Lease Renewal Clause
in Your Lease
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Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what Pennsylvania law says, what's specific to Philadelphia - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- State notice to quit: 15 days on a lease of one year or less, 30 days on a longer term.
- A lease may shorten or waive that state notice if it says so.
- Philadelphia: a lease under one year, month to month included, ends only for one of nine listed good cause reasons.
- That city notice must be written and given at least 30 days ahead, by hand or first-class mail with proof.
- Without proper Philadelphia notice, the lease automatically renews month to month.
Count it for your dates
30 days before: the last day to act
What it means: A written notice ending or not renewing your lease must be given at least 30 days before that date, by hand or first-class mail with proof of mailing, or the lease automatically renews month to month. Applies to a Philadelphia landlord ending or not renewing a residential lease of less than one year, month to month included. Pennsylvania's separate notice to quit, 15 days on a lease of one year or less and 30 days on a longer term under 68 P.S. § 250.501(b), can be shortened or waived by the lease; this city notice also needs one of nine listed good cause reasons (Philadelphia Code § 9-804). Calendar arithmetic only; check how the section counts days before you rely on a date.
Copy and send: When you get a non-renewal notice on a Philadelphia lease of less than one year
Ask which good cause reason applies
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
Understanding the Lease Renewal Clause
This page is for Philadelphia renters whose lease is ending and who want to know how much warning they get before a landlord declines to renew. Two rules can apply.
Pennsylvania sets the length of the notice to quit by your lease term. Philadelphia adds a good cause rule for leases under one year, month to month included.
Check your term length first, then read the notice paragraph in your lease, because it can shorten the state count.
What renters assume
Once my Philadelphia lease is up, my landlord can decline to renew for any reason with a quick heads-up.
What is actually true
On a Philadelphia lease of less than one year, month to month included, § 9-804 requires one of nine listed good cause reasons and 30 days' written notice.
Pennsylvania's 15 days ties Salt Lake City for the shortest number on this chart after North Carolina's 7 - Colorado gives 90 , and Seattle landlords must actually offer a renewal 60 to 90 days out. On a Philadelphia lease under one year, the city's 30-day good-cause rule sits on top of a state notice the lease may shorten or waive.
Lease Renewal Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Philadelphia, PA
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
This is the lease from the case itself - subsection (c) of paragraph 24, quoted as the Superior Court printed it in 2025:
(c) Landlord may increase the rent or change any other term of the Lease for any renewal period by sending written notice to Tenant. Landlord must send this notice at least 60 days before the end of the Term or of any renewal term. Tenant may reject the renewal terms by sending written notice to Landlord 60 days prior to the end of the current lease ending date. Tenant must then vacate at the end of the current Term. The Lease will renew on the terms set forth in Landlord's renewal notice if Tenant does not send notice ending the Lease.
Quoted from the published opinion in Cooper v. SGYS St. Ives, LLC, 333 A.3d 1046, 2025 PA Super 66 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2025). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“Landlord may increase the rent”
A renewal notice is how most rent rises actually arrive. Pennsylvania's statute is about ending a tenancy rather than pricing one - 68 P.S. § 250.501(b) gives 15 days' notice to quit where the lease is for a term of one year or less or for an indeterminate time, and 30 days where the term is longer. No figure in our Pennsylvania record limits what a renewal rent may be, which leaves the paragraph you signed as the document that answers it.
“Landlord must send this notice”
Dispatch is all the clause asks of the landlord, and Pennsylvania has its own rules about how a notice actually reaches you. Under § 250.501(f) a notice to quit must be served personally, left at the principal building on the premises, or posted conspicuously on the leased premises; the statute does not list ordinary mail as sufficient service. The city's good-cause notice is written differently again - hand delivery, or first-class mail with proof of mailing.
See the example
“Tenant may reject the renewal terms”
Your right to say no, and in Philadelphia the sharper question is often whether the landlord could say no. Philadelphia Code § 9-804 requires one of nine listed good-cause reasons to refuse a renewal on a lease of less than one year, month-to-month arrangements included, and where there is none the lease renews month to month. Our Pennsylvania record shows no good-cause requirement at state level: once proper notice is given, a landlord may decline to renew for any lawful, non-retaliatory, non-discriminatory reason. So the length of your term decides whether the city rule is available to you at all.
“if Tenant does not send notice”
Silence is the trigger, and that is precisely what the case below turned on - except there it was the landlord's silence that counted. One more thing to check in any Pennsylvania lease: § 250.501(e) provides that the notice “may be for a lesser time or may be waived by the tenant if the lease so provides,” and most Pennsylvania form leases contain exactly that waiver. The 15 or 30 days may already have been signed away.
