Can a tenant withhold rent for repairs in Pennsylvania?
In Pennsylvania, once a covered city’s inspection or public safety department, or a city or county public health department, certifies a dwelling as unfit for human habitation, the tenant’s duty to pay rent is suspended and a tenant who stays deposits the rent in an escrow account at a bank or trust company the city or county approves. The statute applies to dwellings in cities of the first, second, second class A and third class; it does not require any notice from the tenant, because the trigger is the agency’s certification. The duty to pay rent stays suspended until the dwelling is certified fit or the tenancy ends for a reason other than nonpayment. The escrowed rent is paid to the landlord if the dwelling is certified fit within six months of being certified unfit; if not, the money is payable to the tenant, except that escrowed funds may be used to make the dwelling fit and to pay utility services the landlord is obligated to pay but does not. No tenant may be evicted for any reason while rent is deposited in escrow. Repair-and-deduct is a different remedy with its own rules. This is 35 P.S. § 1700-1.
| What | Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Rent withholding | Rent into approved escrow once a city certifies unfit |
| How it works | The rent is paid into court or an escrow account instead |
What the statute says
“During any period when the duty to pay rent is suspended, and the tenant continues to occupy the dwelling, the rent withheld shall be deposited by the tenant in an escrow account in a bank or trust company approved by the city or county …”
Quoted word for word from the section’s text.
Source
Read the statute in the Pennsylvania Statutes (Pennsylvania General Assembly): palegis.us.
Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.
This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.
How Seayora uses this rule
Every deadline on this page runs from the tenant’s notice. A repair request filed in Seayora keeps the date it was made and every update after it, on the website and both phone apps, so owner and tenant are working from the same date.
Guides on this rule
- Rent Withholding Laws by State: When Tenants Can Withhold Rent — When a tenant may withhold rent or pay it into escrow over repairs, with the notice and conditions in each of the 19 states with a statute.
Compare this rule in every state
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- What are squatters’ rights in Pennsylvania?
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- Does a home improvement contractor need a license or registration in Pennsylvania?
- What is the deadline to file a mechanic’s lien in Pennsylvania?
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- Every Pennsylvania rule on one page
The same question in other states
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico