To end a periodic or month-to-month tenancy, a Pennsylvania landlord follows the notice in 68 P.S. Section 250.501: 15 days for a term of one year or less or an indeterminate term, and 30 days for a term of more than one year. The lease may set a shorter period or waive notice entirely.
68 P.S. Section 250.501 governs the notice to quit at the end of a tenancy. When the lease is "for a term of one year or less or for an indeterminate time," the tenant must remove "within fifteen days from the date of service thereof"; when the lease is "for more than one year," the period is thirty days from service. Notice may be served personally, by leaving it at the principal building on the premises, or by posting it conspicuously on the leased premises. Critically, the statute lets the parties contract around it: the notice "may be for a lesser time or may be waived by the tenant if the lease so provides," so many written leases shorten or eliminate it.
No specific statutory penalty. Termination without the required notice is ineffective, and a landlord who proceeds to eviction on defective notice risks dismissal of the action.
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