Pennsylvania: Month-to-Month Tenancy Termination Notice Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Pennsylvania does not have a statute that says "give X days to end a month-to-month
tenancy." Instead, the mechanism is the landlord's notice to quit under Section
501 of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, 68 P.S. § 250.501. The section is written
from the landlord's side — it opens with "A landlord desirous of repossessing real
property from a tenant" — and sets the amount of notice by how long the lease runs. A
month-to-month tenancy is treated as one "for an indeterminate time." Mobile-home-park
lots are pulled out into their own subsection with different rules. This page covers an
ordinary no-fault end of a month-to-month tenancy; the same section's shorter clocks
for a lease breach or unpaid rent belong to the separate eviction process.

Landlord's notice period

For a lease "for any term of one year or less or for an indeterminate time" — which
includes a month-to-month tenancy — the notice "shall specify that the tenant shall
remove within fifteen days from the date of service thereof" (§ 250.501(b)). A lease
running more than a year gets 30 days instead, and a nonpayment notice gets 10 days
(that last one is outside this survey). Fifteen days is short compared with the 30- or
60-day periods common in other states — but read the next two sections before relying
on it, because the lease can cut it down or remove it, and it does not bind a tenant.

Tenant's notice period

The statute is silent here. Section 250.501 governs only a landlord who wants to
repossess; the Landlord and Tenant Act sets no notice period for a tenant who wants
to move out. A tenant's obligation comes from the lease, and if the lease says nothing,
from common law — which has traditionally required a full rental period's (one month's)
notice to end a month-to-month tenancy. Because none of this is fixed by the Act, your
lease's termination clause is the thing to read first.

When termination takes effect

Pennsylvania counts from the day the notice is served, not from the calendar. The
notice makes the tenant "remove within fifteen days from the date of service thereof"
(§ 250.501(b)) — so 15 days after valid service, whatever day of the month that is.
There is no rule pushing the removal date to the first or last of a rental period. A
notice served on the 10th sets a removal date around the 25th, not the end of the next
month.

Form and required contents

The notice must be in writing: the landlord "may notify, in writing, the tenant to
remove" (§ 250.501(a)), and it must "specify" the removal deadline (§ 250.501(b)).
Beyond writing and the date, the statute prescribes no mandatory language and no
particular form for a no-fault termination.

How notice must be delivered

Section 250.501(f) lists three ways to serve the notice: "personally on the tenant,"
"by leaving the same at the principal building upon the premises," or "by posting the
same conspicuously on the leased premises." Because the 15-day clock runs from the date
of service, keep proof of when and how you served it.

What the lease can change

This is the feature that makes Pennsylvania different from most states: the notice is
almost entirely a lease matter. "The notice above provided for may be for a lesser time
or may be waived by the tenant if the lease so provides" (§ 250.501(e)). So a lease can
shorten the 15 days or waive the notice to quit altogether — and many Pennsylvania
residential leases do exactly that. Unlike the security-deposit provisions in the same
Act, which say any attempted waiver "shall be void and unenforceable," the notice-to-quit
period has no such anti-waiver floor.

Just-cause limits

Pennsylvania has no statewide just-cause law. A landlord ending a month-to-month
tenancy needs no reason under state law — a proper notice to quit (or a lease that
waives it) is enough. Some Pennsylvania cities layer their own just-cause or
longer-notice ordinances on top of the state floor, so check the local rules for the
property's municipality. If a notice is defective, that is a defense the tenant can
raise in the landlord's recovery-of-possession case; it is not a statutory-damages
claim.

What trips people up

Your lease probably already answers this — and may waive notice entirely. The
15-day period in § 250.501(b) is a default the lease can override under § 250.501(e).
Many Pennsylvania leases waive the notice to quit, which means a landlord can file for
possession at the end of the term without giving the 15 days first. Before counting on
15 days in either direction, read the lease's termination clause; it usually controls.

Fifteen days is the landlord's clock, not the tenant's. Section 250.501 sets the
landlord's notice only. If you are the tenant, the Act gives you no statutory number —
your notice is whatever the lease requires, or, if the lease is silent, the common-law
one-month rule. Don't assume you can leave on 15 days' notice just because that is the
figure the statute names for landlords.

The notice to quit is not the eviction. Serving (or waiving) the notice sets up the
landlord's right to file, but getting the tenant out still requires the court
recovery-of-possession process. A landlord cannot use lockouts or utility shutoffs to
force a move-out.

Common questions

I'm a Pennsylvania landlord ending a month-to-month tenancy. How much notice? If
the lease sets a period or waives notice, that controls (§ 250.501(e)). Otherwise serve
a written notice to quit giving the tenant 15 days from the date of service to leave
(§ 250.501(b)).

Does the tenancy have to end on the first or last of the month? No. The 15 days run
from the day the notice is served (§ 250.501(b)); there is no rule aligning the removal
date with a rental period.

I'm the tenant — how much notice do I give to move out? The Landlord and Tenant Act
does not set a tenant's notice period, so check your lease. Where the lease is silent,
the common-law rule is generally a full month's notice.

Does my landlord need a reason to end my month-to-month tenancy? Not under
Pennsylvania state law — there is no statewide just-cause rule. A proper notice to quit
needs no reason, though some cities add local just-cause protections, so check local law.

Statutes and sources

• 68 P.S. § 250.501 — Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, Section 501 ("Notice to Quit"): written notice to remove (a); the 15-day clock for a lease of one year or less or an indeterminate time, 30 days for a longer lease, and 10 days for nonpayment (b); the lease's power to shorten or waive the notice (e); the three service methods (f); and the 2024 subsection making the section inapplicable to non-tenants (g).
  https://www.palegis.us/statutes/unconsolidated/law-information/view-statute?iFrame=true&txtType=HTM&yr=1951&sessInd=0&smthLwInd=0&act=020&chpt=5 (accessed 2026-07-15)