Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania

Return of Security Deposit

Unfortunately your landlord was correct.On a month rental you are required to give a leastthirty days notice. You only gave one week'snotice. You could have moved out by Novemberfirst and got your deposit back. Notice must begiven prior to thirty days in Pennsylvania.Thatmeans notice on October first is insufficientto move out the end of October. You had to givenotice prior to October first or September 30thto move out by October 31st.You were incorrectin your notice to your landlord.

security deposit refund

You would have to give at least 30 days notice - to provide a full calendar moonth notice - to the landlord of your intention to vacate. Unfortunately, the law doesn't give much weight to the reason for your leaving. If, however, there were health and safety violations that made the property unlivable, you might have had a reason to leave early, but would have to establish that in court.

1. Recheck you lease - What was the term - when did the lease end? and was the money paid for the first and last month's rents, or for "security deposit"? You've already used the first month's rent. The last month's rent will apply to the last month of your lease term.

2. Landlord's may require one to two months security deposit, to be applied to any charges you haven't paid or any damages caused during the time you live in the apartment. PA law requires that after the first year, if there were 2 months' worth of security deposit - not first and last month rent - one month's worth should be returned to the tenant. The landlord may keep one month's worth of a security deposit until after you move out.

3. After a tenant moves out at the end of a lease term, the tenant must provide a forwarding address to the landlord. The landlord has a period of 30 days in which to inspect the apartment to determine if there was any damage and to deduct from the security deposit the amount needed to repair the damage and to pay any unpaid charges that the tenant owed. The balance, if any, should then be refunded to the tenant.