Maintenance & Repairs Clause
in Your Lease
How this page is sourced
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
- No Pennsylvania section we read sets a repair deadline; landlords must act within a reasonable time after notice.
- Legal-aid guidance: roughly 24 hours for a winter heat failure, about 30 days for a summer furnace.
- The warranty of habitability is non-waivable, so a lease can't move core repairs onto you.
- Once a city agency certifies the unit unfit, rent goes to escrow and no eviction is allowed.
- A Philadelphia landlord with no rental license or Certificate of Rental Suitability may not collect rent.
Copy and send: As soon as something needs fixing, sent to the landlord or manager named in your lease
Written repair request
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
How Pennsylvania compares
Deadline to make repairs, state by state
3 days7 days10 days14 days30 daysNo figureGuide coming soonYou are here
See all 27 cities as a chart
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.
Understanding the Maintenance & Repairs Clause
This page is for Philadelphia renters waiting on a repair, from a leaking pipe to a dead radiator. The Pennsylvania law we read gives your landlord no set number of days.
The duty is to act within a reasonable time after you give notice, and the more serious the problem, the shorter that time. Tell your landlord in writing, keep a copy, and don't stop paying rent on your own.
In Philadelphia, also check that your landlord holds a current rental license.
What renters assume
With no repair deadline in Pennsylvania law, a landlord can stall as long as they like.
What is actually true
The landlord must act within a reasonable time after notice, and severity sets it. Legal-aid guidance treats a mid-winter heat failure as roughly a 24-hour matter.
Pennsylvania sits in the no-deadline column alongside New York, Colorado, and Georgia, while Austin gives a landlord 7 days and Los Angeles 30. A fixed count looks like protection, but it also tells a slow property manager exactly how long they're allowed to wait. Philadelphia's leverage comes from licensing and rent escrow instead.
Repairs 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.
Tenants agree to pay for all damages to the apartment windows, screens, and doors, including exterior unit doors (including random acts of vandalism).
Quoted from the published opinion in De Stefano v. Apts. Downtown, Inc., 879 N.W.2d 155 (Iowa 2016). 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
“agree to pay”
Agreement is the landlord's whole case for a charge like this, and Pennsylvania answers it at the level of the warranty rather than the invoice. Pugh v. Holmes, 486 Pa. 272 (1979) implies a warranty of habitability into every residential lease and makes it non-waivable, so a signature cannot remove the duty to fix serious defects within a reasonable time. Allocating the cost of specific damage is a narrower thing, and that is what this sentence attempts.
See the example
“the apartment windows”
Windows sit on both sides of this argument at once. They are a repair item a lease can allocate, and they are also part of what the Philadelphia Property Maintenance Code makes the owner keep in good repair - PM-301.2 and PM-305.1 cover the structure, the interior and the operating systems. A charge and a code violation can arise out of the same broken pane.
See the example
“and doors, including exterior unit doors”
The Iowa clause named the exterior door specifically, and that is where it met the statute. The court held the landlord could not do the repair and pass the cost across under a provision written into the form lease before anyone knew what would break. In Philadelphia the equivalent pressure point is the city code, which places the duty to keep the structure and the interior in good repair on the owner.
See the example
“vandalism”
Crime, recategorised as a tenant expense. The Iowa tenants were billed $598.46 for an exterior door a burglar destroyed, and the court reversed the decision against them on liability for that repair. Nobody on the lease had done anything; the clause simply assigned the risk, which is what a repair provision looks like when it reaches past fault.
See the example
The tenants won the door. The Iowa Supreme Court held the landlord could not use this clause to bill them $598.46 for an exterior door wrecked by a burglar, and reversed the district court's decision against the tenant on liability for the door repair. Two reasons, and the second is the wider one. Iowa Code § 562A.15(2) lets a landlord and tenant agree only that the tenant will perform specified repairs; it does not let the landlord perform the repair and shift the cost. And the landlord's statutory duty to “make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition” is not satisfied “by merely making repairs and shifting the costs to the tenant pursuant to categorical provisions in the original lease agreement.” Note the word categorical: what failed was a blanket allocation written into a form lease before anyone knew who would break what. Why a renter should care: the damage here came from a stranger's crime, and the clause charged it to the household anyway. This is Iowa law, from the opinion as amended July 26, 2016, and a differently worded statute can produce the opposite answer - Texas's did in 2001.
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 Maintenance & Repairs Clause
- No Pennsylvania statute in our record gives a landlord a fixed number of days to repair - Pugh v. Holmes, 486 Pa. 272 (1979) implies a non-waivable warranty of habitability in every residential lease, and the landlord must act within a reasonable time after notice.
- "Reasonable time" scales with severity: legal-aid guidance treats a mid-winter heat failure or burst pipe as roughly a 24-hour matter, while a non-urgent repair such as a furnace in summer may fairly take about 30 days.
- Under the Rent Withholding Act, 35 P.S. § 1700-1, once a city agency (in Philadelphia, Licenses & Inspections) certifies a dwelling unfit for human habitation, the duty to pay rent is suspended, the tenant deposits rent in an approved escrow account, and no tenant may be evicted for any reason while rent sits in escrow.
