entry-notice procedure, late-fee terms, and renewal mechanics in writing, since the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 will not fill those gaps for you. Calendar the 15-day versus 30-day split under 68 PS §250.501 — the notice period jumps the day a tenancy crosses one year, and serving the short notice on a long tenant is the kind of unforced error that voids an otherwise clean termination.
Keep a paper trail on every repair request and respond promptly; your habitability and retaliation exposure under §§ 250.205-250.206 both run through that file. Finally, remember that this page describes state law — Pennsylvania cities can layer on their own requirements, so confirm what your municipality expects before you serve any notice.
This page was researched and written by the Eviction Risk Map research team from the primary statutory text of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, 68 P.S. § 250.101 et seq., including the termination-notice provisions of 68 PS §250.501 and the tenant-protection provisions at 68 P.S. §§ 250.205 and 250.206. Last reviewed July 2026. This material is general information about Pennsylvania law, not legal advice; consult a Pennsylvania landlord-tenant attorney before acting on a specific tenancy.
There is nothing to be exempt from. Pennsylvania has no statewide just-cause eviction law for any landlord, large or small. You can decline to renew or terminate a month-to-month tenancy without stating a reason, provided you give the notice 68 PS §250.501 requires: 15 days if the tenancy has lasted under a year, 30 days if it has lasted a year or more.
Yes, at the state level. Pennsylvania has no rent control, so no statute caps the amount or frequency of increases — the constraint is the market, where average rent runs about $1,057. For month-to-month tenants, deliver the increase with proper written notice under 68 PS §250.501; for tenants on a fixed-term lease, you must wait for the term to end unless the lease provides otherwise.
All of them — Pennsylvania draws no distinction by landlord size. That means the habitability duty tied to 68 P.S. § 250.206, the anti-retaliation protection in 68 P.S. § 250.205, the termination-notice periods in 68 PS §250.501, and federal fair-housing law. The rulebook is short, but every page of it applies to a one-unit owner.
Not under state law. Owner-occupancy exemptions matter in states where they excuse a landlord from just-cause or rent-cap statutes; Pennsylvania has neither, so living in one half of your duplex neither adds nor removes statewide obligations. You still owe the same notice periods, habitability standard, and retaliation restraint as an absentee owner — though your city may have local rules of its own worth checking.
Data sourced from 68 PS §250.501. Eviction notice data from 68 Pa. C.S. § 250.501. Last updated July 14, 2026. For informational purposes only, not legal advice.
