Pennsylvania Condo conversion protections

Condo conversion protections in Pennsylvania

Under 68 Pa.C.S. § 3410, the declarant of a condominium with conversion buildings must give each residential tenant and subtenant lawfully in possession a conversion notice at least one year before requiring them to vacate. The notice must generally describe their rights under the section, come with a public offering statement, and be hand delivered to the unit or sent by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, to the unit and up to one other address the tenant gives. A tenant cannot be required to leave earlier than one year after the notice date except for nonpayment of rent, waste, or conduct that disturbs other tenants' peaceful enjoyment, and the tenancy terms cannot be altered (but can be enforced) during that time, unless the tenant gives express written consent. Failure to give a required notice is a defense to an action for possession. If the notice gives a vacate date, it also acts as a lease termination notice and a notice to quit under section 501 of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, and the section does not allow ending a lease in violation of its terms. For six months after the notice date the declarant must offer to sell the unit to its tenant, and for the following six months may not offer it to anyone else on better price or terms; this does not apply to units that were nonresidential just before the notice date or whose boundaries will not substantially match after conversion. A tenant may waive the purchase right only in an acknowledged writing given for an extended tenancy, a deal to buy another unit, or all occupants making other living arrangements; if the declarant sells the unit in violation of the purchase right to a buyer for value who does not know of the violation, a recorded deed stating that the seller complied ends the tenant's purchase right, but the tenant can still recover damages from the declarant. After receiving the notice a tenant may end any lease without liability on 90 days' written notice to the building owner, and the declarant or owner may not coerce tenants to leave, including by harassment or withholding normal services or repairs. A tenant or subtenant who is 62 or older or is disabled, has lived in the unit as a principal residence for at least two years on the notice date, and gives the declarant notice and proof of eligibility within 60 days after the notice date may stay two years after the notice date (same exceptions), and rent in the later part of that period may rise only by the lesser of 5% or the CPI change for the stated six-month period; noncompliance is a defense to an action for possession. For this subsection, a person is disabled if, on the conversion notice date, the person is totally and permanently unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impediment, including, but not limited to, blindness. At least 30 days before the notice date the declarant must hold a tenant meeting open to the public in the municipality where the proposed conversion building is located, at a place and time convenient to the persons who may be directly affected by the conversion, and must give at least 10 days' notice of the time and place to residential tenants and subtenants in lawful possession in the same manner as the conversion notice, and to the general public by a notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality, except that no notice to the general public is required for conversion buildings as to which 68 Pa.C.S. § 3402(b) applies. Housing rehabilitated with federal Title I Community Development Act funds for rental use cannot be converted for 10 years after the rehabilitation. A declarant that expressly reserved the right in the notice may revoke it before any unit is conveyed after the notice date (other than to a successor declarant or through mortgage foreclosure or a deed in lieu), by notice given the same way to everyone entitled to the original notice who is still in lawful occupancy; revocation ends the other rights under the section, but the one-year and two-year occupancy rights stay part of each tenant's lease. These rights apply only to tenants in lawful occupancy on the notice date, or to later tenants who were not told in writing that the property is a condominium and that they lack these rights, and last only while lawful occupancy continues. Example: a tenant whose lease would end three months after the conversion notice date still cannot be required to vacate until one year after the notice date, unless an exception applies (nonpayment, waste or disturbing conduct).

Verified Source: 68 Pa.C.S. § 3410 · last checked 2026-11-12