See the example
The clause was enforced exactly as written, and it came back on the landlord who wrote it. The underlying dispute was not about renewal at all - it was a claim under Philadelphia's lead-disclosure ordinance, and the landlord's answer was that the Coopers were former tenants with no right to bring it. The Superior Court disagreed. Because paragraph 24 renewed the lease automatically unless a party gave 60 days' written notice, and this landlord gave none, brought no eviction and filed no suit, the lease was still alive and the Coopers were still tenants - even though they had stopped paying rent. The landlord, the court held, “had a duty to take specific action against Appellants in order to end the lease,” and a tenant's own breach does not quietly turn them into a former tenant. Two things to keep in view. This is a standing holding that construes an automatic-renewal clause, not a renewal dispute, and it should not be read as one. And the same paragraph priced the renewal it created: subsection (b) raised the rent for each renewal term to market rent, as determined by Landlord, with a minimum increase of 7% above current rent. Automatic renewal runs in whichever direction the paperwork points, and here the paperwork pointed at the landlord.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Pennsylvania Law on Lease Renewal Clause
- 68 P.S. § 250.501(b) requires the landlord's notice to quit to give 15 days when the lease is for a term of one year or less or for an indeterminate time, and 30 days when the lease is for more than one year.
- The Pennsylvania sections we read set no just-cause or good-cause requirement at the state level, so a landlord may decline to renew for any lawful, non-retaliatory, non-discriminatory reason once proper notice is given.
- Section 250.501(e) provides that the notice "may be for a lesser time or may be waived by the tenant if the lease so provides," and most Pennsylvania form leases contain exactly that waiver.
- Under § 250.501(f) the notice must be served personally, left at the principal building on the premises, or posted conspicuously on the leased premises; the statute does not list ordinary mail as sufficient service.
Sources include 68 P.S. § 250.501 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
The Pennsylvania rule is 68 P.S. § 250.501. It sets how much notice to quit a landlord gives. The Pennsylvania sections we read set no just-cause standard, so once proper notice is served a landlord may decline to renew for any lawful, non-retaliatory, non-discriminatory reason.
- (b) Length. 15 days when the lease is for one year or less or for an indeterminate time. 30 days when it is for more than one year.
- (e) Waiver. The notice "may be for a lesser time or may be waived by the tenant if the lease so provides." Many Pennsylvania form leases include that line.
- (f) Service. The notice must be handed to you, left at the principal building on the premises, or posted conspicuously on the leased premises. The statute does not list ordinary mail.
Statutes change, so check the current text of § 250.501 at www.palegis.us before you count a day.
What's Specific to Philadelphia
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Philadelphia adds a reason requirement. Philadelphia Code § 9-804 bars ending or not renewing any residential lease of less than one year, month to month included, without one of the nine listed reasons.
The notice must be written and given at least 30 days ahead by hand or first-class mail with proof of mailing, or the lease automatically renews month to month. The rule is written for terms under one year, so on a 12-month lease check whether it reaches you.
The Philadelphia Fair Housing Commission handles complaints under the city's unfair rental practices rules.
A clear date lets you plan to stay or move. On a Philadelphia lease under one year, the landlord owes 30 days' written notice.
"Market rate" with no figure leaves the price open. A number or a cap lets you weigh staying against moving.
§ 250.501(e) lets a lease shorten or waive the state notice. Find that line before you sign.
A 12-month rollover with a narrow opt-out window can lock you into a term you never chose. Find that window early.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- 68 P.S. § 250.501, read on codes.findlaw.com. Pennsylvania publishes the official text at www.palegis.us. FindLaw marks its copy of this section current as of January 1, 2026.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Notice waiver buried in the lease
§ 250.501(e) lets a lease shorten or waive the 15-day state notice to quit. Know whether yours does before you count days.
-
Non-renewal with no reason given
On a Philadelphia lease of less than one year, the notice needs one of the nine listed good cause reasons. Ask which one applies.
-
Renewal at "then-current market rate"
The clause promises a renewal but leaves the price open. Ask for a number or a cap in the paragraph itself.
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Notice sent by regular mail
§ 250.501(f) does not list ordinary mail for the state notice to quit. Philadelphia's 30-day notice allows first-class mail only with proof of mailing.
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Steep month-to-month upcharge
A large premium for staying month to month, the tenancy Philadelphia's good cause rule covers. Ask where the lease authorizes that charge.
Your Rights as a Philadelphia Tenant
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15 or 30 days' notice to quit
§ 250.501(b): 15 days when the lease runs a year or less, 30 days when the term is longer.
-
Good cause in Philadelphia
§ 9-804: one of nine listed reasons before a landlord ends or declines to renew a residential lease of less than one year.
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Automatic month-to-month renewal
If the Philadelphia notice is not given properly, the lease automatically renews month to month instead of ending.
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Service that follows the statute
§ 250.501(f): the notice to quit is handed to you, left at the principal building on the premises, or posted conspicuously.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find your lease end date
Take the expiration date from your lease, not your move-in date. Every deadline below counts back from that day.
Check your term length
Under one year or month to month puts you inside Philadelphia's good cause rule. Over one year moves the state notice to 30 days.
Read the notice paragraph
Look for wording that shortens or waives the notice to quit, which § 250.501(e) allows.
Mark the 30-day point
Philadelphia's notice must be given at least 30 days ahead. Set your own reminder instead of waiting on the leasing office.
Ask for the reason in writing
If a non-renewal arrives on a lease under one year, ask which good cause reason applies and keep the reply.
Escalate before you pack
Raise it with the property manager in writing, then with the Philadelphia Fair Housing Commission or a local tenant legal aid office.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Lease Renewal rules near Pennsylvania
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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