Landlord & Housing · free generator

Pennsylvania Notice to Vacate Letter

Fill in your details, review the pennsylvania notice to vacate letter, and edit the wording before you send. Copy the finished text or download a Word file for free.

[Your full name]

[Date]

[Your landlord's name]

Re: Notice to vacate — [Rental property address]

Dear [Your landlord's name],

Please accept this letter as my formal written notice that I will terminate my tenancy at [Rental property address] and vacate the premises on [Move-out date].

Under Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 — Notice to Quit (68 P.S. § 250.501), a tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy on reasonable written notice, and this letter also satisfies the notice provision of my lease. This notice is given in accordance with that requirement and with any additional notice period my lease provides.

I will leave the unit clean and in good condition, ordinary wear and tear excepted, and will return all keys and access devices on or before my move-out date. I would like a move-out inspection during my final week; please propose a date and time.

Please send my security deposit, with any itemized statement required by law, to my forwarding address: [Your forwarding address]. Kindly confirm receipt of this notice in writing.

Sincerely,

[Your full name]

Know your rights

Notice to vacate law in Pennsylvania

Tenant notice required: No statutory minimum
Governing statute: 68 P.S. § 250.501
How the clock runs: No Pennsylvania statute fixes the notice a tenant must give to end a month-to-month tenancy — Section 501 of the Landlord and Tenant Act sets notice-to-quit periods for landlords only (15 days for leases of a year or less), and tenants customarily mirror it. Absent a lease clause, give written notice at least 15 days (30 is safer) before the end of the monthly period, timed to end on a rent-period boundary.
Delivering the notice: No statute prescribes how a tenant delivers notice, so follow the lease's notice clause exactly; otherwise hand-deliver a written, dated letter or send it by certified mail, return receipt requested.
Fixed-term leases: The lease controls: many Pennsylvania leases auto-renew month-to-month (or for a full new term) unless written notice, often 30 to 60 days, is given before expiration. Without renewal language the tenancy ends at the term's close, but staying on while the landlord accepts rent creates a periodic tenancy.

Worth knowing: Section 501(e) expressly lets a lease shorten or waive the notice periods, and Pennsylvania courts enforce lease notice clauses as written, so the lease is the controlling document in practice. The Act's 15-day landlord benchmark doubles to 30 days for leases longer than one year. Philadelphia adds local rules (Good Cause protections for non-renewal of leases under a year, Fair Housing Commission procedures) that constrain landlords but do not change the tenant's own notice obligation.

Last reviewed August 2026 · General information, not legal advice · Read the statute · Also for Pennsylvania: security deposit demand letter

Field notes

Three tips before you send

No statute prescribes how a tenant delivers notice, so follow the lease's notice clause exactly; otherwise hand-deliver a written, dated letter or send it by certified mail, return receipt requested.
No Pennsylvania statute fixes the notice a tenant must give to end a month-to-month tenancy — Section 501 of the Landlord and Tenant Act sets notice-to-quit periods for landlords only (15 days for leases of a year or less), and tenants customarily mirror it. Absent a lease clause, give written notice at least 15 days (30 is safer) before the end of the monthly period, timed to end on a rent-period boundary.
Date math is unforgiving — the clock usually runs from the day your landlord receives the notice, not the day you write it. Build in a few days of cushion, and photograph the empty unit when you hand back the keys.

Straight answers

Questions people ask

How much notice does a tenant have to give in Pennsylvania?

No Pennsylvania statute fixes the notice a tenant must give to end a month-to-month tenancy — Section 501 of the Landlord and Tenant Act sets notice-to-quit periods for landlords only (15 days for leases of a year or less), and tenants customarily mirror it. Absent a lease clause, give written notice at least 15 days (30 is safer) before the end of the monthly period, timed to end on a rent-period boundary. The governing statute is Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 — Notice to Quit.

What happens when a fixed-term lease ends in Pennsylvania?

The lease controls: many Pennsylvania leases auto-renew month-to-month (or for a full new term) unless written notice, often 30 to 60 days, is given before expiration. Without renewal language the tenancy ends at the term's close, but staying on while the landlord accepts rent creates a periodic tenancy. Check your lease for a renewal or notice clause — where the statute allows it, the lease controls.

Anything else Pennsylvania renters should know before moving out?

Section 501(e) expressly lets a lease shorten or waive the notice periods, and Pennsylvania courts enforce lease notice clauses as written, so the lease is the controlling document in practice. The Act's 15-day landlord benchmark doubles to 30 days for leases longer than one year. Philadelphia adds local rules (Good Cause protections for non-renewal of leases under a year, Fair Housing Commission procedures) that constrain landlords but do not change the tenant's own notice obligation.

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When to use this letter

Moving out should be the easy part — but in Pennsylvania, when you give notice and how you deliver it decide whether you owe another month of rent. The rule that matters: Pennsylvania sets no single statutory minimum for month-to-month tenants, but your lease almost certainly sets one — thirty days is the safe default, under Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 — Notice to Quit. This generator writes a tenant's notice to vacate that cites 68 P.S. § 250.501 by name, states your move-out date, and asks for the move-out inspection and your deposit instructions in the same letter — so nothing gets renegotiated later. No blank template to fight with: fill in your landlord, the address, and the date, then send it in a way you can prove, because notice clocks here run from delivery, not from the day you write it.