- If the dwelling has not been certified fit within six months of the unfit certification, the escrowed money is paid back to the tenant, and escrow funds may instead be spent on making the unit habitable or on utilities the landlord refuses to pay.
Sources include 35 P.S. § 1700-1 (Rent Withholding Act) - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Pennsylvania's warranty of habitability is court-made. Pugh v. Holmes, 486 Pa. 272 (1979) implies a non-waivable warranty in every residential lease, and the landlord must act within a reasonable time after notice.
Legal-aid guidance treats a mid-winter heat failure or burst pipe as roughly a 24-hour matter, and a non-urgent repair such as a furnace in summer as about 30 days.
When repairs stall, the Rent Withholding Act, 35 P.S. § 1700-1, works like this:
- Unfit finding. A city agency, in Philadelphia Licenses and Inspections, certifies the unit unfit for human habitation.
- Escrow. Your duty to pay rent is suspended, and you deposit rent in an approved escrow account.
- No eviction. No tenant may be evicted for any reason while rent sits in escrow.
- Six months. If the unit is not certified fit within six months of the unfit finding, the escrowed money is paid back to you. Escrow funds may instead go toward making the unit habitable or paying utilities the landlord refuses to pay.
What's Specific to Philadelphia
No Philadelphia section we read sets a repair deadline. The Property Maintenance Code (PM-301.2, PM-305.1) requires good repair of the structure, interior and operating systems.
An owner without a current rental license or a delivered Certificate of Rental Suitability may not collect rent or recover possession for that period (Phila. Code §§ 9-3902, 9-3903).
The Fair Housing Commission can order rent abatement for uncorrected violations (§ 9-804). Units built before 1978 must be certified lead-free or lead-safe at the landlord's expense before a lease (§ 6-803).
Good. Without a signed certificate that the unit is fit and habitable, a Philadelphia landlord may not collect rent for that period.
Good. An unlicensed owner can't collect rent or recover possession for that period. Ask for the number before you sign.
Question it. The warranty of habitability is non-waivable, so a clause moving heat, plumbing or structure onto you doesn't hold.
Question it. Units built before 1978 must be certified lead-free or lead-safe at the landlord's expense before a lease.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- 35 P.S. § 1700-1 (Rent Withholding Act), 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
-
Tenant handles all repairs
Pugh v. Holmes makes the warranty of habitability non-waivable, so a clause handing you the heat, the plumbing or the roof can't be enforced.
-
No rental license number anywhere
An unlicensed Philadelphia landlord may not collect rent or recover possession for that period. A lease that leaves out the license number deserves a question.
-
Repairs at landlord's sole discretion
The duty is to act within a reasonable time after notice, whatever the clause says. Legal-aid guidance treats a mid-winter heat failure as roughly a 24-hour matter.
-
Lead certification called tenant's problem
Units built before 1978 must be certified lead-free or lead-safe at the landlord's expense before a lease. The cost isn't yours.
-
Waiver of habitability or escrow
You can't sign away a non-waivable warranty of habitability, and once a city agency certifies the unit unfit, the Rent Withholding Act sends your rent to escrow.
Your Rights as a Philadelphia Tenant
-
Habitability you can't sign away
Pugh v. Holmes implies a non-waivable warranty of habitability in every Pennsylvania residential lease, whatever your repairs clause says.
-
Rent escrow after an unfit finding
Once a city agency certifies the unit unfit for human habitation, your rent goes into an approved escrow account instead of to the landlord.
-
No eviction while rent is escrowed
No tenant may be evicted for any reason while rent sits in escrow. After six months without a fit certification, the money comes back to you.
-
Leverage over an unlicensed landlord
Without a current rental license or a delivered Certificate of Rental Suitability, a Philadelphia owner may not collect rent or recover possession for that period.
What To Do - Step by Step
Photograph it the same day
Dated photos and a short video show when the problem started and how serious it is. Severity sets how fast the landlord must act.
Put the notice in writing
Write to the person named in your lease, describe the unit and the exact defect, and keep a copy. Reasonable time runs from notice.
Say how urgent it is
Spell out no heat, no water or an active leak. In legal-aid guidance, severity moves reasonable time from about 30 days toward roughly 24 hours.
Check the license and certificate
Confirm the rental license is current and find your Certificate of Rental Suitability. An owner missing either can't collect rent for that period.
Call Philly311 for an inspection
Licenses and Inspections enforces the Property Maintenance Code. An unfit-for-habitation finding is what opens rent escrow, so don't withhold rent before it.
Ask the Fair Housing Commission or legal aid
The Fair Housing Commission can order rent abatement for uncorrected code violations. Community Legal Services advises Philadelphia renters at no cost.
Why renters trust LeaseDecoded
Frequently Asked Questions
Maintenance & Repairs rules near Pennsylvania
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
Was this guide helpful?Your answer is anonymous and helps us fix what is unclear.